Hero of Remnant: Veil of the Aether
by andy2396
Summary: Following after the events of the Volume 3 Arc, Dante, and his partner Inuba travel across Remnant to make their way to Haven, searching for clues that will lead them to the real mastermind behind the attack on Vale 6 months prior. They will meet allies, both old and new, and face challenging new enemies on their journey. Secrets will be revealed. Continuation of Hero of Remnant.
1. Chapter 1: Home

**Wow oh wow its good to be back! Hello everyone, and welcome to Hero of Remnant: Veil of the Aether, the second installment of Hero of Remnant! Those of you who've been with me from the start, welcome back! For those of joining us just now, I highly recommend you back and read Hero of Remnant, but if you don't really want to, then remain here where you are, I'll do my best to catch you up to speed with some concepts only seen in Hero of Remnant. Now that we have that out of the way...again, welcome back. I'm really excited to start this new chapter of story through VotA (Veil of the Aether). It'll make up for some of the things lacking in its predecessor and overall, you'll have an amazing time reading. **

**New characters! New enemies! New creatures! New everything! A lot of things I couldn't do with the original will be seen here in VotA, like the introduction of some of these new characters and enemies. That's one example of the many exciting things you'll be seeing from now on.**

 **One more thing take care of. DISCLAIMERS! Yeah, I know, but it has to be done. Just in case.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Any and all characters and creatures of RWBY belong to RoosterTeeth and Mounty Oum. Any other characters and creatures not seen or represented in the show belong to me or their respective creators/authors. And if you read the summary and are thinking what you are currently thinking, no, the main character is no way, shape or form Dante from the Devil May Cry Universe. AT ALL. My OC Dante is of my own creation. **

**Now then, I've taken enough of your time already. So...lets dig in to the very first chapter of Veil of the Aether! Please enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Home

 _A woman cloaked in black threaded upon the lifeless, dark terrain. Her ragged black skirt reached her ankles, slightly drifting in the dreary wind. Her abdomen remained exposed until it reached the end of her sternum, where her ragged black top covered her body, ragged torn sleeves covering her arms. She sported a torn black cloak as well that flapped in the wind behind her._

 _A pale hand, almost deathly white in color with black colored nails reached out from underneath the cloak to remove her hood, exposing her long, raven colored hair that now flowed freely. Her eyes opened, revealing the black sclerae she possessed that encircled her glowing red irises and black slit pupils._

 _This woman had come to speak with the ruler of this domain, the one who currently waged war against humanity with her innumerable and seemingly endless legion. And so from a distance, she halted her approach and gazed at the women who possessed the same eyes she did, silently watching as if she were studying her. The eyes of the one she would speak with did the same._

" _At last...we meet one another…"_

" _Oh? How intriguing… None have stepped forth in this place for decades… Yet here you are. Tell me...why is it that you are here? To kill me perhaps?"_

" _No no, quite the opposite. I've come here to make a request. And...to offer a solution to a problem."_

" _What makes you believe that I am troubled currently?"_

" _Not currently. But you will be troubled in the future, should you allow this problem to go unsolved. Though at first glance it may seem un-problematic, it will become a thorn in your side later on. From what I've observed, you and I have the same desire."_

" _I see… So...what is it that you would ask of me, kindred spirit?"_

" _Temporary control is all. I wish to have the same power of 'creation' that you do. Though I am powerful, I do not have the luxury of creating a legion at my disposal. Should you give me the same power…I will not only remove this thorn from your side, but...I will destroy the World of Remnant in your stead."_

" _Destroy it you say? Is such a thing within your capabilities?"_

" _Indeed it is… My hatred for humanity is strong… It would be my pleasure to eradicate them. Even a being as great and powerful as myself cannot perform such a task alone. And in my belief, neither can you. I have both power and tools at my disposal. The final piece...is your power to create legions. Do this for me...and I will become your greatest ally, sworn to crush the hope of humanity." Said the devilish woman, gracefully bowing before the queen who controlled legions._

" _Your proposal intrigues me… You ask for the ability to recreate my legion…yet you ask for nothing else. It's almost hard to believe that you would do this simply out of the kindness of your heart."_

" _As I said, our goals are aligned currently. When I achieve my goals, I will return so that you may remove this power. And from then onwards, we shall never see one another again."_

" _Why should I trust you?"_

 _The woman in ragged black rose from the ground, her lips curling into a devilish smile._

" _If there is one thing you must know, my kin and I never go back on our word. When we perform contracts, we strictly follow and enforce every aspect of our contracts until the very end when the terms have been met."_

" _It is clear to me you are not human. Otherwise, I would have eradicated you before you had the chance to speak a word. You are not the same as me...yet we are similar in more ways than one. Tell me...what kind of creature are you?"_

" _I..? I am an Entity of the Dark… A shadow that instills fear into the hearts of many… A force of nature that tears asunder… I...will be humanities reckoning… I am Scylix."_

 _The woman laughed as she approached the woman in ragged black._

" _You intrigue me Scylix, Entity of the Dark… Very well then… I will bestow upon you the power to control and create my legions. With it, you will set upon Remnant a terror equal in force to mine." Said the woman clasping hands with her new ally, a small burst of black and red Aura transferring to the new arrivals hand._

" _My thanks… With this, our contract is sealed. I will remove an imminent threat and destroy Remnant in your stead so that it may be yours to control. After all is said and done, you will erase this power and we shall never cross paths again."_

" _You speak of this imminent threat to my plans, yet you never mentioned once who or what this threat is and what it entails."_

" _A boy..."_

" _I am to be concerned with one boy?"_

" _Not just any boy…" Said the woman in ragged black._

" _This boy is an abomination of Light and Dark that hides behind human flesh and blood. Deep inside him is a power, which if truly discovered, can bring about our end."_

" _Ah...you speak of that boy… The one they call Dante… He truly has been a subject of immense interest as of late… It is a shame you believe him necessary to be removed."_

" _My apologies...but I know what it is you originally intended. He cannot be...corrupted. His heart is too human…"_

" _Human hearts are corrupted easily."_

" _But not all humans are so easily manipulated. Believe me when I say this is the only option. His death and the destruction of Remnant is something that can be accomplished through the force of one."_

" _One person is capable of such a task?"_

" _Indeed. And I believe you already know of whom I speak of."_

 _The gaze of the queen that commanded legions narrowed, understanding who it was she spoke of._

" _I see… So that's how you will go about it… You and I truly are similar in many respects… Very well then. Go forth with the power I have given you. Command my legions and bring forth ruin and sorrow. I have high hopes for you…Scylix."_

 _And so the woman in ragged black known as Scylix marched forth, her plan now fully enacted. She would make her presence known. They would chase after the trail she would leave them. They would find her. And then...she would watch them fall...one...by...one._

* * *

 **(Bleach The Movie 4 OST - "Incantation" Part E)**

The ruins of a shattered and broken kingdom were ablaze with white flame under the unending red sky; a deathly silence had set in. The flames that had been scattered across the land made no noise, they simply existed and slowly ate away at the stone littered throughout the desert of black sand.

Then...an echoing crash that quickly tore through the stones ruins, reaching towards the dunes of black sand to create a focused torrent of dust that traveled out for a few more meters, a constant sea of sparks emerging from within until the torrent traveled upwards into the sky.

From the torrent of dust emerged a smiling Scylix, who spread her arms and and legs outwards as six long black chains attached to six one foot long spear points emerged from behind her back, her feet meeting the stone of a nearby tower ruin.

Down below, a Shadow Skinned creature with glowing red eyes, skin bathed in white with nine white fox tails and white fox ears remained on the ground on all fours, it's maw of sharp teeth that bit into the flesh of the white skin opening wide to unleash a thunderous, animalistic, distorted roar before it quickly dashed forwards at blinding speed towards Scylix, a trail of black sand following behind it.

The Dark Entity giggled to herself before kicking off the base of the tower, moving at the same speed as the creature that ran towards her on its two legs, it's arms remaining at its sides. The crazed beast leapt off the ground towards Scylix, readying its clawed hand to strike while the Dark Entity converged it's six blade chains to its right side. Clawed hand and six blade points clashed momentarily as they passed by each other, the short contact resulting in a small cloud of sparks that was followed by a large gust of wind.

Both Scylix and the menacing being soon spun around mid air to face one another before they landed on the ground, only to dash at one another once again at invisible speeds to clash in the air. Scylix was currently on the defensive, using her hands, feet and chains to block the combined attacks from the Shadow Skinned creatures own hands, feet and nine tails that dangerously whipped about and made stabbing motions.

There was an opening that allowed the creature to use six of its nine tails to counter Scylix's six chains, the other three used to pierce through both of the Dark Entities hands and left leg. The creature unleashed another ghastly distorted howl, only to be met with a stomp kick to the face from its opponent's free right leg, the kick sending the creature rolling backwards through the air and into one of the nearby towers.

The distorted creature rolled and tumbled on its back down the side of the tower, tearing it apart as it rolled while Scylix landed on the same side, quickly running down it to meet the creature. The Shadow Skinned creature used its nine tails to pierce the remaining mass of the tower behind it, halting it to a quick stop before it let out a distorted grunt and violently slammed both fists down into the tower, sending a powerful shockwave towards Scylix along with numerous large chunks of stone from the now shattered structure.

The force of the shockwave along with the chunks of stone was enough to force Scylix backwards a considerable distance away from the tower as a large smoke screen clouded her vision. From outside the smoke, the Shadow Skinned creature made a dash towards the Dark Entity, attempting to use all nine of its tails to run her through, only for Scylix to quickly turn into a blur of black and reappear a few meters above the creature.

Scylix dashed up into the air past the smoke screen and quickly looked around for her opponent to find that her opponent had come to her, landing both of its clawed feet on the Dark Entities backside. She tried to retaliate with all six of her chains, but their blade points were stopped by the tips of six of the crazed beast's tails, allowing it to dish out bloody retribution.

It quickly grabbed hold of Scylix's arms with its hands, and then kicked off her back as it violently pulled, instantly ripping off the Dark Entities arms. To add insult to injury, the menacing being spun in the air once and slammed both of Scylix's torn off arms atop her head, sending her plummeting into the desert of black sand.

The result was an explosive shockwave accompanied with a large amount of the black sand, Scylix emerging from the black dust cloud rolling rapidly on her back. She recovered mid-roll, landing on the balls of her feet as she skidded backwards, stopping shortly after as her black blood flowed from where her arms used to be.

The Shadow Skinned entity landed in a low squat on the ground a few meters away, still holding onto the arms before it tossed them away as it stood up, it's glistening white form leaning forwards, waiting to attack.

All the while, Scylix stared back at the menacing creature with a crazed smile, giggling to herself as both of her arms grew back within the next instant. Her six bladed chains formed a sphere of sorts around her, the blade points meeting together in a circle formation in front of her chest. The wind picked up in front of the Dark Entity as six streaks of black Aura outlined in dark purple converged towards the center of where the six blade points met, slowly creating a large growing sphere of her Aura.

The creature made its nine tails converge together outwards in the front to form a sphere, the tips of its tails meeting together in the same fashion as Scylix's blade points, nine streaks of flaming white Aura outlined in black converging at the meeting point of the tail tips, forming a sphere of its Aura that grew more quickly and larger than Scylix's own.

Both of their spheres of Aura burst forth into massive beams of Aura, that when met, crashed into one another like ocean waves, each struggling to overpower the other. Shortly after, the menacing entities beam easily toppled Scylix's, resulting in explosive blast of Aura that destroyed a massive portion of the surrounding area within seconds, large amounts of black sand flowing freely in the sky that had been picked up by the violent wind currents.

Scylix took to the skies once more, only to find the creature crashing into her from above. For the short time they fell, the creature let out a quiet distorted growl, a small bout of white flame outlined in black emerging from its open maw.

The crazed beast tossed up the Dark Entity into air above it, quickly spinning around a delivering a crushing kick to Scylix's stomach, sending her flying consecutively through three nearby towers. The Shadow Skinned entity brought forth all nine of its tails, each tail tip individually charging up small spheres of its Aura before they quickly shot forth into smaller beams of glowing white Aura outlined in black, tearing through the black desert until they converged upon Scylix's crash site. Numerous dome snapped explosive bursts of white flame quickly followed after the beams' trails, hot white fire and black sand being all that could be seen for miles on end.

Friends watched from afar as the wind blew past them like a powerful storm. Violent quakes riddled the ground in sifting depressions, quaking all around them as they stared fearfully into the dreary skies, watching helplessly at fight that shook the land beneath their feet. A solemn shout carried itself outward, trying to reach the fighters in the sky but falling just short of them, the only one to call out the true name of the Shadow Skinned creature. But the voice remained unheard amidst the howling wind and tremors; all other noise was silenced by a ghastly, distorted roar that thundered throughout the landscape, overtaking both noises of destruction, the one voice from the surface falling into silence.

 **(End Song)**

* * *

In the blackness of night, his eyes snapped opened as his left hand quickly reached for his sheathed longsword and rapidly lashed out backhand style. He soon realized he had hit nothing. He felt the cold sweat slowly drip down the side of his head, his bright sky blue eyes relaxing soon after as he reached behind him and placed his weapon back in its sheath, leaning his back towards the large tree he slept against previously, staring at the campfire of white flame that crackled and burned in front of him.

Dante closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself, using the sleeve of his left hand to wipe away the sweat from his forehead before running a hand through his chin length white hair, the front bangs settling towards the left side of his face soon after, covering only part of his left eye. The teens gaze trailed to his left index finger, staring at the black ring on his finger.

It was a fairly simple thing really. The rectangular stone set in the metal band was obsidian black with numerous diamond shaped patterns cut into the stone. In the center of the stone was a small white metal shield crest with a black background that had the letter "A" in white colored metal etched into the black background of the shield crest. The rectangular metal surrounding the ring stone, as well as the metal band, was colored pure black with intricate white colored etchings carved into the band. Every now and then, when he stared at the ring, he couldn't help but feel it empowered him in some way, despite the ring not containing the power it once did.

His gaze soon shifted up towards the night sky past the seemingly endless amount of colossal trees, gazing at twinkling stars above. It was a welcome sight after the long trek both he and Inuba made throughout the day. The next town over was only a few hours away, and so Dante decided to stop around the time night began to settle over the last rays of light, both he and Inuba resting in the makeshift camp ground they made earlier.

Thinking of his partner Inuba, he looked to his left to find her still sleeping peacefully with her legs brought in towards her chest. Her pure white hair that was near shoulder length, and slightly messy, gave off a small shimmer like the white campfire that lit up their campsite, her white fox ears that were folded against her head twitching slightly as she slept peacefully. He quickly took note that he had been cloaked by the one grey blanket they possessed.

Considering he was the one who slept first, he only had one guess as to how this happened. Inuba's kindness was always something the teen appreciated greatly. Although sometimes, he felt it was unnecessary. Even though she was kind enough to wrap him in the blanket, it left her without anything to cover herself from the cold night. The only thing she had was the sleeping mat and pillow.

"Honestly… I keep telling her that some of these things are unnecessary…" He said removing the blanket from his persons and draping it over her peacefully sleeping form.

The Kitsune nuzzled her face in the new source of soft warm, slightly stirring as she adjusted herself. Dante made an attempt to stand up, only to find himself anchored. Looking down, he saw his partners fluffy white fox tail wrapped around his waist, keeping him close to her. Dante chuckled slightly at the sight, but currently, he wanted to leave and take a short walk to relax his mind. But how would he escape from the fluffy grasp of Inuba's fox tail? Only one idea came to mind currently.

The teen quickly placed his left hand on her tail and ran his hand through the fur, running it deeply through the softness of her tail as he massaged it in a methodical pattern, which resulted in her tail squirming about wildly. The tail would not release him, forcing him to quicken the pace until finally the tail unraveled itself from his waist, allowing him freedom to stand. Even with his release, Inuba's fox tail continued whipping about, only at a slower pace as it pattered against Dante's sleeping mat.

The teen grabbed hold of his white button up coat with black trimming, where the tail end that was split in two reached his calves and put it over the grey collared shirt he wore. The tails flapped in the cool breeze, revealing the inner part of the coat that was colored jet black. After some strenuous effort in taking his entirely bandaged right arm out of his black sling to put it through the right sleeve of the coat, followed by putting the arm back into the sling, Dante quickly buttoned up the three shiny black buttons on his coat, where it wrapped around his entire body.

He soon moved his hand down the two rows of three buttons, then fixed the black lapels and collar of his coat, allowing him to finally grab hold of Anvil, his weapon, and invisibly attach the sheathed longsword on the left side of his back. When this was done, he quickly gave his grey jeans a quick pat down before putting on his black running shoes with white soles, thus allowing him to begin his midnight stroll.

He stopped momentarily in front of the thin, nearly invisible, dome shaped barrier that surrounded their campsite before easily passing through, leisurely walking down the snowy road that flowed under the the thin rays of moonlight that peeked through the trees, moving towards the lake both he and Inuba spotted near their campsite earlier in the day.

The teen brushed past a few bushes and stared at the center of the lake, seeing the moon's pale reflection. Crouching down, Dante stuck his left hand in the waters of the lake, sifting it around playfully until he took it out and leaned backwards to sit down.

Shifting his head to the side, he saw a figure approach from behind, the figure resembling his Shadow Skinned self, which had very thin segmented armor layered over its entire body from neck to toe, long horns protruding from the side of its head that bent inwards before curving outwards slightly, white Aura glowing from the gaps in the armored hide, and glowing white perfectly round circles for eyes. Currently, it had no visible mouth. The Entity sat next to Dante, repeating the same action the teen did only a few moments ago by placing its hands in the lake and sifting them around.

"You seem troubled…" it spoke in a hollow, echoing voice

"Somewhat… Just a nightmare is all…"

"Nightmares huh… I thought you stopped having those."

"So did I. Guess they're not completely gone yet."

"It's hard to believe it's only been six months since everything happened… How slowly time goes by…"

"We can only move forward and hope for the best at this point. And, well, hope to find the people responsible."

"We both know Cinder Fall and her lackeys are responsible for the terror unleashed upon Vale six months prior."

"Even so, I have feeling they weren't acting on their own. Not entirely at least."

"Puppets to a higher power… Disappointing…" said the Entity with a sigh.

"I wouldn't go underestimating them just yet. While Emerald and Mercury are weaker than us, don't forget that Cinder now possess the full power of the Fall Maiden. Last time we fought Cinder, and when I say we I mean you, we couldn't gauge her strength properly given the...situation at the time."

"You don't possibly mean to suggest that the power of these Maidens is stronger than ours…"

"If I have to be honest, I can't really say. We've heard rumors and legends at most. And we technically had a chance to test out a Maidens abilities. But it was a really one-sided battle considering the EndStage affliction we had at the time. So next time we see her, we have to give it everything we've got."

"That much I understand… It's very likely we'll defeat her when the time comes. After all, we have improved since then." Said the Entity removing its hands from the lake.

It soon turned its gaze to Dante as it stood.

"And...your arm will hopefully be healed fully by then." It said pointing to Dante's entirely bandaged right arm that was kept in a black sling.

Dante tried to clench his fist, but was barely able to curl his fingers; they felt extremely numb. It was then the pain finally set in, a burning pain that traveled throughout his entire arm, giving off a silent hissing sound.

"It would seem the fox's treatments aren't as effective as they seem to be…"

"Inuba is doing her best to heal my arm. Her Cleansing Flame wasn't exactly meant for this kind of damage. But she's adjusting to it, and her treatments are slowly making it better. I couldn't so much as move my right arm, let alone my fingers last month. Thanks to Inuba, I can slightly move them now."

"Using your Shadow Skin, in other words, the appearance I currently possess, for only your right arm allows you to fully use it, should the need arise. But, each time you use it for your right arm, it sets back your recovery slightly. Despite the immortality you possess, even you will have your hand forced. Pun not intended mind you." said the Entity, earning a chuckle from Dante.

"Which is why I'll try to end fights quickly. That way I don't need to Shadow Skin my right arm and get scolded by Inuba afterwards."

"Understand that I will assist you at anytime. Remember that as you go about your journey."

With those final words, the Entities body dissolved into black, ash like substance and scattered in the cool breeze of night, leaving the teen by himself once more. He took a final glance at the shattered moon up in the sky before standing up and heading back towards the campsite, willing to attempt sleeping again.

* * *

"Sweet suffering succotash he's fast! He nearly took off my hand! If I didn't use my Semblance, he would have cut my hand…" Said a cloaked figure standing atop a mountain cliff overlooking Dante and Inuba's campsite for the night, shaking her hand off a few times.

"Well, to be fair, it would have been your own fault, sister. They're out in the woods at nighttime. Even if the barrier that ms. Fox put up will turn any Grimm that comes into contact with it into ash, it'll block out any and everything else that isn't Grimm. But given the capabilities of your Semblance, you could easily slip in and out of her barrier, especially since it's not multilayered." Said the young man next to her, wearing the same garb as she did.

"Either way, close call. You think she's going to be mad at us for going ahead of schedule?" asked the young girl.

"Very. But like you, I don't exactly agree with her idea. Which is why I'm here in the first place. Otherwise, I would have stayed where we were."

"Awww… What's wrong? Having second thoughts already?" She asked mockingly.

"Nothing of the sort. I'm just slightly concerned whether or not our actions will have consequences."

"So what? We'll deal with it later."

"Do you ever care to think ahead? Even if it's just for once?"

"I'm not big on the whole planning thing like you are. Besides, what does it matter if you can crush your opponents almost instantly?"

"Not all of your battles will be so easy. One of these days, there will be someone who's more than a match for you. Even with your Semblance."

"But~ That doesn't mean I won't be able to take them down in the end."

The young man sighed, knowing his argument would be in vain. She wouldn't listen to him. At least, not entirely.

"Big day's in a few hours. Are you excited?" She said bumping her elbow into her companion's side.

"Excitement isn't the word I'd use… I'm...anxious if anything."

"I guess I'm the same way…" Said the young girl a bit more calmly as she fell down into a squat, resting her chin in both hands.

"As long as you stay calm, everything will go according to plan."

"I'm always calm."

"There have been multiple instances where you've proven that statement to be incorrect."

She reached out and punched the young man in the shin with a cracking dull thud, which surprisingly didn't force him to jump or cry out in pain. Instead, he stood as though nothing happened.

"Then again, you've never thrown a real temper-tantrum. At least you have that to be proud of."

"Wow~ Such an amazing accomplishment!" Said the young girl sarcastically.

"You know what I meant." He said sitting down next to her.

"Sooooo… What now? We just...wait until the sun rises or something?"

"We wait until they enter the town tomorrow. After they've concluded whatever business that leads them there, we'll be following and observing them from afar. When they leave the village, we make contact with them."

"Got it…" her voice came out in a soft murmur, which was something her companion took notice of.

"You seem a bit distressed."

"Not distressed. Just...puzzled. Puzzled, right? That's the word?"

"I believe so."

"He doesn't need to sleep. So why does he do it?"

"To retain a sense of normality I suppose… We wouldn't know unless we asked him."

* * *

Dante's eyes slowly opened up to greet the day, using his only good arm to block out the rays of light for a few moments until his eyes adjusted. It was still slightly dark, which told the teen it was early in the morning.

"Good morning Master. Did you sleep well?"

His head jolted up, moving towards the direction of the voice. His eyes met the crimson red eyes of his Kitsune partner Inuba, who stood in front of him holding a cup of one his favorite beverages, green tea. Using his back, he pushed himself off the tree he leaned himself against, standing up to take the cup in his left hand.

He then remembered her question, his mind briefly flashing images of the dream he had.

"Okay I guess." Said the teen taking a sip. "How long have you been up?"

"Not long. Perhaps for twenty minutes now..? I didn't bother to check the time after I changed my clothes."

Dante's eyes trailed towards Inuba's direction for a few moments when she turned to prepare some tea for herself. A few words came to mind every now and then when he glanced at her. Alluring. Endearing. Stunning. Captivating. She was all these and more.

Silky smooth, near-shoulder length white hair that shimmered slightly. Beautiful eyes, framed by long lashes, that were a crimson red that seemingly brightened the world. Soft, elegant lips. Smooth, porcelain-like skin. A beautifully slender figure. Curvy in all the right places. Ample breasts that were perky with a natural bounce, but still firm. It was as if she represented the picture of perfection.

Her white fox ears and white fox tail only seemed to add more to her already alluring form.

Dante had to shake his head around a few times. Any further thoughts would have been dangerous for him to think of. He turned his head to face his partner again, taking a quick glance at what she wore today. Yet again, she wore the same outfit as every other day, which told him she was really fond of it, especially since it was all she wore and that she had extra pairs of the same clothing.

Inuba's choice of clothing was fairly simply, but unique in the sense that it was a style that would only suite her.

She wore a sleeveless white collared shirt, the collar colored black, with a zipper zipped down to the center of her chest. Underneath, she also wore a sleeveless skin tight black shirt.

Inuba also wore white detached sleeves with black trimming that went slightly above her elbows, while sporting skin tight black sleeves underneath, where the under-sleeves wrapped around her palm and backhand and banded around her middle fingers. She also wore a sort of black sash around her waist, where on the right side of her waist, the sash's ends dangled freely.

Inuba wore a pleated skirt similar in fashion to the reaper in red they both knew, Ruby Rose, where the skirt ended at the center of her thighs, but a bit tighter, and had wavy white patterns across the skirt. In addition, she also wore white thigh high socks with black bands at the ends. For footwear, she sported a simple pair of white shoes with black laces and black soles.

"Went straight for the tea… How like you…" he said as Inuba sat next to him

"I'm sorry, should I have not done so?" She asked slightly concerned as her fox ears folded against her head.

"No, I didn't mean it like that… It's just...you're devoting a lot of your time to taking care of me nowadays… More so now compared to when we were in Primordial… It's nice… Really nice of you. Thank you."

Inuba's fox ears perked up, her fox tail straightening out momentarily before whipping about wildly as she turned her reddened face away from him.

"T-There's no need for you to thank me Master… I...I am simply performing my duties as your Familiar…"

"You know, I never really liked those terms… Servant. Familiar. Master. We may have our souls linked to one another, but that doesn't entirely make one person the master and the other the servant. True as it may be that the circumstances at the time made it that way, I never once considered you as a servant or someone below me. In fact, I always thought of you as an equal. Rather than that, an amazing and kind-hearted person. You don't have to do the things you do. Defending me all the time… Taking care of me to this extent…" Dante said nodding his head towards his right arm in the sling.

His voice soon took on a softer tone.

"It's all unnecessary. Yet you do it anyway. For my sake...and anyone else in need."

"Master…"

"I really wish you would just drop that term… But I know how attached you are to it, so I won't force you to drop it. Just try to use my name once in a while."

 _There's a reason I haven't done so, Master... I know how much you want me to simply call you by name...but…_

"I understand Master. I will try to do so from now on."

He took a sip of his tea at set it down, saying "Thanks. So then-"

Before he had the chance to say anything else, an excruciating burning sensation traveled throughout his entire left arm, forcing him to grit his teeth as he held back a cry of pain.

"Master!"

Inuba immediately dropped everything she had in her hands at the moment and quickly but gently removed his right arm from his sling. Her white flames burned away the bandages without burning his skin. Beneath the bandages, pitch black skin could be seen that ran all the way up to the joint of his upper arm and shoulder as he clutched it in pain. Even so, there were numerous small "spots" located all over the blackened skin, revealing the teens smooth, pale skin underneath.

Inuba's white flames blanketed the blackened arm, and as they crackled, ever so slowly, the patches in the black skin began to grow larger, as if the blackened skin was being healed.

The pain receded, and with it, came slightly more functionality with his arm and fingers. This was only slight however. He still couldn't fully curl his fingers, much less flex his arm all that much.

Inuba's flames soon calmed, but did not recede. Instead, they became a fresh new pair of bandages that covered his fingers, hand, and entire right arm.

"Wow! That's impressive! When did you learn to do that?"

"It took some time but...considering my Spells were focused on the utilization of Magic Energy, making use of them through Aura has proven rather...difficult. It's as though I'm converting, or rather, rewriting the basis of my Spells in order for them to be used with my Aura. Strangely enough though...Aura seems to be a more effective and efficient way of usage of energy to power my Spells and other techniques. It's as if Magic Energy was just a prerequisite, or a substitute, which makes me think-"

"That Aura is the prime and actual source of power behind our techniques and your Spells. My memory is a bit hazy, but I distinctly remember someone telling me that Aura is actually the refined and purest form of our power. In other words, our true power."

"If that is the case, then maybe the power you posses currently wasn't a gift, but rather your true power instead?"

"My old powers acting as a substitute for the ones I currently posses… That would make sense. I do feel as though I have...more control."

He looked to his side to see Inuba, holding his arm, a look of worry written across her face.

"What's wrong? Is the treatment not working anymore?"

"No, it's working…but...albeit, very slowly. What's troubling me is that my treatment, Cleansing Flames, only seems to work while you're suffering an attack. If anything else were possible...I would have stayed awake continuous days and nights treating your arm until it was fully healed…"

"Don't worry about it all too much. You're doing what you can and that's what matters most. Sure it sucks having to go through an attack, and that your Cleansing Flames only seems to work then, but you're trying to help as much as possible. So don't feel so down about it."

"You're far too kind Master…"

 _I wonder whether she's right or not… Past actions and recent ones make me question that whole idea entirely. I try to be as nice as possible, but...am I actually as nice as people see me?_

Inuba's fox ears folded against her head, her eyes taking on a more sorrowful glance as her grip on his arm grew tighter. Though most of the feeling in his right arm was gone, he most certainly felt her grip, however slight.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-No, nothing… I was simply lost in thought for a moment…"

"Right...well, either way, we need to pack up and head for the village to restock our supplies and so forth. Maybe even unwind and relax for a bit. I'll start with the bedmats." He said before finishing the last of his tea, rising up to pack their materials.

Inuba went to work packing the rest of the supplies, stopping momentarily to look back at Dante.

 _You are kind Master… Kinder than any person I've ever met. Even so...you've been hurt the worst and suffered the most. Though you may act on the outside as though it doesn't affect you in the slightest...deep down...you feel such great pain… If only…_

Her fingers clutched tighter into the fabric of the pack in her hands, her skin growing hot _._

 _If only-!_

Inuba smelt something burning, realizing she had slightly burnt her pack as she panicked and patted out the white flames she accidentally brought forth.

"Man...you're kind of out of it today, aren't you?"

"I-I'm so sorry Master!"

"No worries. See?" He said pointing back to the pack that had now looked as though it sustained no burns.

"The packs are made of Empyrean Weave and Calcified Dust, the same materials my coat is made of. Same with anything else that's of fabric material that we currently own. It'll basically fix itself and clean itself. Though it doesn't take care of smell, so it's necessary to wash it still."

"I see… That's a relief…"

"Well, I have everything else packed. You?"

"Same for myself."

"Alrighty then. Let's get going."

* * *

Dante and Inuba entered through the village gates and took a quick look around. Numerous homes, stores and pubs, practically every building in sight incorporated stone with wooden homes that resembled log cabins. The streets were bustling and booming with both humans and Fauna. Busy vendors, running and laughing children, people walking side by side one another peacefully.

Busy vendors, running and laughing children, people walking alongside one another peacefully. It was almost as if nothing bad ever happened in this village.

"Alright. So obviously those stone walls aren't the only thing responsible for keeping out the Grimm. Considering I only have the ability to see through illusions that I can confirm are illusions, I can't see whether or not magic or anything else was used. But you can. So, what do your special fox eyes see?" Finished the teen a deep voice, earning a giggle from Inuba.

In the next second, the Kitsune girls round pupils turned into slit pupils, black sclera blanketing the white to surround her crimson red irises.

"There is an incantation that has been placed on the walls that repels Grimm of all varieties, but only so. It doesn't kill small to mid-sized Grimm or turn them into ash like my barriers do." she said as her eyes returned to their normal form.

"Either way, the barrier they put up is keeping them out."

"Not entirely…"

"What do you mean?"

"The barrier is old. Very old. There are extensive cracks and even some broken areas of the barrier where the stone in the wall was very likely rebuilt after a Grimm incursion. We should find the person in charge of the village and speak to them about any attacks and see if there's anything we can do."

"Exactly what I was thinking."

The duo walked together up the village streets, leading up to a large stone structure on the top of the hill. Six minutes of walking was all it took to reach the top.

"State your business boy and Faunus girl."

"We've come to speak person in charge of this village. We think you may have problem with some Grimm. Either now or in the near future."

"Oh really? And what can two children do?"

"Correction. A Huntsmen and Huntress stand before us." Spoke an older voice.

The duo looked behind the guard to see an elderly man walk towards them, fixing his circular rimmed glasses.

"It's alright. Let them through."

The guard reluctantly moved aside, allowing them to move through.

"So sorry about that. Please, right this way."

Eventually their walk took them to rather spacey office room, a window overlooking the entire village, even the gate.

 _Is that how he knew we were outside?_

"A Huntsmen and a Huntress… How peculiar…"

"Oh, we're not a full fledged Huntsmen or Huntress. Actually, she and I were in training until recently."

"I see. So the both of you come from Vale then. Such a shame to hear about what happened recently. But if Vale is under siege, should not the both of you be there to assist?"

"We're on a separate mission. One of our allies found a lead that leads us to Haven. My partner and I have been traveling on the road to make it to Haven and see what there is waiting for us. We've been stopping at villages and towns on the way to rest and restock our supplies, as well as helping out with whatever we can. That includes threats involving Grimm."

"So you noticed the barrier… How peculiar… Only a very rare few are able to see that there is an actual barrier."

"That's thanks to my partner. She's...special."

Inuba jolted up words a bit as she lowered her head slightly, her tail whipping about happily.

"I see… What is it that you ask in return?"

"We only ask that you help provide lodgings for the night. That's all."

"You two are a peculiar pair indeed. Most people would ask for Lien for such a task… Very well then. Just last week, we suffered an attack from a pack of Beowolves as well as an unknown type of Grimm. The barrier alone should have been enough to repel them...but the new-type caused the damage you most likely spotted in the barrier, allowing them to run through. We managed to avoid any casualties, remaining with only a few wounded. But should whatever made the gap in barrier return… Well, I fear for the safety of the villagers."

"The barrier isn't a simple matter to fix, is it? Especially since you put up the barrier."

"I am fairly old young man... My power isn't as strong as it was fifty years ago when I put up the barrier. Performing such a task would very likely kill me. Therefore...if you say you will help us, then please, do so."

"When the task is complete, we may actually be able to do something about the barrier. I do specialize in making them myself."

"Well then… How unexpected… Very well. If you can do so, then we will provide you something extra. Along with free lodgings for your stay, we will also restock your supplies, free of charge."

"We understand. Thank you for your time." Said Dante before nodding towards Inuba.

The duo soon left the office and went the way the came, leaving the large structure.

"We should talk to the village milita and see if they have anything leads on where we can find the pack. After that, we head out and come back within the hour. Sound good?"

"Of course, Master."

"Oh, one thing. I know it's your thing, but try not to call me 'Master' out in public. People might get the wrong idea. In more ways than one."

Whatever Inuba thought of in the next few seconds was enough to make her face go red before she responded.

"Y-Yes! Of course!"

"Good. Then let's go!"

* * *

The last of the Beowolves crashed into and bounced off a nearby tree, allowing Dante to finish off the creature with a leaping downwards slash from the air, cutting it in half down the middle. It's body soon faded into nothingness. The teen turned to see Inuba approaching him.

"Finished on your end?"

"Yes. But there was no sign of whatever Grimm caused the damage to the barrier. It must have been a mid-sized Grimm, such as a Deathstalker or a Nevermore."

"They would have spotted either one of them and would have told us if it was one or the other. Whatever did that must have been of a smaller size. From what you've told me, the size of the gap was at least thirteen feet tall compared to the rest of the wall, which is twenty feet tall. The village elder said this creature of Grimm was unknown. If it were any other mid-sized Grimm that we know of currently, they would have told us."

"Which means this must be a new variety…" Said Inuba.

As she said this, the trees behind them began to fly up in the air as small tremors began to approach them. The duo leapt out of the way of the incoming creature, watching the smoke clear away.

The creature stood at thirteen feet tall, and had long, thick animal legs that had large bones white hooves. The short fur covering it's legs and massive humanoid body and thick arms was colored black. It's head was like that of a bull, covered in a bone white mask with glowing red eyes. It's white horns were long and fairly thick. It's backside was armored, and had four triangular vents.

"So it was a new type of Grimm. A Minotaur Grimm at that… Keep an eye out. If this thing is anything like the Minotaurs we've faced, it'll-"

The Minotaur Grimm roared loudly before beginning to bull rush the duo once again, only for them to dodge out of the way and let it charge through a few more trees of the forest.

"Try and charge at us." Said the teen raising his sword.

The creature spun and charged at Dante full speed. The teen was ready to dodge to the side, but the creature changed its tactics and leapt up in the air raising its fists up into the air as it slammed them down. Dante leapt backwards, the creatures fists crashing into the earth to create a small crater.

 _That things pretty strong… I wonder…_

Dante immediately lunged forwards and swung his blade, only to have it stop at its skin.

 _As I thought… It's skin is highly durable…_

The Minotaur Grimm pushed back Dante and attempted to take a few swings at him with its fists, mixing in a few kicks with its hooves and even some stabs at the teen with its horns. Inuba appeared in a blur of white above the creature, her katana turned upside down and cloaked with her white flame. Her blade managed to pierce the creatures hide, but only halfway before it swung it's arm behind it to hit her, forcing the Kitsune girl to kick off its back and take her blade with her.

 _Nice going Inuba! She saw that my weapon didn't cut through it and cloaked her sword in her Flames! Since the Flames she produces is transduced from her Aura, it not only has the property of Fire, but also Aura. Which means Aura infused attacks work!_

The teen sheathed his sword and extended his hand outwards, a small burst of white Aura outlined in black forming in his hand. His Aura then quickly formed into a replica of his Longsword, the teen then charging in as the Minotaur Grimm quickly spun around and leaned forward, black ooze bursting out of the vents on its back to propel it forwards at greater speed than it originally moved.

Dante was in close proximity of the creature and spun out of the way, lashing out with great force to cut through its arm, separating it from the creatures body. The Minotaur Grimm staggered forwards to a halt. It's glowing red eyes focused on Dante.

"You're wide open…"

The creature of Grimm's eyes widened, as if it understood what the teen had just said. Before it could react, Inuba had dropped down and lobbed off its other arm with one fiery swing, leaping forwards towards Dante seconds later to avoid it's kicking hoove.

"It looks as though you've made him angry…" Said Dante.

"I'm not really concerned currently with how it feels…" Said Inuba.

"Right… How about we end this right now?"

Dante's Aura Longsword disappeared out of sight, allowing him to extend his left hand towards the creature that scrapped its hooves behind it, ready to charge again. Before it took off, two Aura Greatswords dropped down from above diagonally and pierced through the creatures thighs, pinning it to the ground to prevent it from moving.

Inuba dashed forwards at blinding speed, sword at her side as she leapt towards it to cover the gap quicker. With a single strike, her pure white blade tore through the creature of Grimm's neck and cleaved its head from its shoulders. As its head flew in the air, it dissolved into nothingness as its body crashed into the floor, following suite afterwords.

"Nice work partner. That takes care of all of the Grimm in the area surrounding the village. Let's head back."

"Of course, Master." She said sheathing her weapon, quickly running to his side to join him.

"Nice work with figuring out that Aura would cut through its skin. Pretty clever of you."

"O-Oh, it was nothing! It was just a random thought I had after seeing that your sword didn't cut through its skin immediately…"

"Well, we discovered a supposedly new type of Grimm and figured out its weakness in one go."

"Why supposedly?"

"Well, Professor Port was our Grimm Studies educator and he never did once mention a Grimm Minotaur. So the only assumptions to make really is that either he never got to telling us or it really is a new mid-sized type. Either way, we know how to deal with it should we come across it."

The teen took a quick look around, as did his partner. Silence.

"Doesn't seem like there's anymore more incoming. I guess we're done. Let's head back and-"

Before he could speak another word, Dante's entire body instantaneously became covered in pitch black Aura, which formed a second skin over his clothes. The black flesh of this "second skin" was segmented like armor, covering the entirety of his legs, body, back, neck, shoulders and left arm. Parts of his armored hide had gaps that glowed with white Aura.

His white hair was gone, and was instead replaced with long, thin, flat black horns that protruded from the side of his head, the horns bending inwards before slightly curving outwards, pointing up towards the sky while slightly pointing backwards.

His mouth was now a maw of numerous thin black teeth that was a part of the Shadowy Skin, the inside of his mouth glowing hot white. His eyes were simply perfectly round circles that glowed white. His eyes turned into half circles in order to display some form of annoyance, or anger.

"Master, what's wrong?!"

"I don't know!" He said in a hollow, echoing voice. "My Shadow Skin activated on its own!"

Shortly after, his Shadow Skin quickly cracked apart, dissolving in the air like black ash. Then again the skin reformed, then deformed a few more times before coming to a complete halt.

"Wait a minute… I know what this is…" he said in his normal voice.

Inuba's head immediately turned towards her Master.

"This… This is Resonance…"

The Ktisune girls eyes widened momentarily before both she and her Master went back to back, their eyes scanning the areas ahead of them.

"See anything?" Asked Dante silently.

"Nothing… But I'm detecting two fairly powerful presences… They're releasing their Aura openly, making me unable to accurately detect them. Even so, I can detect distinct differences between the Aura Signatures, which is how I know there is only two people. They know I can sense them…"

"Think they were following us?"

"It's likely… Considering they're dispersing this much Aura around us to throw my Aura Sensing off, it's possible that they've been following and watching us from afar."

"Be on guard… If they're throwing off your sensing, then that means we can't get an accurate estimation on where they'll attack from. So keep your eyes open."

A few seconds of silence ensued until a voice spoke through the line of trees.

"Well well ms. Fox… I'm impressed you can see through my brothers Aura Screen. It makes our Aura Signatures invisible to all others that can sense Aura. Except you. You have some serious skill." Spoke a feminine voice.

"Agreed. Which is why we won't take you so lightly."

"I don't know who you two are, but if you leave now, we won't be inclined to do anything to you."

"You? Hurt us? Yeah right! As if a cripple like you can do anything to either of us!"

Dante's right eye twitched slightly.

"That little brat…"

"Make this easier for yourselves and come out of hiding. This will be your final warning." Said Inuba as she slightly unsheathed her weapon.

Without warning, a small beam of black Aura outlined in white came straight for Dante, but the teen easily raised his sword, and with some effort, blocked the attack. Both Dante and Inuba separated in the next instant as something crashed down at where they stood previously.

The dust settled and revealed one of two attackers. The weapon that nearly hit them was a scythe, with a blade as long as five feet. It had a half circle notch on the sharp edge curve of the scythe blade where it was attached to the pole. From the point where the blade emerged, it emerged from the mouth of a black human looking skull at the top end of the pole.

From where the skull was located, the pole adorned a small black rib cage. The long pole of the scythe itself resembled that of a skeletons spine that was slightly curved where the rib cage was located, also colored black, with white colored ligaments, the pole ending in a lower backbone. The scythe stood at seven feet tall total, two feet taller than its wielder.

A breeze swept through, blowing back the black cloak to reveal their attacker. She wore a sort of bone white mask-helmet that covered her entire face and head, the mask only having two slanted eyeholes.

From what Dante could tell at the moment, she seemed somewhere between being well developed and petite with rather beautifully slender arms and legs. This told him she had to be between the age of fourteen to fifteen. For apparel, she wore a white blouse with a black dress vest that had two tails that reached the back of her knees.

She also wore a black pleated skirt, the trimming and inside of the skirt colored a pure white, similar to Inuba's own skirt minus the line patterns the Kitsune girl had on her skirt. The skirt of their attacker reached to the midsection of her thighs. For footwear, she sported black knee high boots with white zippers on the outer side of the boots.

"Nice dodge~! It's no wonder why I almost got my hand cut! You really are fast on your feet!"

"So I didn't lash out aimlessly…"

"Master..?"

"I woke up and drew my sword. I thought someone was there, but when I saw nothing, I just brushed it off. Even so, part of me still believed someone was there."

Inuba immediately spun around and deflected a small beam of Aura that came from behind, seeing the other attacker standing a few feet away.

He, like his partner in crime, wore a bone white mask-helmet of similar design. His choice of clothing consisted of a white long sleeved dress shirt that was covered up by a black thin fabric jacket with white trim and the collar upturned. He also wore simple grey jeans and grey shoes with grey soles.

His weapon, or rather weapons of choice, were twin handcannons, both colored a pure white with black trimming and intricate, wavy black patterns adorning the barrels. The barrels themselves were a foot long each. From the butt of the handles extended two black, thin chain links, the chains hidden inside the sleeves of his jacket due to the fact the chains emerged from the inside of his sleeves.

"Sorry ms. Fox, but you will be my opponent today." He spoke.

"Nowhere to run~"

"What do we do Master?" Whispered Inuba.

"We play along for now. I'll take the brat and you take the other one in front of you. Don't take any chances with them. They give you an opening, you take it."

"Understood."

Inuba immediately blurred out of sight and reappeared in front of her opponent with the handcannons in a burst of white flame, slashing at his face. The attacker dodged backwards before taking another leap backwards, leaving Dante alone with his opponent with the scythe.

"Since you're a cripple, if you ask nicely, I'll go easy on you."

"Don't get your hopes up too high."

His scythe wielding opponent chuckled before instantly appearing before him, her scythe swinging in low and below form his left. Barely having anytime to react, the teen swung his sword down to parry the attack, only to find an elbow crash into his jaw, forcing him to spin around from the force of her attack. Dante was utterly surprised by the speed and strength of his opponent. It was almost as if-

Another swing came in to slash his throat, but he leaned back, dropped low and swung his sword at her legs. Using her scythe as support, the girl immediately left up to avoid the strike to her legs to deliver a stomp kick at Dante. The teen quickly responded by delivering a spinning side, the soles of their shoes making contact and creating a rather strong shockwave. The two combatants kicked off each other to put distance between them.

 _This is unbelievable… Not only is she fast, but she's insanely strong for a little girl! Is she even human?!_

"Don't tell me that's all you've got. I've been looking forward to this you know. Don't disappoint me!"

She brought her scythe to her side and swung. Despite the distance between them, Dante was confused at the moment.

 _Is she going to toss her scythe at me..?_

A second more of waiting was all he needed to confirm this was not the case.

 _No, it's going to-!_

The spinal column-like pole of the scythe extended itself, the pure white ligaments attached to the black bone segments growing longer to add impressive range to her swing. Dante raised up his sword to catch the pole of the scythe, the weapons blade directly behind his backside. The teen found himself being rapidly moved by the swing until he felt the pole contract, signaling him to dodge as the scythe blade barely missed the back of his neck.

The girls scythe contracted to normal length, who then twirled it around in her hand twice before grabbing hold of it with both hands again.

"Hey, you're pretty good! Most people aren't able to dodge that attack."

"It really isn't that hard to do so if you keep two things in mind. One, the fact that you can contract and extend your scythe during and after an attack. And two, the speed of contraction and extension of your weapon, which is as fast as my weapons transformation speed of point five seconds."

The girl whistled.

"A bit of an observer are we? Well then...you might be fun to fight after all, even if you are a cripple."

"I'm just going to ignore those cripple comments from now on."

Dante quickly ran on towards his opponent, sliding under a wide swing at his body before standing up again and lashing out towards the blade, which only provided the weapon more momentum for a quick second attack that he blocked. This time, instead of being swung around, the teen stood in place, only slightly moved.

 _Looks like he's getting used to my current strength and speed…_

The girls train of thought was interrupted when Dante broke their short clash and forced her blade back, which allowed her to unleash a twirling whirlwind attack that moved from side to side of the girl at blinding speeds, temporarily transforming her attack into spinning saw blade attack that sent the teen flying.

"Keep trying~"

Dante remained where he was, studying his opponent.

 _She's keeping me at a distance when possible, and when I get close, she's fending me off. Comparing weapons, I should be faster. But she's keeping up with my speed. More so actually. But how? The fact she's kept up with my speed so far and is matching my strength leads me to assume she's not human. So what is she then? Are there inhuman beings that are showing up only now? Or...are the two of them people that came from outside of this World like me?_

* * *

Inuba walked through the heavily wooded area with her hand hovering over her katana; her ears were perked up and attent, her crimson red irises scanning the area constantly for the slightest movements. With a quick and fluid motion, she drew her sword and lashed out towards an incoming Aura beam, cutting through it instantly.

Within the beam, she spotted something strange. She reached out and grabbed the object, examining it closely. It was a bullet. A black bullet. It emanated a dark energy.

 _This material… I know what it is!_

She immediately dropped the fragment and began to rapidly slash at an incoming hail of Aura beams that had bullets mixed into them, quickly deflecting the shots as fast as possible until the the quickfire onslaught of bullets ceased. Looking towards the ground, she noticed more of the black bullets, as well as white bullets as well. Her previous thoughts had now been confirmed.

She heard a rush of wind, sensing her opponent had come out of hiding with his handcannon pointed directly at her head. She ducked to avoid the shot and lashed out behind her, finding that her blade had stopped at the chains attached to the butt of the guns that went inside the sleeves of his jacket. Not stopping there, the Kitsune girl spun around and began to relentlessly assault her foe with rapid strikes, to which he responded with blocking through utilization of his chains and weapons themselves, occasionally trying to fire off a shot at Inuba whenever she was in his target sights.

Inuba went for an overhead strike that her opponent blocked by crossing his guns, her white blade stopping directly on the base of the weapons. The owner of the handcannons quickly shot at the base of Inuba's blade to force her katana out of her hand and into a nearby tree, opening her for attack.

Surprisingly, this did nothing to hinder her defense. The Kitsune girl immediately removed her sheath from the black sash around her waist and spun it around rapidly, deflecting the new onslaught of bullets until she leapt to the tree and regained her weapon. She noticed an action earlier that her target repeated currently. He twirled his handcannons around his trigger fingers twice before holding them normally them again and resuming to assault Inuba again.

She deflected, carefully counting the amount of shots of each barrage, which totaled to twenty four shots. After twenty four shots, he twirled his handcannons around again and took cover behind a tree after the Kitsune girl shot a white orb of flame at him that fragmented into smaller bolts of fire when he shot at it. Some of the bolts passed through the trees as if they were paper, the boy moving his head to the side to avoid a fatal injury.

 _That was close… She's doing a lot better than I expected… Then again, she's Dante's partner. It would only make sense she's this good._

He ducked down to avoid having his head cut off as Inuba's pure white blade cut through the thick tree with ease. Expecting her to be open to attack, he pointed his left handcannon at her, only to find that she had quickly spun around to unleash another powerful slash that disarmed him of his weapon. Even so, the momentum forced his body to shift sideways, moving his other gun towards the Kitsune girl. She dodged the shot by stepping sideways, followed by her grabbing his arm and easily flinging him a distance away.

The body was now soaring upside down, the chains emerging from his left sleeve retracting to bring back his discarded weapon, allowing him to use both guns to shot at her. Inuba deflected the first few shots before leaping up into the air, spinning around to avoid the next volley before she straight tossed her katana directly at the dual handcannon wielder. He expected his bullets to throw off the swords trajectory, but found this was quite the opposite when his bullets split apart when they made contact with the weapons point.

Thoroughly surprised, he quickly twirled his guns around yet again before bringing in his legs, soon planting them on the trunk of their tree and moving to the side to avoid the katana coming straight for him. A burst of white flame forced back his right hand, leaving him with only one gun to shoot at the fast approaching Inuba. Yet again she dodged his volley, planting one of her feet into his stomach to keep him in place as she grabbed hold of her sword and dragged it through the wood of the tree towards him.

The boy ducked down to avoid the blade and threw his shoulder into the Kitsune girl to throw her off him, allowing him to point his guns at her yet again, ready to fire. Inuba responded by spinning around in the air and lashing her sword at the gun, forcing it inwards towards his arm as his fired, both Aura beam and bullet passing through his left forearm, forcing him to let go of his weapon.

Inuba then planted her foot atop his arm and kicked off, allowing her to move above her opponent slightly to spin vertically in the air and deliver a spinning heel axe kick atop her attackers head with a thunderous crack that echoed throughout the forest. The boy immediately plummeted into the ground face first, crashing into the earth below with enough force to create a small shockwave.

Inuba landed on the ground in the next second and watched carefully as the dust settled, seeing the figure of her opponent implanted in the ground. He showed no signs of movement, allowing the Kitsune girl to catch her breath and sheath her weapon. That was until she saw him shift and stir, slowly removing himself from his the earth that now retained the shape of his body.

The boy surprisingly did not attack her, but instead, brought back his discarded handcannons to his hands through usage of the chains, both guns and chains disappearing in a burst of black Aura outlined in white shortly after.

His face had not been fully revealed yet, but as the fragments of the now broken mask-helmet fell apart piece by piece, his face had soon become completely visible to Inuba.

"I would say that hurt ms. Fox...but considering that you've now seen my face, I assume you now know why it didn't exactly hurt…"

Inuba's expression changed into that of pure surprise.

"This..! This is impossible!"

* * *

Dante rolled out of the way from the swing of the girls scythe and lashed out to block another strike, the two soon engaging one another in a rapid flurry of attacks that resulted in a constant stream of sparks until the girl swung upwards to force Dante's weapon up, allowing her time to attempt another spinning heel kick to his side. Dante responded by raising up his leg to take the hit, where he then pushed away her leg using his own and went in for a stab to her right shoulder.

The girl moved to the side and attempted a spinning backhand strike with her left hand, where she followed suite with a swing of her scythe that remained in her right hand. Dante ducked under both strikes and quickly spun around, using his sword to lash out at the girl with enough force to create a shockwave and sent her flying through one of the trees nearby.

The girl immediately back flipped mid air, planting her feet on the next tree behind her as she kicked off it and dashed at him in the air at blinding speed, ready to take another swing at him. Dante went for another stab at her, only to find she immediately vanished from sight. Shortly after, a large cut appeared on his chest, blood seeping into his clothes for only a moment until his wound closed immediately after the attack.

 _What is happening? I'm sure I had her in my sight… I got used to her speed well enough to allow me to track her movements… But just now...she vanished out of sight. Did she suddenly move faster in a focused burst? Or maybe…_

"Hmph… Looks like this fight will be over sooner than I thought… I'll give you props for lasting this long. But I think it's about time we end this. Frankly, I'm getting a little bored."

"Bored, huh? And I didn't even get to show you some of my tricks?"

"Tricks?"

Dante's longsword glowed with his white Aura outlined in black, which followed with him quickly twirling his sword upside down and plunging it into the ground, which unleashed a small shockwave of his Aura that sent forth dozens of Aura longswords at once, forcing the girl to twirl her scythe around in front of her. A few of the Aura swords immediately shattered upon making contact with her sword, the others plunging into tree near or behind the girl.

"That's a pretty dull trick." She said as she stopped twirling her scythe around.

Dante chuckled to himself.

"Who said the trick was over?"

He then dashed forwards at his opponent with blinding speed, sword low towards the ground while the girls scythe had been already raised, ready for a reaping swing. Instead of her scythe blade making contact with the teens body, he vanished out of sight in a small stream of white Aura outlined in black.

The girl was more than surprised, lashing her scythe out towards her right side to block a swing from Dante's sword aimed at her side. Before she had time to retaliate, he yet again vanished in a stream of his uniquely colored Aura, appearing at her left side for a stab that she leapt backwards to dodge, allowing her to take a swing at him, only to miss yet again as he vanished. Soon after, Dante had been appearing and reappearing around her from all directions at such intense speeds that it seemed as though there were six of him, constantly teleporting around the girl in streams of white Aura outlined in black.

Eventually, he began his attack, striking at the girl constantly from numerous directions at blinding speed, the girl being only able to dodge a few attacks as well as block to the best of her ability. She took a swing and missed, soon finding that her backside had been left with a deep cut, which forced her to swing wildly behind her, only to miss another strike.

Dante had appeared behind her yet again and went for another side swiped, finding that his blade had been blocked after the girl quickly placed her scythe behind her back, her spinal column-like pole taking the brunt of the attack to allow her an attempt to round kick Dante. The teen immediately ducked under her attack, spun around and slashed at her, his opponent using her scythe to block the attack yet again as she was sent skidding on her heels a considerable distance.

"Alright… You've had your fun… Now I'm mad…"

The girl lowered herself towards the ground, entering a stance as she brought her scythe back.

"Don't blink."

Within the next instant, she instantly appeared where Dante was located and swung, smiling under her mask-helmet. Her smile turned into pure shock when she realized she hit nothing. Instead, she felt the cold touch of steel against her throat.

"How did you-?"

"Two reasons. One, by this point in time, I've fought many people who've had the abilities, or variations of the abilities, of spacial relocation and time manipulation, which I'm assuming one of the two is your ability. Which leads to number two. Two, because I have experience fighting people with your ability, it's fairly easy to tell whether or not I'm fighting one of your kind. The 'tell' is fairly simple to identify if a target manages to survive an attack or two. The 'tell'? If an opponent somehow inexplicably manages to land an attack on you across a distance, one that surpasses speed itself, that's how you know."

The teen continued after a brief pause, saying "My eyesight and tracking capabilities far surpass that of any living human. A person I know to be infamous for her usage of speed is a slight example here. Though her Semblance allows her to move at blinding speed, I can still see and track her movements, even if she can move faster than I can. But just because I see it doesn't mean I move faster entirely. Considering I saw no movement from you closing the distance, you basically gave the 'tell'. Get the gist of it?"

"How did you counter? How did you move out of the way?"

Dante closed his eyes for a moment and then reopened them as numerous Aura Longswords came into view, all scattered around the battlefield in numerous locations.

"My Semblance, Aura Manipulation, has a sub-ability that acts as a sort of spacial relocation ability. Teleportation in short. Through usage and scattering of my Aura Swords across the battlefield, I can teleport to any Aura sword I created at any given time so long as it wasn't destroyed beforehand. It makes for effective use of traveling over long distances and closing gaps in virtually an instant."

"I see…"

The girl swung her scythe behind her, only to find that it had been block by four Aura swords that appeared in a downwards horizontal formation to shield Dante from the attack. Soon after, the sword tips pointed towards the girl and moved outwards, only one of the four managing to hit the teens attacker, forcing her back.

* * *

The top right corner of the girls mask had been broken away, revealing calm, bright sky blue eyes staring back at him, small strands of long white hair sticking out from her mask-helmet now.

 _What the..? Is she a Schnee? Weiss never told me about another sibling. As far as I know, the only children of the Schnee family currently is Weiss and Winter._

Before Dante could ask the question he wanted, Inuba ran out of the forest behind the girl, forcing both of their attention on the Kitsune girl currently.

"What happened to the other one?" Asked Dante.

"Um… Master..? This...may be somewhat difficult to explain…"

"What do you mean?" Asked Dante confused.

It was then he noticed someone standing behind Inuba. When he moved his head to the side, Inuba hesitated for a moment, but soon stepped away.

It was safe to say Dante was thoroughly confused at the moment. The boy standing behind Inuba had chin length white hair that was slightly messy, where the front part of his bangs fell between his eyes, which were colored bright sky blue. And his face...his face was eerily similar to his own. Dante then looked the girl with the shattered mask, remembering she too had bright sky blue eyes, just like himself and the boy. When she removed her mask-helmet, long white hair tied up into a ponytail flowed freely, her side bangs resting on her shoulders. Her facial features also slightly resembled his own.

Extreme confusion had set in as Dante looked back and forth between the two rapidly, not being able to make head or tails of what he was seeing. Was he dreaming? Was he hallucinating?

His eyes met the snowy ground as his mind continued to process what he saw. And then it happened. Memories stirred. Two children. Younger than he was, but not much younger. Two names came to mind soon after as his senses were restored. He looked up at the two, only less confused than he was previously.

"Ciel…" He said looking towards the girl, who then jolted upwards upon hearing her name.

"And...Leonard…" He said looking to the boy, who then let out a relaxed sigh.

Immediately afterwards Dante found himself tackled to the snowy ground by the girl known as Ciel.

"You… You remember…" She spoke softly, almost as if she were on the verge of tears as she buried her face into his chest.

"I...I guess I'll say it first then… Hi again, big brother… You… You...don't know how long we've been waiting to see you again…"

* * *

Inuba and Dante sat next to each other on one of the beds in the four-bedded room, Ciel and Leonard sitting on the one across from them. The Kitsune girl looked between the three rather awkwardly, trying to figure out something to say to ease the tension.

"Master?"

He immediately raised his hand for silence, his eyes currently focused on the twin siblings as he stared at them continuously without so much as blinking.

"You two are my younger siblings…Ciel and Leonard…"

"Yup." Responded Ciel.

"Exactly so." Replied Leonard.

"I get it. I haven't woken up yet, and I'm still in the forest sleeping. This is a product of my imagination."

"No, Master. This is very much real… As hard as it is to believe at first...it's...very real…" Said Inuba.

"If you need proof, we can show you." Said Leonard as both he and Ciel raised up their left hands.

On each of their index fingers on their left hands were stoneplate rings that had rectangular stones set in the metal. The rectangular stones themselves were obsidian black with numerous diamond shaped patterns cut into the stones. In the stones were small white metal shield crests with black backgrounds that had the letter "A" in white metal etched into the black background of the shield crest. The rectangular metal surrounding the rings stones, as well as the metal band, were colored pure white with intricate black colored etchings carved into the white metal.

Dante looked to his own left hand, seeing that the ring on his index finger was of the same design. The only difference was that compared to Leonard and Ciel's rings, the rectangular metal surrounding the stone and the metal band were jet black with white etchings carved into the band. His stone was the same color and stone-cut design as theirs, the same being said for the shield crest design that rested in the middle of the stone.

"The design and shape are similar, but why are yours colored differently?" Asked Dante.

"So you don't know about the rings then…" Ciel said.

"The reason the color of our rings look this way is because we've reached a sort of equilibrium between our Light and Dark Powers, considering we're part Dark Entity, part Angel."

"An equilibrium… Can you explain my ring then?" He said moving it closer to the two.

The twins examined, but were slightly confused.

"We feel something coming from the ring...but...it's strange…" Said Ciel.

"Strange how?"

"Well, let me explain how the rings work." Said Leonard.

"The rings display three things overall depending on current status of power. Pure White, where the rings metal and stone is colored pure white, signifies that your current state of power leans more towards your Powers of Light. Pure Black signifies you lean more towards Dark Powers at the moment, like how your ring looks like. Then you have a blend of the two, like Ciel's ring and my own ring, that signify an equal balance and usage of both power sets at the same time."

"But...that's impossible… I lost all traces of my old powers a long time ago. If that's the case, shouldn't my ring be Pure White?"

"Did you have the ring on when you lost your old powers?" Asked Ciel

"No…"

"It's very likely then that the ring is stuck in Pure Black form since you didn't have it on at the time. See, our rings not only display which power is dominant at the time, but slightly take in our powers by only the tiniest of amounts. In your case, if you poured enough Dark Power into the ring, then lost your Dark Powers before you put the ring back on, it'll be stuck on that mode."

"I never really knew I was part Angel part Dark Entity until I came to Remnant long ago. So I never even thought of the idea of me having Powers of Light."

"Because you never knew they existed in you back then, especially since you primarily relied on your Dark Powers as your main power. You never had a chance really to access your Powers of Light."

"If my Dark Powers were what constituted my main power, then wouldn't it make sense for me to be left with my Powers of Light, therefore making my ring Pure White?"

"Not exactly brother… Technically, both power sets are part of one whole central power. You lose one like you did, you lose the other half as well. Which is what isn't making sense to either of us right now…" Said Leonard.

"Let me sum it up before you go into another long winded explanation. Basically, we don't know what kind of power your ring is giving off. But at the same time...we don't know what power you have in you currently. It's like...they're two separate powers compared to Light and Dark Powers. They're different, but similar in some respects."

"It's nothing to be concerned about if you were wondering."

Dante brought his left hand back in, staring at his ring for a few moments before another thought crossed his mind.

"There's supposed to be four of us total...right?" He asked the twins.

"Four..?" They asked in unison confused.

"There's you two and...and...who was it… I remember someone else, but I can't remember their name."

"We only know about you brother. No one else." Said Leonard.

"What he said. We woke up one day...and...well...we were here on Remnant. We've been here on this World living in Vacuo for as long as we can remember." Said Ciel.

"Do you know about the other Worlds?" Asked Dante.

"We know of them, it's just we've never traveled to them. But we've seen the places you've seen and experienced."

"How did you-?" He paused immediately before resuming. "That girl in white?"

"Yeah! You know her too?" Asked Ciel.

"Of course I do. She's been helping me for the longest time now."

"We've known her for a very long time. Since we were children really. She was the only one capable of leaving Remnant and going to other always. And when she came back, she always brought back a story of your exploits. Showed us even." Said Leonard.

"So we kinda know a lot about you by now…" Said Ciel.

"How'd you guys find me?"

"We felt a strange occurrence about a month ago, which allowed us to feel your presence. Ever since we confirmed you were here on Remnant, we were on the move looking for you. Luckily, you came our way while we were heading to Vale, since the presence came from that direction."

"So you guys were hanging around this area?"

"In a manner of speaking. We were just walking through, like we usually do, then, poof. There's your Aura signature out of nowhere. So we waited here until you got close enough and decided we'd meet you halfway. Which we kinda did but…" Said Ciel.

"Why not just come out at first and say, 'Hey, we're your younger brother and sister'?"

"How awkward of a conversation do you think that'd be after we say that out of the blue?" Asked Ciel.

It took Dante a moment to think about it.

"Good point. But still… The fighting? The egging me on?"

"Our family's way of going about it I guess? I don't know. It's just something I came up with on the spot. Leo just kinda followed along with it."

"I told you it was a bad idea…"

"It so was not! It was a good idea! To some degree!"

Leonard only sighed as Ciel began arguing with him.

Inuba giggled to herself, raising her hand to her face and earning a confused look from Dante.

"What?"

"It's nothing… They're just like you in a few instances…"

"The younger me at least… By the way, how old are you two?"

"Fifteen. We're a year younger than you."

"So your birthdays are on Christmas Eve like mine? How lucky is that… So what now? What's yours guys' next plan of action?"

"We talked it over together and we made a decision. From now on, wherever you go, we'll go." Said Leo.

"From what we know, there's four people to a standard team of Huntsmen and Huntresses, right? And right now it's just the two of you. With the two of us, you get a whole team. So big brother, will you let us come with you?" Asked Ciel.

"Well...if you guys really want to...then sure."

"Yes! Mission success!" Screamed Ciel as both she and Leonard high fived each other.

"This is gonna be so awesome! We're gonna go on so many cool and awesome adventures! Slay freakin terrifying creatures! Blow stuff up! I'm so excited!" Said then younger girl kicking her feet about.

"Right now, Inuba and I were on our way to Haven. Have you two ever been there before?"

"Sorry brother, we haven't. We started out in Vacuo and slowly made our way to the region of Vale overtime. We somewhat rushed and didn't stop for a while after we felt your presence." Said Leonard.

"Either way, that's where we're headed. You probably know this by now, but Vale was attacked last month by someone called Cinder Fall. She lead an incursion of Grimm and White Fang into the city, and even managed to hack Ironwood's mechanical army that was meant to defend them. The enemy forces were pushed back and a safe zone in the city was established, but it's still under assault by Grimm."

"We heard as much…"

"And just when I thought I could take a nice vacation in Vale too…" Said Ciel.

"I want you two to understand something now. We're going to go many places and see a lot of different things. Some good. Some bad. And-"

"Like I told Leo, don't give us a long winded speech." Said Ciel raising up a hand.

"Despite how Ciel just put it, we're with you brother. We'll fight alongside you until the bitter end."

"Thank you." Said the teen, earning a smile from him his younger siblings.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. If you didn't know by now, my partner Inuba Kitsukami." Said Dante motioning to Inuba.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two." She said bowing her head.

"The pleasure is ours ms. Kitsukami. You're quite the combatant." Said Leo.

"I'm fairly experienced." She responded.

"Alrighty then. Now that we got all that out of the way, I'm pretty sure they have dinner ready for us down stairs. So, let's go celebrate all this over dinner. Agreed?"

"I could go for something to eat." Said Ciel as both she and Leo headed out the door first.

"Well Master...we've found ourselves in quite a situation. Not so much situation...but…"

"I know what you mean...but either way…"

She turned around, taking a glance at her Masters face.

"I'm happy you know? I have actual flesh and blood siblings… It's...a really good feeling knowing that…" He said clutching his chest, a bright smile on his face.

Inuba could feel the happiness he emanated, and that in turn made her overjoyed. His happiness was her happiness. It was simple as that. And in a way, she could understand clearly how he felt currently. He wasn't alone. Not that he ever truly was...but he had family again. People he could actually call brother and sister. People he never knew existed until now currently in front of him.

* * *

The duo reached the bottom of the stairway from their room to see everyone up and about in celebration.

"They're awfully cheery…"

"Well, it is important to maintain some form of cheerful demeanor is these troubling times…" Said Inuba as her eyes remained glued on the group of people dancing a short distance away.

It was something her Master noticed almost immediately. And so, he extended a hand to his partner, who quickly turned towards him in a slightly confused manner.

"Do you wanna go dance?"

"D-Dance..?"

"I know it'd be weird to go dance with a guy who can only use one arm, but-"

"No no… That's not an issue… In fact, I'm glad you asked… I would love to…" She said taking his hand.

"Okay…so I didn't think about this all too well… How are we going to do this?" Asked Dante.

Inuba giggled to herself.

"It's alright Master. I'll help you as much as possible."

As the two approached the dance floor, Ciel and Leo watched from the table a short distance away, going about their beverages slowly.

"Do you think she likes him? Ms. Fox I mean. And I'm talking about 'like like', not-" Asked Ciel.

"I know what you mean. As for my answer, of course she does. Don't you remembering seeing in the Memory Reels how she acted around him and still acts around him currently? It's obvious she's extremely attached to him."

"Think she's tried putting the moves on big brother yet?"

"Yes and no. She has, but in really subtle ways. At least, as subtle as she can be. I understand the case back then on Primordial. But here on Remnant? How has he not noticed yet?"

"Maybe he already has a girlfriend and ms. Fox came late to the party?"

"It's possible…."

"Do you think she'll continue trying and waiting for him?"

"Of course. With how attached she is to him, it's in her nature to do so. Eventually, I do think she will tell him. At least...I hope she will."

"Ugh… That's depressing… Well, I'm going out there to have some fun. You coming Leo?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Said the boy as he put down his mug and approached the dance floor with his twin.

"Hey guys! Ready to see some mad skills?" Said Ciel as she looked towards Dante and Inuba.

"You think you have what it takes to beat me little sister? I've been at this probably longer than you have." Said Dante.

"I think I can manage a cripple." She replied confidently.

"Oh you are so on."

* * *

Dante plunged an Aura sword deep into the stone floor of a shack, followed by Inuba placing her hand on the pommel of the Aura sword, her white flames cloaking her Master's Aura projected weapon. The barrier surrounding the village soon dissolved, a thin barrier of white flame taking its place soon after before vanishing in the air.

"That should do it. Grimm won't be in your vicinity for a long time, and just in case they do, the barrier won't only repel mid-sized Grimm, but might kill them upon contact. It'll definitely kill the smaller ones though."

"We can't thank you enough for your efforts mr. Dante. On behalf of the village, we wish you and your companions safe travels on your journey."

"Thank you sir. We wish you the best of luck of here." Said Dante giving a short bow, his younger brother and sister doing the same before following after him.

"So you've been helping villages you've been stopping at along the way?" Asked Ciel.

"Pretty much. We should do as much good as we can while traveling. Even if our main goal is different it's always nice to help out as many people in between. Troublesome times are coming. And it's our duty to help as much as possible whenever we can."

"Right, right. Part of being the whole Huntsmen and Huntress thing. We get it. Kind of. Sort of. In any case, you just point out the bad guys for me and I'll take care of 'em."

"Good to hear."

Dante stopped in his tracks and looked around momentarily.

"Something wrong, brother?" Asked Leo.

"Where's Inuba?" Asked Dante.

"Oh, there she is." Pointed out Ciel, directing them to Inuba who has just thanked a clerk at one of the stands before rushing back to the group of three.

"My apologies for keeping you all waiting." She said as she approached, clutching something towards her chest.

"What'd you buy?" Asked Dante.

"Oh… Well…"

Her fox tail whipped about as she brought her hands in closer before presenting her hands to him, showing that she had a necklace-charm of sorts with a small fox face made of pure white metal, and closed, slanted eyes colored black. The fox face was attached to a black string of sorts. When Dante took the charm and looked on the backside, he saw the Japanese kanji for "happiness" etched into the metal. And from the warmth it emitted, the kanji was just recently etched in.

"I saw it and thought you'd like it...so I…"

"I don't know what to say… Except thank you of course. I really like it." He said smiling.

"I'm glad you like it...Master… Oh! I actually bought a pair for the both of you as well!" She said handing two similar necklace-charms to Ciel and Leo.

"To commemorate your arrival and joining us on on our journey." Said Inuba.

"What's this say on the back?" Asked Ciel raising the back of her necklace towards Dante.

"Let's see… Protection and Family… Same for you Leo."

"Incredible… Thank you very much ms. Kitsukami." Said Leo as both he and Ciel pocketed their gifts.

"You're very welcome you two. I'm glad you like them."

Inuba looked over to Dante, who stared at the back of the necklace continuously, slowly rubbing his thumb over the etching.

 _Happiness huh…_

"Master?"

"Hmm?" He said quickly raising his head up.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah… Just spaced out for a moment is all… Are you ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Alright… Leo, Ciel, let's go."

The twins followed after their brother, but Inuba remained in her place momentarily, opening her other hand to reveal she too possessed a necklace-charm, the same as theirs. Only, the etching on the back of her charm was written with the kanji "protection" and "love".

 _Right now...just being by your side is more than enough for me. But I can't and won't wait much longer… Eventually…I will tell you my true feelings directly. But...I'm terrified… If tomorrow...I were to cry out in the most heartfelt manor 'I love you'...would you say 'I love you' in return? In the same way as I have done all this time? I'm scared of what may happen… But what terrifies me more than anything, is not being able to tell you at all._

Inuba took a final look at the charm before pocketing it, quickly rushing up to her Master's side.

 _I will wait a while longer...and then...I'll hope for the best…_

* * *

 **Holy cow what a first chapter! Dante has two younger siblings?! What the what?! I bet you guys you weren't expecting that. And no, I didn't just think of it recently. Ciel and Leonard were created shortly after Volume 2 and were worked on until now. Originally, I had intended to introduce them in the Volume 3 arc, but I didn't see a good enough opportunity to do it. So I decided, since everyone is going their separate ways for now during Volume 4, Ruby and friends separate from Dante and Inuba, it just made sense to do it.**

 **Now...also, originally, I wanted to wait a little bit longer until I introduced the two of them, but my excitement could no longer be contained, and so we see them here, now, in the very first chapter. Dante, Inuba, Ciel and Leonard will have plenty of their own original journeys and adventures they will undergo as group both before and during Volume 4.**

 **I'm meshing my own stuff into canon, that way it isn't just only a regurgitation of canon, but also an original story within it. Get it? Yes? No? Maybe? If not, think of it in this way. A story arc within a story arc, that's as much as I can simplify it. It'll be tough to do considering what I want to have happen concerning my original workings, but I've pulled it off before and I will do it again. So like I said, expect greatness, awe, wonder, joy, sadness, all that mess of emotions as we move through the season. Trust me folks, you don't want to miss what happens.**

 **Two side notes. One, go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. Like the above, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Side note two. I've had an interesting idea recently. I've noticed some big authors doing it on the site, and I wondered to myself "Hmm...I wonder if people will like these?" So, as of today onwards, Hero of Remnant: Veil of the Aether will now have short omake segments at the end of each chapter. But, they aren't simply omake segments, at least, for the vast majority of the time. You'll see what I mean…(checks watch) right now! Please enjoy!**

* * *

"Heya there folks, my name is Dante."

"And I'm Ruby Rose!"

"Wow, I gotta be the first to say...it's good to be back."

"I know! I've been waiting so much just to get back into action! Just one more month before we get back on track!"

"I know I'm excited for it. Nice new outfit by the way Ruby."

"Y-You really think so?" She asked gripping the folds of her skirt blushing.

"Yeah, it really suits you well."

"T-Thank you so much!" She said rather hurriedly.

"Anyway, we aren't here simply to dish out compliments! Actually, I forget. Why are we here?" Asked Dante turning to Ruby.

"Come on Dante. The studio executives signed us on to head this segment! Don't you remember?"

"I remember them saying something… I wasn't paying all too much attention at the time… So we're leading a segment now?"

"Yup! And it's called..!"

Red curtains were pulled away to reveal a massive holographic screen, displaying the segment the two were now in charge of.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide! On this segment, we'll be talking about all the cool and totally amazing weapons we've seen throughout the Seasons! Oh this is gonna be great!" She shouted excitedly.

"Oh yeah! Now I remember! We're doing this segment while Ciel and Leo are doing the 'Semblance Encyclopedia' segment, featuring Semblances we've seen so far. Plus, everyone now and then, we'll see random segments. There was also a third one, but the studio execs were all hush hush about it… Hmmm… Anyway, why don't we get started. So Ruby? How do you want to start the first ever episode of Illustrated Weapons Guide?"

"Hmmm… Oh, I know! Why don't we talk about your weapon!"

"My weapon? Well, alright."

Dante soon brought out an extendable pointer from his coat with his left hand and lashed it out to the side, fully extending it.

"Today we'll talking about my weapon, Anvil."

As he said this, his weapon appeared on the holographic monitor unsheathed along with its sheath. The weapon as it appeared on the screen looked like a simple longsword, where the blade was three inches wide and four feet long total. The blade itself was colored a pure white. The guard was a cross guard that was colored black, each guard prong having two one inch prongs on the end that bent upwards towards the blade. The leathery grip for the first part of the handle was colored black as well, while the rest of the handle was metallic and also colored a pure white, the pommel being a simple black prong that was four inches wide.

The sheath itself was wider than the sword by three inches, while the first half from where the sword emerged was colored white while the rest of the bottom half of the sheath was colored black.

"Ah, Anvil… I remember the first time we worked together on Version 1… Oh it was so cool!" Said Ruby

"It was. Currently, Anvil is in Version 6. You know, extra additions and removals." Said Dante.

"Anvil is made through materials not found on Remnant. And if you're joining us for the first time ever, I'm not exactly from the World of Remnant. Neither is my partner Inuba. Anyway, the two materials that make up Anvil are know as Empyrean Steel, found in The Plane of Angels where the Angels reside, and Calcified Steel, found in the Dark World where Dark Entities reside."

"When these two metals are melted down together, it makes a super strong alloy that's really really really hard to break, much less dent! The alloy is magical in the sense that it's as strong as its wielder! And since Dante's super strong, the sword itself is just as tough! And because Dante is basically an uber mad scientist, he managed to program his weapon so it can transform in 0.5 seconds!"

"Not only that, but with the sciences I learned back in my World Primordial, each individual molecule is programmed in a way to make the transformation faster by literally just shifting the molecules to the programmed shape. My longsword for instance."

"Currently, Anvil has six different weapon forms! Longsword! Greatsword! Twinswords! Scythe! Greaves and Gauntlets! And katana mode!" said Ruby as each of the modes were displayed in rapid succession.

"It's very likely the most versatile weapon that's ever been created while being simple!"

"Simple is good in some cases. Doing it old school just happens to work sometimes."

"Dante isn't all too fond of guns." Said Ruby.

"They're too simplistic. But overall, they're just not my style. It's why I use my Aura swords as my ranged weapons since they can float in the air and be shot out faster than any bullet."

"Oh really? Wanna test that out against Crescent Rose?" She said brandishing her weapon.

"Maybe later. So everyone, we hope you all enjoyed the first installment of Illustrated Weapons Guide. Ciel and Leo will be here next time with the first installment of Semblance Encyclopedia, where we'll alternate between our segments after each one. So, until then, we wish you all the best."

"See you next time everyone!"

* * *

 **So yeah, that was the first installment of Illustrated Weapons Guide. Yeah, I know it was a little long than what it was supposed to be, but it had to be done for this time. They'll be shorter from now on, promise. Now, I have two final things to say until we part and see each other two weeks from now.**

 **Remember the random segments Ruby and Dante mentioned above? Well, good news everyone! Those random segments are open spaces for you, yes you, the audience members to make your own omakes and have them submitted to me to be included after the end of each chapter! Now, just because you don't see your omake first in one of the chapters, doesn't mean it won't ever be seen. I'll be saving some up to be put in at later times.**

 **The way this will work is that if submissions are made, especially in plentiful amounts, they'll appear directly after a short segment of Illustrated Weapons Guide or Semblance Encyclopedia, since the two will be switching off every two weeks. Remember one rule and one rule only for the current time being, the omakes have to be short, not really really long. That's it. So, make your omake submissions and have them seen right here!**

 **Wow… What a way to kick of the first chapter of Veil of the Aether… We get two new siblings that are Dante's younger brother and sister, we get a glimpse of a totally awesome new villain and we get the addition of end chapter Segments. Honestly, I'm more than glad with how things have started and really excited with how things will go from now on. And hopefully, the same can be said of you, my excellent readers.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps it improve it. With that, I wish you all an excellent week/weekend! See you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Visitor

**Heya wonderful people! We are back for this week with the second chapter of Veil of the Aether! Opening day was good and within some expected parameters, so let's make this week even better than last! Please enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Visitor

"Out of the two of you, who's the better cook?" Asked Ciel.

The group of four traveled along the snowy road, switching from conversation to conversation to bide the time until they reached the next village.

"That would be Inuba." Said Dante, the Kitsune girl thoroughly surprised.

"I guessed as much." Said Ciel.

"Master, I have to object. If anything, you're the better of us when it comes to cooking."

"What? No way. You are literally ten time better at cooking than I am. It's a proven fact." Said the teen looking towards his younger siblings.

"Alright then. Since the two of you seem troubled by this, I hereby decree that the both of you will take part in a cook off! As soon as we find a suitable village to do so! Who will win?! The older brother?! Or the totally awesome and spicy Kitsune partner?!"

"Ciel, I don't think that they-"

"Very well. Challenge accepted." Said Dante interrupting Leo.

"Egg-cellent! Get it? Egg? Celent? Cause we're having a cook off later?" Said Ciel as Inuba laughed at her joke.

"Well, I definitely know for a fact you're my younger sister now."

"How so?"

"Your jokes are just as bad as mine."

Everyone else laughed as Ciel pouted a bit, switching to Dante's left side to punch her older brother in the arm.

The group of four walked along the road through the snow-bound forest, unaware of the dark figure silently leaping from tree to tree. On the next leap, it vanished. A minute or so later, Dante saws a reflection of light forcing him to move in front of Inuba to take a bullet in shoulder.

"Master?!"

Dante quickly spun around and drew his sword, Inuba drawing hers as Ciel and Leo summoned forth their weapons, the four going in a back to back formation to cover all sides. Their eyes carefully scanned the snowy landscape, waiting for the next attack.

A hooded person appeared with a puff of black vapor in front of Dante and reached out with one clawed hand. The teen quickly took note and lashed out sideways, but his foe was quick. Fortunately, the teen was faster. Before the clawed hand could reach him for a follow up attack, the point of Dante's longsword pierced through the clawed hand to stop it, making the figure leap backwards shortly after. It shook its hand, splattering blood on the ground. Black vapor rolled out from its robe, temporarily blinding the group. When the cloud dissipated, the robed attacker was gone.

"What was that..?" Asked Ciel.

"No idea. But it felt as though it had a bone to pick with us. Me specifically."

Without having to be asked, Inuba approached her Master and touched his shoulder, Dante's sclera with turning black and his light sky blue eyes turning a crimson red with slit pupils. He could see a small trail of Aura that the attacker left behind.

"Well...they went through all this trouble. We may as well follow." Said Dante.

Just as he was ready to head off, a Beowolf lunged out from behind the tree lines, jaws agape to take a bite out of the teen. Instead, the creature was cut in half down the middle. The woods soon became flooded with Beowolves, all snarling and slowly encroaching upon the group of four.

"I'll catch up with you guys later. Take care of these uglies and wait for me at the village entrance." Said Dante.

"You...do not wish for me to accompany you?" Asked Inuba.

"Yeah, I'm seriously finding some flaws in your plan there brother. She should probably tag along with you." Said Ciel.

"It'll save time for us. You guys clear out Grimm, making the village borders safe, and I take care of that guy and am back in thirty minutes or less and we don't have to worry about him. Simple no?"

"Please be careful Master. As it is, you are unable to use your right arm unless you use Shadow Skin it. Though it may restore function to your right arm, it will set back your recovery."

"I understand Inuba. I'll do my best not to use Shadow Skin. That's unless it's unavoidable. Look at it this way...at least it gives me the excuse to try to beat a tough opponent using only one arm."

"Master! Please don't be so reckless!"

"Sorry, sorry... I'll be sure to be careful."

Dante lashed out towards the group of Beowolves in front of him to clear a path, leaving Inuba, Leo and Ciel focused on the large pack of Beowolves surrounding them.

"You sure you want to let him go on his own?" Asked Ciel.

"I trust him more than anything and anyone in the world. We'll do as planned and quickly take care of this bunch and wait outside the village perimeter. Fifteen minutes is the most we'll wait."

"I can agree with that." Said Leo.

"Ugh... Fine. Let's clear these guys out quickly then."

* * *

Dante picked up the trail of the attacker, which was surprisingly easy to follow due to there being almost no twists and turns until the end. He followed it to a clearing and saw a masked teen wearing a black leather robe in the center with his hands folded inside his sleeves. A beowulf charged towards him, only to be shredded by a flurry of icicles.

"Strange..." the mysterious teen said as he slowly tilted his head to one side. "Your mind bears no evil, yet your Aura reeks of it..." he said as he got to his feet.

Dante lowered his sword slightly, keeping his eyes trained on the figure the entire time, keeping steady awareness around himself.

"Let's just say I'm a special case... Speaking of which...mind telling me who you are and why you were targeting us?"

The teen smirked, then said, "To answer your first question, yes. In answer to your second question, I didn't want to deal with them while we fight."

He pulled his hands out of his sleeves, revealing a pair of black metal gauntlets that burned with black flame.

Dante's grip tightened on his sword as he raised it once again.

 _If he's a complete close range fighter like Yang, I'll be at a disadvantage considering I can only use one arm currently. I can shift my weapon to use my greaves and gauntlets mode...but..._

"So out of all us, you were after me... Answer this then, are you with Cinder Fall?"

"And if I am?" the teen says as he drops into a crouch, his fingers stiffened into claws.

"Then you just made a very big mistake. I'm a little surprised Cinder wouldn't come and find me on her own, but I guess it doesn't matter at this point. After all, she's pretty fond of sending lackeys to do her dirty work, so if you're with her, I guess I'll make use of whatever information you have."

"I AM NO ONE'S LACKEY!" the teen roared as he charged toward Dante.

"That's what they all say before they end up kissing her feet!" Said Dante as he quickly dashed forwards and lashed out with his sword.

The hooded teen sidestepped, then lashed out with his claws, slicing deep into Dante's side. He then vanished in a puff of black smoke, then reappeared where he was standing previously, swiping his claws to his sides to clear the blood.

"Still a little slow..." Dante whispered to himself as he looked up towards his attacker.

Dante's Shadow Eyes appeared, where his white sclerae turned black as his irises turned white, pulsating with a white glow as he engaged his attacker once again by landing an overhead strike that was blocked by his opponent's metal gauntlets, burying his feet in the ground.

"Brute force isn't going to get you anywhere, I'm afraid." the teen said as he lifted one leg, then slammed his foot into Dante's gut with an explosion of black energy.

Dante coughed up blood as he was launched up into the sky spinning until he recovered midair and searched for his opponent as he fell, soon spinning behind to deliver a backwards slash that his foe blocked using his forearms.

His foe grabbed hold of the blade with his right hand as he reared back his left to deliver a devastating punch. Before he could do so however, he found that Dante had managed to break free of his hold and spun his body in a vertical motion to deliver a powerful heel kick to the top of his enemies head, sending him plummeting back down into the ground that created a miniature shockwave, making a haze of snow that obscured his sight momentarily. When the haze cleared, his opponent was nowhere to be found.

Dante began looking around as he heard a voice that seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere, say, "I vanish, like a shadow, into thin air. Where am I?"

An icicle shot out of the trees and was sliced apart by Dante's sword. When he looked in the direction it came from, he saw only a slowly dissipating mass of black vapor.

"Two can play at this game!"

Dante quickly dodged another icicle as he rapidly swung his sword around him in all directions at blinding speed, defending against an onslaught of icicles coming from numerous directions at once. His eyes continued to search for their target as icicle after icicle threatened to pierce him from numerous directions. It was in the next attack he found his opportunity to counter attack the onslaught, doing so by using his sword to touch the side of one of the larger icicles he dodged, redirecting it towards another icicle that ricocheted of another group, which quickly made contact with the others and redirected their trajectory in different directions.

His opponent appeared in a puff of black vapor, just in time to see an icicle head straight for him as he shot out another to counter. As he did so, he reared back his arm to shoot out another, barely noticing the other icicle zooming towards his head. With what time he had, the unknown attacker quickly tilted back his head as the icicle only managed to break off a piece of his mask on the left side, allowing him to flip twice in the air before landing on the ground.

As he looked up at him, Dante could see strands of silver hair within the mask, also seeing a purple eye glaring at him.

"Big mistake..." said a voice in Dante's head.

The purple eye that he could see flashed red and began to burn with a manic light. He reached into his robe and pulled out a pair of giant, double-barreled pistols. He pulled the triggers, and Dante was sent flying back as a pair of .50 armor piercing bullets slammed into a defensive line of Aura Swords.

The hooded teen began to laugh insanely as he pulled the triggers over and over, pushing back Dante little by little, letting his Aura Swords take the full force and damage. But the sheer force and impact of the bullets, as well as being shot at numerous times began to dent and crack the defensive line of swords.

 _This guy's a maniac! I need to find a way to throw him off balance!_

A bullet had pierced through the line of swords and made contact with his face, rocking his head back with great force as he fell on his back. The crazed attacker stopped his blaze of bullets, growling with disappointment.

"Come on...was that it? Tch... What a waste of my time..." He said approaching the kneeling and bloodied Dante.

He reloaded, then slipped the pistols back into his robe and kicked Dante full in the face, knocking him over.

He crouched at Dante's side, then said, "Thy soul is by vile fear assailed, which oft so overcasts a man, that he recoils from noblest resolution, like a beast at some false semblance in the twilight gloom."

As he said this, he slowly rolled Dante over, finding the teens white blade aiming for his heart, but quickly grabbed hold of the blade with both hands to stop the blade, Dante slowly inching his way closer and closer.

"How are you still alive?!" Growled the attacker.

Dante chuckled, soon baring his teeth to show he caught the bullet in between his teeth before spitting it to his side.

"Sorry pal...but it looks like this fight is mine."

"You think you have me beat? Nice try...but that's not gonna work!"

Dante only glared with an equally menacing look that he had received.

"Sorry for what I'm about to do."

Four white Aura Swords outlined in black had pierced his attackers backside, only one of the blades managing to pierce through his body completely. Dante's now pin cushioned foe coughed up blood in his mask, droplets falling from his mask and onto the teens white coat, staining it momentarily before disappearing with each drop, as if the coat ate away his blood.

"Normally I'd avoid using dirty tricks like what I just did. But you're a bad apple through and through. If I did let you live, you'd only try again."

Dante brought up his foot and kicked his attacker in the stomach with enough force to shatter the swords that were embedded into his backside, save the one that had pierced through his body. His robed enemy's body crashed into the snowy ground with a loud thud as blood seeped out into the snow, turning it red.

"May you find peace." Spoke the teen as he sheathed his sword and walked away as a cool breeze swept through the area.

As he turned to walk away, Dante stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as he heard growling behind him and turned to see his attacker slowly trying to raise himself off the ground.

"He's still alive?!"

His body began to burn with a black, flame-like Aura as he slowly got to his feet. His hood fell back, revealing his face for the first time. The lower half of his face was black as night, with veins of the same color stretching into the rest of his face. He reached for the sword in his chest, grabbed the blade, and with a sharp jerk, shattered it.

"That was your second mistake..." said a voice in Dante's head.

"I was hoping not to have to use this," it said as the teen reached into his robe and pulled out a black katana and sheath.

"This is Chaoseater...I don't typically use this weapon."

"And why's that?" asked Dante.

"Tell me, would you use a nuke to kill a spider?"

Dante smirked before he gave his response.

"How big?"

"What?"

"How big of a spider we talking about here?"

The teen shot towards Dante, moving faster than ever. He unleashed a barrage of blindingly fast slashes, then in one fluid motion, swiped his blade upwards to force up Dante's sword. Then, when his foe sheathed his sword, numerous parts of his body had been cut apart, blood seeping out for only a moment until his wounds instantly the second after.

 _It's no wonder why he rarely uses that thing... He's incredibly fast when using it! Judging by the way he's been fighting, he's one who likes to toy around with his enemies until he's likely bored... And since I've been putting up a fight more than he really expected, he's more than interested in fighting me now... Just what is this guy and why is he after me?_

A deathly silence had set in as their eyes locked, Dante's robed attacker more than eager to spring from his place. But he too waited, watching patiently to see if he would use anything else.

 _So it's come to that then..._

"Like I told you before..." Started Dante.

Dante plunged his sword into the ground as he used his left hand to take his right arm out of its sling, the right arm soon becoming blanketed in black Aura. When the Aura dispersed, it revealed an entirely Shadow Skinned right arm. Thin, black, hide-like armor segments layered his entire hand and arm, the gaps glowing and pulsating with white Aura.

He moved his wrists around a few times before curling up his fingers twice. A strong burning sensation could be felt throughout his entire right arm. The teen removed his longsword from the ground and lashed it out to the side.

"Two can play at this game."

"Then perhaps it's time to change the game." Spoke his opponent.

He pulled a small trigger on the hilt of his katana, making the entire weapon shift into a thick, wide Greatsword that the teen hefted onto his shoulder effortlessly.

 _What's with this guy? Just a minute ago he was a laughing maniac. And now he's this…cold, calculating living machine. Dual personalities? No..._

His Shadow Eyes glared directly at his opponent, focusing his vision to see something slightly intimidating. He had two souls.

 _What is it with people and two souls these days..? Doesn't matter... His speed will either have a significant decrease or a minor decrease now that his weapon is that big. Either way... I need to be adjust to any alterations to his speed. His strength will definitely be boosted, so I need to compensate for that as I go about fighting him now._

As Dante was thinking this, his enemy shot forward and sent him flying with a rapid swing.

"Keep your eyes on the fight!" his opponent taunted.

Quickly finding a tree in his flight path, Dante grabbed hold and spun around it, quickly planting his feet on the tree before kicking off it, dashing directly for his enemy as he raised his sword up once again and swung at the approaching Dante.

He missed due to the teen shifting his body midair to barely avoid the swing, dropkicking his opponent in the face with both feet to deal decent damage. Dante attempted to slash downwards on his enemy as he drew his sword, only to find that he dodged backwards and prepared another full force rapid swing that Dante blocked allowing the two to head-butt each other with tremendous force.

"Just who the heck are you?!" asked Dante.

The robed attacker grinned again, then leaped away as his eye color turned pure red like that of a Grimm. Clouds of dark vapor enshrouded him, and he began to grow taller and bulkier. The cloud vanished, and Dante found himself staring at the face of a giant, humanoid Dragon Grimm with a now larger sword. It roared at him, black flames emerging from its maw.

"Human Grimm..? You're another survivor..?" asked Dante as he slightly lowered his blade, backing away slightly.

"Hardly..." the giant Grimm growled. "My name is Abaddon, and I am a Grimm Lord!"

It lifted its sword, then growled, "And you... are dead!"

It swung its sword down on him, and a massive cloud of dust was kicked up by the impact. The dust cleared, and the humanoid dragon grimm was shocked by what he saw.

Dante remained unharmed as the massive blade was caught by a Shadowy clawed left hand, the rest of Dante's body now blanketed by black Aura, forming his Shadow Skin. His entire body from neck to toe was layered in thin, vicious-looking segmented armor, small gaps found in a few places that glowed and pulsates with white Aura.

His eyes were simply perfectly round circles that gave off an ominous white glow, an equally eerie white glow emerging from inside the maw of numerous shadowy teeth part of the secondary skin. His white hair was absent, and was replaced with two large horns on the sides of his head that bent inwards before curving outwards The maw opened up to reveal the glowing white energy within its mouth as Dante spoke in a hollow, echoing voice.

"Abaddon...huh? Sorry to say that you're confusing yourself with someone else..."

"INCOMPETENT BRAT! YOU DARE QUESTION MY IDENTITY?!" asked the humanoid dragon as it continued trying to overpower the transformed Dante.

"I do...because..."

The teen then moved his arm back as he slashed the massive humanoid dragon across the chest, sending it skidding backwards on its feet. When it stopped, its gaze met Dante's as they readied themselves for combat yet again.

"The real Abaddon vanished with my old powers!" he said charging the humanoid dragon.

The dragon swung wildly, and Dante easily dodged the clumsy slash, quickly leaping up into the air to upturn his sword and stab the humanoid Grimm creature right between the eyes. The creature fell to his knees, clutching his head and began to shrink.

He shrunk back into the teen, who got his feet and said, "You just caused an identity crisis for Abaddon..!"

The teen reached for his sword, but found a shadowy foot step on it to hold it down to the ground, the teen turning his head seconds later to see the white longsword inches away from his throat.

"Start talking before I consider letting my hand slip. Who are you, why are you after me, and most importantly, why are you claiming to be someone who's dead?"

The teen's hand shot out and wrapped around the hilt of his sword, and both vanished with a bamf and puff of black vapor. They reappeared several feet away, and the teen hefted his sword to his shoulder again.

"I'm not sure of your meaning. Abaddon is one of a kind in my books." said the strange voice in Dante's head.

Then he raised his hand to his ear, and Dante heard a chatter of a comlink.

"What? What do you mean, he's not the one?" he said.

 _One of a kind..? Wait... He said Grimm Lord... If that's the case, then he's not the real Abaddon... Which means..._

"Hey! Answer my questions! Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Excuse me a moment," the voice in Dante's head said as the teen lifted a finger. "You better start talking, Serena," he heard.

 _Serena? Who's that?_

Dante sheathed his weapon, but transitioned out of Shadow Skin, keeping only his right arm Shadow Skinned in case he were to be attacked again. The painful burning sensation that coursed throughout his entire arm persisted. Even so, it was better to be safe than sorry later.

 _He attacks me out of the blue then all of a sudden stops? What the heck is going on here..?_

"Are you sure this time?" said the voice. "Fine. Bye."

The teen turned to Dante, then pulled another mask out of his robe and slipped it on.

"Sorry about that, Dante. I believe some introductions are in order. My name is Hunter Rose, leader of the Horsemen." he said as he extended his hand.

Dante was hesitant at first, unsure if this was some sort of ploy to force him to drop his guard. But considering he raised his left hand to shake with him, he was certain "Hunter" had taken note of the condition of his right arm and was being considerate to use his left. He...seemed sincere. So he thought it would be rude not to shake his hand.

"Well...you know who I am apparently. And Horsemen?"

"The Horsemen are my team. Hunter, Raven, Serena, Mors, and Navi. Together, we make up Team HRSMN, the most powerful team of Huntsmen and Huntresses Remnant has ever seen." he said with a proud smirk on his face.

 _I highly doubt that, but sure, let's let him believe that._

"Hey, so, um... are you gonna be okay after that beating?" Hunter asked.

 _I'm sorry, who was beating who just now?_

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good. You're lucky I didn't use the big bullets."

 _Am I now?_

"Yeah...lucky me... Wait a minute...did you say your name is Hunter Rose?"

"Um, yeah?"

Dante hesitated at first with his next question, but asked it anyway.

"You say you're from an alternate reality of the future...right?"

"Yes. And no, you're not my dad, if that's what you're wondering."

Dante took an extreme sigh of relief.

"Oh good...good... Wait, if that's not the case, what's your relation to Ruby's family then?"

"When I arrived in Remnant, team RWBY took me in. Eventually, Ruby legally adopted me."

 _Adopted..._

"Did anyone ever mention my name in the future? Do I even exist in you Reality?"

"I've never heard of you." Hunter said. "As far as I know, in the alternate reality I'm from, you were never a part of Remnant's past."

"Your friend must really be someone special if she can not only send you to a different reality, but a different time period within that reality... I thought my colleague was the only one who could breach different Realities... So in that reality, I've never crossed over to Remnant... How's the state of affairs in your Remnant?"

"Well, when I showed up in Remnant, the Grimm were becoming more plentiful. My team and I were getting ready to take on a Grimm named Absalom. If we fail to destroy him, the world is as good as dead. No biggie."

"End of the world huh? Remind me of my old job..." said Dante.

"Your old job?" asked Hunter.

"Story for another time. Right now though...you attacked me because...what? You thought I was some sort of threatening anomaly?"

"Exactly. Serena, my time-traveling colleague, traced the power to you. However, when I stopped fighting you, Serena told me that the power around you was being projected from somewhere else. I need to find the source of the power and eliminate it."

"This source of power wouldn't happen to be this Absalom...would it?"

"We won't know until we find it. I have an idea for that, actually. One of the more obscure uses for Dust is tracking power sources." Hunter said as he pulled out an unfamiliar Dust crystal and began fiddling with it. "Let's see... add a little Aura... etch this into the surface... and voila!" he said as the crystal began to glow and float above his hand.

"Huh... To think Dust could be used for tracking... But the basic idea is you have no idea what the anomaly is at this point?"

"Only that it's evil and powerful. This crystal should lead us to the source. I infused it with a little Aura, then inscribed an infinite feedback loop to keep it powered."

"To think people from the future would actually know what they're going to be dealing with concerning something in an almost similar past..."

"Everything isn't so clear cut as you think it is. We can't foresee or predict everything from the past. There's still many undiscovered anomalies that we might or might not know about."

"No need to get angry. It's just...if I were you, I would have tried to search for slightly similar cases in the past and trace them back to a point of origin, regardless of timeline. It would make things a whole lot easier."

"Again, not as easy as you make it sound. And you think we didn't try that already?"

 _So defensive..._

"Before we head out to find...whatever it is we're looking for...I'm going to make a stop at the village nearby so I can take care of this." Said Dante using his left hand to point to his still injured right arm.

"What even happened to your arm?"

"Oh. Well...I kinda did something my colleague considered stupid..."

"The fox girl?"

"What? Oh no, not her. My other colleague. She just kinda...comes and goes as she pleases. But she's been a big help when she's meant to."

"What did you do exactly?"

"I...uh...discharged all of my Aura through one punch?"

Hunter was shocked when he heard this.

"How are you still alive?!"

"Uh...that's a secret..."

Hunter sighed before pocketing the crystal.

"Fine. I'll drop you off at the village and head out afterwards."

"What do you mean? I'm going with."

"Thanks. But I don't need your help."

"Look...I know for a fact you're strong. Really strong. But if you guys accidentally picked me up as the anomaly at first, then that means whatever you're tracking is pretty bad. I wouldn't want to just send you off by your lonesome when there's something my partner, siblings and I could do to help."

"Fine then. I could use some more Dust and ammo. Let's go." Hunter said.

A pair of giant, bat-like metal wings, as well as a long, thin metal dragon's tail unfolded from a small metal box on his back. He leaped off the ground, his wings holding him aloft, and tossed a small black earpiece to Dante.

"This'll allow us to stay in contact while I'm flying."

"Got it. See ya in a bit."

As soon as Hunter took off, Dante sighed in relief as he painfully placed his right arm back into sling. Shadow Skinning his right arm did indeed allow him to use it fully, though it would bring him a great amount of pain.

* * *

After taking a last glance at his arm, Dante brought up his left arm while also bringing it in towards his body as he squeezed it into a fist, soon instantly vanishing in a stream of white and black Aura, reappearing in near the village entrance near Inuba and his siblings.

"Master!"

"Heya..."

"Master, your arm..."

"Um...yeah...I'm gonna need you to help me out with that...if you don't mind that is."

"It's alright. I'll take care of it immediately, but what of our attacker?"

"Oh him? Turns out it was an honest mistake. Who knew?" Said the teen shrugging his shoulders.

"Seriously? And what? You just let him go?" Said Ciel.

"It really was an honest mistake. Whatever tracking gear he has accidentally pointed in my direction. So technically, he wasn't at fault."

As he spoke, Inuba had taken off his coat and went about burning away his entirely bandaged arm, revealing his blackened arm yet again. It was starting to look a little better.

"What did you do to your arm brother?" Asked Leo.

"Yeah, you never really told us what happened there." Said Ciel.

"Well then... I guess it's time I give you an explanation. Listen closely, for what I am about to say is absolutely and completely one hundred percent true."

He most certainly caught his younger siblings attention due to the fact they leaned in towards Dante, listening with interest.

"For one moment...and one moment only...I became Saitama, the One Punch Man."

The two siblings stared at him in confusion.

"He's joking. At least, to some extent... What actually happened was that he discharged all of his Aura through a punch in order to destroy some...creature. Thankfully, at least we won't be seeing that rude boy anymore at least." Said the Kitsune girl finishing her round of treatment.

"Actually...we will."

"What? Why?" Asked Ciel.

"That anomaly he was tracking was strong. Strong enough that it was confused to be me for a bit. We can't just let him take a swing at it by himself. Who knows what kind of damage they'll do... So why not help him out and minimize the damage as much as possible? That...and he can go home a lot quicker and leave us to relax a while before we head out again."

"If you say so, Master... How is your arm feeling?"

"Better thanks to you."

"O-Oh! T-Thank you master! Think n-nothing of it!" She said as her fox tail happily whipped about.

"Ya know, I might be able to help with that arm." Hunter said as he now stood behind them all.

"How-"

"-did I know about that? I'm a telepath. I can sense your thoughts, feelings and emotions. That includes pain."

Inuba, Ciel and Leo immediately readied themselves.

"Hold it you guys. We're not here to fight one another." Said Dante getting in between them.

"But-"

"Relax. It's him."

"Still-"

"It's okay. Trust me."

They all hesitated for a moment but lowered their guard shortly after.

"If you try anything at all, be sure of the fact that I will be the first to respond." Said Inuba before backing away.

"I'd like to see you try..." Said Hunter.

"I wouldn't make her angry if I were you..." Said Dante whispering to Hunter.

"Why not?"

"To be honest with you...she's actually a lot stronger than I am. Not to mention scarier when she's angry and is really trying to defeat you. Or trying to do worse."

Hunter was yet again surprised.

 _That fox is stronger than he is?_

"I don't believe you."

"Truthfully, if she put in her absolute effort, she'd very likely leave no trace of you."

Knowing what he did now made Hunter shudder a bit.

"Now...what business do you have with my Master?" asked Inuba.

"We're hunting for something." he said.

He turned to the shadowy being that appeared, then said, "What did you find, Ariel?"

"One, that the disturbance originates from a mountain to the north. And two, that Kitsune tend to think with their weapons rather than their heads." it said in a dry voice.

"Mind your tongue vermin...or I will take it from you..." She said.

Hunter looked over to see Dante standing behind Inuba, using his left hand to silently but rapidly plead to tell Hunter to not have his ally provoke Inuba further.

"Hehehe... I'd like to see you try." Ariel said as he drifted closer to her, only to stop with a jerk.

Hazy tendrils of shadow had attached to his arms, stretching back to Hunter's gauntlet. His eyes flashed, and Ariel drifted back towards Hunter, grumbling the entire way.

"Ariel, if you don't start acting your age, there will be some serious consequences." Hunter said.

"Anyway, I meant what I said earlier." Hunter said. "My Semblance allows me to heal someone by transferring their injury to my body. This includes mortal wounds as well. If I die from it, my Aura will heal, then resurrect me."

"It's not so much that I don't believe you...but Inuba's Cleansing Flame is one of the best kinds of healing magic out there. If that didn't work...well..."

"It couldn't hurt to try." Hunter said with a shrug. "It might speed the healing process, at the very least."

"We could try... But don't blame me if it doesn't work..." said Dante taking out his right arm from the sling.

Hunter's hands began to glow with his dark Aura, and he held them over Dante's arm. The pain flared up suddenly as Hunter's Aura sank in, then slowly began to lessen as the Aura faded.

"Wow... you were right... I did all that could for your arm, but the nerves have been overloaded with Aura. There's not much I can do for Aura-damaged nerves except slowly drain the excess Aura away so they can heal, which is what ms. Fox is doing with her treatment." He said as he moved backwards.

"If you'll excuse me." he said as he reached up to his right shoulder, then tore his arm off.

The group of four were shocked beyond belief at what he just did. That was until they saw metal and wiring, instead of muscle and nerves.

"I overloaded the Aura feedback circuits." Hunter said as he put the metal arm in his satchel.

"Luckily, I always carry spares." he added as he pulled out another one and attached it to the socket in his shoulder.

"Fake arms... Definitely something to carry around spares for... What happened to your arm? If you don't mind asking that is..."

"I was fighting the White Fang... Got both my arms sliced off by a masked katana wielder named Adam Taurus. Later, a building fell on top of me and crushed my legs. Both had to be amputated and replaced." he said.

"Dear me that's brutal... And that guy chopped off both your arms?!"

"Yeah..."

"Master, I have one other thing to report..." the demon Ariel said. "There was also evidence of an Adept in the area."

"You're joking, right? Adepts shouldn't exist in this Reality. Especially since I don't." Hunter said.

Dante and Inuba looked to each other questionably before Dante asked the big question.

"What's an Adept and why is it important whether or not it exists in this timeline with or without you being here?"

"When I entered the universe of Remnant in my Reality, a new species of Grimm came into existence. These Grimm were known as Adepts, and resemble me when I have my hood up. They're incredibly powerful. And it's very bad news that they showed up here."

"Bad news how? Like end of the world bad news or..?"

"They can strengthen and evolve Grimm. So, yeah, they're bad news," Hunter said.

"Oh that does sound bad... Well, we should go find them then. Unless we have something else to track down."

"Dante and I need to find and destroy the power source. The Adepts move invisibly and intangibly during the day, only appearing at night. Ariel, however, can track them."

"This...creature is capable of such a task?" Said Inuba as she shot the shadowy being a cold glare.

"Yeah. However, he can't kill them. I'd have to give him a incorporeal body when I summoned him, or he would have killed me. If you two can get along, Ariel can track the Adepts, while Inuba and your little brother and sister kill them."

"Sounds like a plan." Said Dante.

He then quickly took Inuba and his siblings to the side away from Hunter and Ariel.

"Be nice you three. Ariel seems like a bit of a troublemaker and...very sassy. Not Blake sassy, but you get my point. Be the better people in this instance. If Ariel is being rude, just ignore it."

"I...I will attempt to do my best master..."

"I'll maybe remember that." Said Ciel.

"Ciel..."

"Fine! I'll behave. Maybe..." she whispered silently at the end.

"Good."

"I'm not sure Ariel will escape without a burn or two brother..." said Leo.

Dante only chuckled to himself nervously before the four returned to Hunter and Ariel.

"I heard that." Hunter whispered to Dante. "We'll be lucky if Ariel comes back alive." he added in an undertone.

Dante chuckled silently alongside Hunter.

"I told you...you make Inuba angry...it'll be the last thing you do..." He said still chuckling.

"Right. I need to do some maintenance on Chaoseater." Hunter said.

He pulled out his giant sword, and it shifted into what looked like a very large cannon.

"What, last checkup didn't go so well?"

"Yeah," he said as he disassembled the gun. "Couple of the focusing lenses are slightly out of alignment... gotta fix those, or the gun'll go nova if I try to fire it."

"That would be bad. How long do you need?" Asked Dante.

"Couple hours? Then I need to test fire it."

"You know, if you explain how it works to me, we could cut hours into a few minutes... I mean, it's not like I'm gonna use a giant laser cannon in the near future. Not my style anyway..."

"Not gonna happen. It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust anyone but myself when it comes to the specs of Chaoseater."

"Suit yourself. We'll head into town then. Want anything?"

"I'll come with. If you're gonna be fighting side by side with me, might be a good idea to get to know each other better."

"Alright then. Works for me." said Dante, much to Inuba's surprise.

Ariel darted into Hunter's gauntlet, and the odd group walked into town. They received a few glares from some people

"I get that we're not a popular Idol Group, but seriously, what's with the stares? They don't take too kindly to strangers or something?" Said Ciel.

"That could be possible." Said Leo.

Only Inuba and Dante knew why a small majority of the villagers stared at them.

"Master, are you sure you do not wish for me to hide my tail and ears?"

"What? No way. You don't need to hide your cute fox ears or your cute fluffy tail because of some jerks."

"C-C-Cute?!" She whispered as her face reddened, slapping her hands over her face to hide her embarrassment.

She soon opened up her fingers slowly to peek through them as she saw him chuckling.

"Oh wait, you got a little smudge on your cheek." He said stepping in front of her.

"Where-?"

Before she could finish her sentence, a rock made its way towards Inuba's head. The rock would have made impact had Dante not stood in front of her. Blood trickled down his face as he looked in the direction the rock came from.

"Which one you bastards threw a rock at my brother?!" Said Ciel summoning her Scythe through a burst of white Aura outlined in black.

The ones responsible quickly backed away and made a run for it, Ciel about to give chase until she was stopped by Dante's hand. She growled slightly as she dematerialized her weapon, understanding his silent plea.

Dante wiped the blood off of his face with the left sleeve of his coat, the blood vanishing seconds later. He noticed Inuba slightly shaking with an angered expression on her face. No one else saw it except for Dante, but her hand began to flow with a small burst of white fire until Dante's hand began holding her flaming hand, the flames slowly dying down.

"How can you let them do that Master..? Much less let them walk away..?" She said with her voice slightly raised while in a whisper.

"Not worth the time and effort to correct a few bigots. Besides, a little old rock isn't enough to take me out." He said giving her a thumbs up before walking ahead of her.

"Is he always like that? Forgiving I mean..." asked Hunter.

"In previous times...no... He always fought back to ensure someone would understand that such a thing was not ok, but... Now...he's changed. And for the better."

"I didn't know people would continue such discriminatory beliefs given with what's been happening over the past few months..." said Leo as both he and Ciel followed behind Dante, Inuba and Hunter.

"Seriously... I should have just ignored him and gone after them..." said Ciel.

"I'm not too happy about it either. But if brother said not to do anything about it, then don't. We don't need trouble."

* * *

"I'm ready whenever you guys are." Hunter said. "I've already locked in the coordinates for our destination." he added as he pulled a small rod out of his robes.

He snapped it, then tossed it on the ground. It expanded into what looked like a mechanical horse with a mane and tail made of black flame, which Hunter jumped onto shortly after.

He rode over to Dante, then lowered his hand and said, "You coming?"

"Yup. Just a second."

He then turned to Inuba and his brother and sister.

"Remember the plan. As soon as the sun sets, you guys will head out with Ariel and track down however many Adepts there are. Find them and take care of them quickly. Afterwards, have Ariel guide you back to us. We might or might not be done by the time you are. Got it?"

"Understood Master. Please be safe." she said with a bow.

"Thanks. You too. And behave yourselves you two. Whatever Inuba says is law. If she asks you to jump, you ask how high and so forth. In short, you listen to whatever she says."

"We got it already. Just go do your thing and hurry back." Said Ciel.

Hunter grabbed hold of Dante's left hand and slung him atop the horse.

"Onwards noble steed! To freedom! And glory! Yeehaw!" shouted Dante as the horse raised itself on its hind legs before taking off into the night.

* * *

They reached the mountain just as the sun finished setting, and dismounted. The horse collapsed back into its storage, and Hunter picked it up and slipped it back under his robe.

"There should be a cave somewhere around here." Hunter said as he pressed a small button on the side of his mask.

"There." he said as he pointed at a cliff. "The cave should be right here," he said as he felt along the cliff.

He reached into his robe and pulled out a small device, then placed it, backed away and triggered it. A small sphere of energy expanded from it, then collapsed on itself, revealing a tunnel that lead deeper into the mountain.

Hunter bowed to Dante like a doorman and said, "After you."

With that, the two of them vanished into the dark depths of the mountain.

"A Grimm hiding underneath a mountain... It's like the Dragon all over again..."

"Huh?"

"I don't know if this happened in your Reality and future timeline, but months ago...Beacon fell. A majority of Vale has been overrun with Grimm, but there's been safezones established for survivors. From what I know, Vale is slowly being retaken and the safezones are expanding. As to what caused it...Cinder Fall... She incited panic amongst the crowd during the Vytal tournament, which made the Grimm bold enough to attack. Ships were hijacked and defenses were turned against us as well as White Fang within the city. It was afterwords that the Dragon Emerged from a mountain range near Vale. After a...difficult struggle...I managed to kill it."

"Is that why your right arm is injured?"

"No...I...uh...injured it fighting something else... After my 'other colleague' picked up both Inuba and myself, we managed to find clues that pointed us towards Haven, which is why Inuba and I aren't in Vale re-taking the city. Whatever's in Haven is what started this mess. And I'm more than determined to find out who or what exactly was responsible."

"Mein Gott," Hunter muttered to himself. "None of that happened in my timeline."

"You're lucky it didn't... There's a lot of things that's happened in my Reality. The one 'True Reality' as my colleague put it. Things you don't know about. Secrets hidden from plain view. I'm not talking about the ones in Remnant..."

"You mean like the demons?" I said. "Ariel's one of them."

"Not just demons... Frankly...anything you call a demon is just a...by-product of the actual thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Not everything that you've been told is lies or anything like that. There are greater things out there Hunter. Things bigger and far older than both you and I. And I've seen almost all of them."

The two walked in silence for a while longer until they walked into a large, ice-filled cavern.

"Well well...what do we have here?"

The ice began to crack, and Hunter dropped into a crouch, black electricity crackling between his fingers. The ice shattered, unleashing a torrent of icy Grimm. Hunter leaped forward and slashed down a group of Beowulves, then began to float in midair. He extended his gauntleted hands, and black electricity roared from his fingers. He played the electricity back and forth over the ranks of Grimm, burning them to ash almost instantly.

"Not bad!" said Dante drawing his sword before turning it upside down, watching as more Grimm came their way.

He then raised his held sword high into the sky as white Aura outlined in black engulfed the entirety of the blade. After a few seconds, his Aura surrounding the sword grew larger and larger until finally, he plunged his sword deep into the ground, unleashing a sea of Aura Swords that tore apart the masses of Grimm as more and more fell by the second.

"Fun! I can do ya one better though!" Hunter said as he spread his arms.

Dozens of black Aura Sword, each one crackling with electricity, appeared behind him. They shot forward and embedded themselves in the ground between the Grimm. Hunter spread his arms wider, and electricity arced from sword to sword, frying any Grimm in between.

The two continued onwards throughout the cave, remaining cautious as they walked deeper into the Darkness. Though the threat behind him was taken care of, what lied in wait was the concern of the two teens. They battled their way through multiple icy, Grimm filled caverns, until they reached a cavern much larger than the others. In the middle of the cave was a massive rock formation that seemed to ooze darkness.

Hunter drew his sword, then said, "That's it. That's the source of the dark power I was sent back to eliminate."

He walked closer to it, then said, "I don't like this. Too quiet."

"It's always too quiet..."

The rock formation uncurled with a roar, revealing itself to be a giant, draconic Grimm. Dante jumped back as it snapped at Hunter. He vanished in a puff of black smoke and reappeared next to Dante.

"Holy crap!" he gasped as he fake-gagged. "Dude, or dragon, you need a TicTac, or Altoid.. or... or something. Your breath reeks!"

Dante waved his left hand back and forth across his face to hopefully rid himself of the smell.

"I agree..."

Hunter turned to Dante and said, "When I distract it, attack it. And don't hold back."

He vanished in a puff of black vapor, then reappeared on the Dragon's neck.

"Hey, ugly! Up here!" he shouted as electricity crackled through his hands into the Dragons neck.

"Now, Dante!" he shouted as the Grimm flailed its head around.

Dante sprinted towards the Dragon, the creature slightly focusing on Dante for a few moments as orbs of flame shot up into the sky and homed in on the teen. He swatted the orbs of flame out of the sky with Anvil in its longsword form, soon jumping towards the creatures chest, quickly slashing away at scaly hide in horizontal and vertical motions as he feel back down towards the ground.

Hunter leaped off, his sword shifting into a huge scythe. He swung around one of the Dragon's wing joints, landed on top, and severed the wing. The Dragon screamed as Hunter's scythe shifted back to a sword. His fist smoked with icy vapor, and he slammed it into the Grimm's back, freezing its armor. He capitalized on this, and ran down its back, shattering the armor as he went.

"Throw me!" Hunter shouted.

Dante nodded, sheathing his sword before grabbing Hunter's hand with his left, swinging him around rapidly before Hammer tossing his ally towards the Dragon. Just before Hunter hit the Grimm, he whipped out one of his pistols and pulled the trigger, sending him into a spin. He drilled into the Dragon's chest, emerging from the back of the Grimm.

The body of the Dragon heaved suddenly.

"Um...what?!" Said Dante.

The body of the Dragon heaved again, then bulged and exploded outwards. Hunter had been covered in the Dragon's remains, while Dante had luckily and quickly summoned a row of Aura Swords that had fully shielded him from all the blood and chunks of meat, vanishing seconds later.

"Gross..." Hunter said.

He burned off the viscera with his Aura, then looked at the being which rose from the corpse. It looked like a Dust Knight turned Grimm, with a giant black sword and a cape made of viscous darkness.

"Well that's new..." Shouted Dante.

"Thank you for destroying my prison..." the towering Grimm said in a deep, menacing voice.

"Who are you?" asked Hunter.

"I am the Grimm King, Absalom," it replied.

"So...you're the miserable excuse of a Grimm threatening my Reality...I thought you'd be taller. And slightly more threatening." said Dante.

"I could say the same for you...child..."

"The way I see it...you've got two options. Give up, and by that, I mean kill yourself, or stay and die by our hands. The choice is yours pal." Said Hunter.

"And if I refuse?"

Dante grinned menacingly at Absalom, sporting a vicious grin.

"You will make him a very happy camper today." He said nodding towards his ally.

"GRAAAAAH!"

Absalom screamed as he swung his sword down at the Huntsman and Horseman.

The duo dodged to the side in opposite directions, then quickly darted forwards to slash past his ribs.

"Aw, what's wrong? Are we frustrating you?" Hunter taunted.

"ENOUGH OF YOUR TAUNTS!"

Absalom raised his massive sword into the air to slam it down on the two teens, but Dante had blocked the attack, allowing him push away his sword and run towards Absalom full speed. The Grimm managed to break free and went for a horizontal slash that Dante avoided as he spun vertically in the air with Anvil and took away a massive chunk of its armored arm, the teen slowing himself to a halt with his sword as he passed by.

"This may take a while..."

* * *

"Well, Kitsune?" Ariel hissed. "Shouldn't we be going?"

Inuba glanced once outside the window, seeing that the sun had finally set as night took over. She unsheathed her sword halfway and gazed at her reflection before quickly sheathing her sword and tucking it in on the left side of her black sash.

"We are now. Lead the way."

Ariel drifted up into her face and said, "You don't give me orders."

He drifted back, then turned, drifted back through the door and headed outside.

"I may just kill him before you do." Ciel said to Inuba.

Inuba, Ciel and Leo followed after the creature of the Dark, eyes on it at all times.

"The way I see it...we are the only ones capable of killing these adepts currently... If you think yourself leading this part of the mission, then I suggest you quickly re-evaluate your position. If anything, she is the one in charge." Said Leo.

"Watch yourself, boy" Ariel hissed as a ball of crackling black energy formed in his hands.

He fired it at Leo as the younger brother summoned forth his handcannons in a burst of white Aura outlined in black. Then, they heard a pained screech behind Leo, the three spinning around to see a hooded figure falling back. Leo looked backed towards the demon and fired at Ariels head, the small stream of his uniquely colored Aura missing the creatures face by a few inches as another pained screech sounded off into the night, another hooded had fallen.

"Watch yourself...Darkling..." he said with a smile.

"That one behind you is still alive... let me see what I can do to find the rest of the Adepts... Also, I am no Darkling," he hissed as he drifted closer to the paralyzed Adept.

Inuba and the siblings approached as well, Ciel summoning her skeletal scythe to plunge its blade into the Adept's back where it's spine was located to prevent it from moving any further.

"Do what you got to do. And hurry up! We don't have all night!" Ciel said to Ariel.

"What did I say about giving me orders..." Ariel growled as he drifted closer to the Adept.

He grabbed the Adept's head, and it screeched in pain as Ariel ripped its memories from its mind.

"Follow me. And try to keep up children." he said as he rapidly glided away

"How many are there and how far away are they?" Asked Inuba.

"At least 10, maybe more. All roughly 3 miles away." Ariel said. "Along with an army of evolved Grimm between us and them."

"Are some of them in groups?" Asked Leo.

"Of course they are! Grimm travel in packs. The various packs are spread out over a mile, all protecting the coven of Adepts." Ariel snapped, sounding exasperated.

"He meant the Adepts you gross looking idiot. We know that Grimm travel together in packs. He was asking whether or not there are Adepts bunched together." Said Ciel.

"Of course they're together, you stupid girl! Except for the ones they've sent after us." Ariel snapped.

Ciel spun around with blinding speed as she grabbed hold of Areil by the neck, raising him up into the sky.

"Be sure of one and one thing only. My brother said to 'play nice.' If that weren't the case, you would have most likely lost one of your arms by now. Here is how the rest of this goes. You do your job, and we'll do ours. And maybe we'll be sure to return you to your master with a few limbs attached. Are. We. Clear?" Said Ciel.

Ariel dissolved in her grip, then reformed a short distance away, rubbing his neck.

"As crystal." he growled.

"Good." She said dusting her hands off.

"Now, if you would be so kind, give us a layout of all the groups and we'll spread out to quickly eliminate them. After we do so, we will make our way back to our brother." Said Leo.

"Fine." he growled as he sent out a line of black Aura that formed a trail for Ciel and Leo.

"You two be sure not to take any risks."

"You don't have to worry about us. We can handle ourselves."

With that, Ciel and Leo went in different directions from Inuba and Ariel, their path leading them into a first.

After a few minutes, Inuba stopped saying, "Something is not right..."

Dark figures dropped from the trees and surrounded her, Ciel and Leo as Ariel slowly dissolved out of view

"Oops. Did I forget to warn you?" he said with a malicious cackle.

"How mature of you..." said Inuba with her hand hovering over her katana.

Four of them lunged at her full speed, but from her perspective, they slowly moved in the air as they tried to reach her. The Kitsune girl quickly removed her weapon from her sash with her left hand and went about smacking away the three in front of her first, unsheathing her weapon as she stared at its reflective surface to see the other behind her ready to strike. Inuba then quickly slashed downwards on the first foe, splitting it clean in half before spinning around once to deliver a horizontal slash that chopped off both the arms and heads of the other three.

As their bodies fell to the ground, Inuba had slowly sheathed her weapon and waited silently until five more charged in after her. With great speed, the fox yokai smacked around the figures with her sheathed weapon, soon allowing her blade to drink deep of their blood as she hacked off arms, legs, heads, bodies. The center was simply one huge meat grinder as she spun around and delivered a final rotational slash that put her behind the rest of the enemies.

Before the figures could readjust their view, the fox yokai had already dashed in between them, rapidly slashing around and in front of her as she continued making minced meat of the figures until she lashed outwards across from her body. With that, Inuba had placed her sheath behind her back as she lashed out to her side once more to clean her blade of the blood, soon twirling the sword around twice before placing it behind her back and dropping the sword back into her sheath, moving it from behind her back and tucking it back into her sash. And so, she took a sigh of relief.

"You can stop hiding now Ariel."

He re-materialized well out of reach, then said, "Shall we continue?"

"After you."

* * *

Ariel drifted off, Inuba following close behind as they headed deeper into the woods

"How did a creature such as yourself come into servitude under your Master? From what I know and have experienced, your kin are not particularly friendly."

"I don't think that's any of your business..." he said as he drifted ahead of her.

"Very well... Suit yourself then... How far until the next group?"

"Right... now." he said as he faded out again.

This time, it was a pack of Beowulves, as well a giant Galapagos, a colossal turtle Grimm.

"Brilliant..."

The Galapagos roared loudly, signaling the rest of the Beowolves to charge forwards and attack.

"Weaver of Light!"

Inuba lashed outwards in front of her, unleashing a massive wave of flame like white Aura that crashed into the masses of Beowolves, the flames like webs of fire that bound them in place. She then turned her blade upside down and plunged it into the ground.

"Abyssal Light!"

Black flames erupted and merged with the white webs of flaming Aura, soon setting off a chain reaction of explosions that killed the Beowolves ensnared by the webs as numerous body parts had taken to the skies, Inuba moving her head out of the way as the leg of one of the Grimm passed by.

A surviving Beowolf that was missing its entire lower half crawled towards her, but she simply lashed outwards and decapitated it, walking towards the Galapagos as its mouth glowed with red energy. Inuba sprinted forwards at blinding speeds, dodging the orbs of red energy that made their way towards her, soon dashing in the air towards the colossal turtle Grimm as it opened its jaws to devour her. Shifting her body upwards, the Kitsune girl dodged the snapping jaws, and in one fluid motion, delivered a horizontal slash, soon spinning vertically to deliver a vertical slash, landing on the top of the turtle Grimm's shell. Twirling her blade twice, Inuba sheathed her sword as the Galapagos' head exploded into numerous bloody pieces, its body dropping to the ground before beginning to evaporate.

"Well... that was fun." Ariel said as he reappeared. "Let's keep moving."

* * *

"This guy's relentless!" said Dante dodging sword swipes while dealing some of his own.

"It seems like he's getting stronger!" Hunter said. "Time to bring out the big guns..." he added as he pulled out his hand cannons.

He started running circles around Absalom, firing the entire time, until his guns clicked empty. The empty mags dropped out of his pistols, and another pair floated out of his robe and slammed into place. He pressed a small button on the sides of his guns, and a pair of triggers flipped down. He lifted the guns, then pulled the triggers.

There was a deafening boom, as a pair of 25 mm, high velocity, armor-piercing rounds blasted out of the larger barrels of his guns. They slammed into Absalom, making him stumble back a few steps. Hunter clicked another button, and a pair of electromagnetic fields inside the bullets shut down. A speck of antimatter in each, no larger than the width of a hair, floated up and touched the inside of the bullet. Instantly, Absalom was sent flying by a pair of matter-antimatter annihilations.

"Now, aren't you glad that I didn't use the big bullets when we were fighting?" Hunter said to Dante.

"I'll admit, even if I don't use guns at all, that was still pretty neat."

Hunter broke the barrels of his hand cannons and ejected the used shells as another pair floated out of his robe loaded themselves in. He flipped the barrels back up, then slipped the guns back under his robe.

"Here's a little trick I learned from a close friend of my family." Hunter said.

A set of eight swords floated out of his robe and began to orbit behind him. He gestured, and the swords shot forward and began slashing at Absalom, breaking some of his armor.

"Two can play at that game kind sir!" said Dante in an English accent.

He then shot his arm out towards Absalom as it glowed with white Aura outlined in black. Hundreds of Aura swords soon materialized around the Grimm, forming a cage of swords. Dante soon clenched his left hand as all the Aura swords pierced Absalom's body from all directions, turning him into a literal pin cushion as he fell to his knees. Soon after, two massive Aura swords nailed the Grimm's hands to the floor to keep him in place.

"I'm assuming Penny taught you that?" said Dante as he sheathed his sword.

"Yeah." Hunter said.

A pair of swords shot out of his sleeves soon after. Chains shot from the pommels and wrapped around his forearms, His eyes flashed, before turning red as he shot towards Absalom, cackling insanely. He began spinning and slashing, never faltering in his attack. That is, until Absalom shattered the sword in his right hand and grabbed Hunter's head in his fist. The Grimm King slowly stood up, and the Aura swords were consumed by tendrils of darkness.

"Pitiful insects..." he said as he grabbed Hunter's feet with his other hand and twisted savagely. Dante heard the sound of bones snapping, and Absalom threw Hunter's twisted body at Dante.

As soon as Dante turned around, he found himself in the grasp of Absalom as he raised him in the air.

"Pathetic... I expected...well...more from you."

"Yeah...well..."

Dante's right arm transformed into its Shadow Skin form as he removed it from his sling and dug his claws deep into the hand that held him, forcing Absalom to drop him.

"You're about to be in a world of hurt!"

Absalom raised his sword in the air and swung down, only for Dante to block it overhead by putting his arms in an x formation, his left arm soon Shadow Skinned as well. Dante pushed upwards and stabbed his hand into Absalom's wrist that held the sword. The white haired teen then grabbed hold of the sword and pulled with all his effort as the Grimm charged at him. Dante picked up the blade and slashed Absalom across the chest, delivering another slash that brought him to his knees as Dante spun around and went for the stab.

Absalom quickly grabbed hold of the point and prevented his impalement, but Dante continued pushing, quickly forcing the Grimm to slide backwards on his feet. Before his back hit the nearby wall, Absalom moved his body to the side as the blade entered the wall, allowing the Grimm to attempt to grab Dante. The teen quickly dodged to the right and jumped on the blade, soon leaping into the air to deliver a powerful punch to the Grimm's jaw, forcing his head into the ground.

Dante then quickly grabbed hold of Absalom's right arm and raised him into the air above him before turning around and slamming him back down into the ground. With a loud roar, the teen spun the Grimm around a few times before leaping into the air with his enemy still in tow, still spinning him around before tossing him back down into the ground.

Dante then dropped down upon his enemy with another punch, this time between his mouth and nose. With that, the teen reared back his right leg as it transformed into Shadow Skin mode, then delivered a kick directly under his jaw as he sent Absalom flying, Dante flipping in the air vertically once before gently landing on the ground, standing back up seconds later.

"Where you expecting that?"

Dante heard movement behind him, and he spun on his heel to see Hunter's body slowly rising on its feet. It straightened up, and its upper body flopped limply forward. Dante heard the sickening sound of bones snapping back into place as Hunter slowly straightened up. He tilted his head slowly to one side, eliciting a series of loud cracks from it.

"You can't kill me that easily." he said.

He reached into his robe and pulled out his black, sheathed katana, then slammed the end of the sheath into the ground.

"Rise, O dwellers in the darkness," he said, his mental voice taking on a peculiar choral quality. "Rise, and serve your master."

The ground all around his katana cracked, and shadowy hands reached up and clawed their way to the surface. The hands belonged to tall, thin, shadowy wraiths, with blazing purple eyes like Hunter's.

"What in the world..?"

Hunter pulled his katana out of the ground, then wrapped his hand around the hilt and charged forward. The wraiths followed suit, and began slashing at the Grimm King with suddenly razor-sharp fingers.

* * *

Inuba had sliced the last hooded figure in half, taking a deep breath before lashing out to the side to clean the blood of her blade, sheathing it seconds later.

"Was that the last of them?"

"No. This is strange. Normally covens of Adepts are much smaller. This must be several different covens gathered together. This way." Ariel said, sounding slightly concerned. Ariel drifted off, then stopped and said, "How are you holding up Kitsune?"

"Just fine. But what has you so concerned?"

"Adepts aren't like your typical Grimm. You seldom find more than one anywhere at any given time. When they do gather in their covens, the reason is never good. I can sense power flowing from the central coven to that mountain our masters descended into."

Inuba closed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel Dante's presence, as well as Hunter's. Then, she felt an extremely powerful presence colliding with the two.

"They're feeding power to some sort of creature in the caverns of the mountain! Quickly! Lead us to the central cavern!"

"Right!" he hissed as he darted off.

Inuba followed close behind, until they reached a large hill with a cave in the side. They quickly moved until it opened out into a massive cavern. There was a circle of Adepts with their arms raised in the center, surrounding a crystal that was swirling with red and black energy. At their head was an Adept with red markings on his hood, and a black sword at his side.

"See the Adept with red markings?" Ariel whispered to Inuba. "He's an Arch-Adept, the evolved form of the Adept. He must be the leader of the coven."

The Arch-Adept's hood lifted slightly as he lowered his hands. The other Adepts followed suit, getting into fighting crouches as their leader stepped forward.

"Greetings, demon. And to you as well, Faunus." he said courteously in a deep voice as smooth as silk, bowing slightly as he did.

"I am Balthazar, leader of this coven. Welcome to our humble abode."

"You won't have the pleasure of staying long...monster..."

"Am I really? Would a monster have greeted you in this fashion? I may be a soulless Grimm, but I possess knowledge and intelligence, greater than any other of my kind." he said, gesturing to make his point. "Tell me, what defines humanity? Is it a soul? Or intelligence, sentience, free will?"

Inuba kept her hand steady over her sword, thinking of the conversation as some sort of ploy to catch her off guard. But nonetheless, she would answer him.

"I have asked my Master the same question numerous times. What makes a human? What defines being human? He himself has searched for many years to find the answer. Questioning whether it'd be the soul, their sentience or their free will. And from what he tells me...he believes all of the above. But the most important, determining factor...is ones heart."

"An excellent answer. Am I any less human? All I've done was to gain some sort of equality for my people. Would you condemn me for that?"

"Equality?! You consider destruction as a means of equality?!"

"I will do whatever I have to." he said.

He looked at the other Adepts and said, "Kill them."

"Then I will do what I must as well." Replied Inuba

"Do your worst."

"You may wish to stand behind me for now." said Inuba to Ariel.

The demon did so as Inuba slid her left foot back, her right hand hovering over the handle of her blade as white, flame like Aura surrounded her entire body, the flames growing larger and larger as the minor Adepts ran towards her.

"Kitsukami Secret Art: FoxFire Nova!"

Her flaming white Aura condensed to her right arm and sword, the Kitsune girl opening her eyes as they flashed red briefly. As the Adepts drew in closer, Inuba lashed out with her katana, unleashing a arcing sea of brilliant white flame that turned the Adepts to ash upon contact. After a few seconds or so, the flames died down as Inuba stood up normally and held her sword tightly, waiting in anticipation.

The flames cleared, revealing Balthazar to be completely untouched. He slowly drew his sword, the blade of which was red. He crouched, then shot towards Inuba.

"Reap what you've sown, Faunus!" he hissed before slashing at her.

They came to a clash as sparks emerged from the point of contact, each trying their best to push the other back.

"There are better ways for equality than resorting to destruction! You claim to be different, but in truth, you are no different than all the others I have faced!"

He blurred, then vanished. He reappeared behind her, lifting his sword to cut her down, until he was struck in the back by a bolt of black energy. Inuba heard the boom, and she spun to see Ariel floating behind her, his hands crackling with dark energy.

"Watch your back, girl..." he said dryly.

"Shouldn't you be watching your own, demon?"

Ariel turned to find the Arch-Adept behind him, ready to take his head. This would have been the case had Inuba not stuck out her blade to block then push back, delivering a slash that the Arch-Adept blocked, sending him skidding backwards on the heels of his feet. The Arch-Adept blurred again, then reappeared immediately in front of Inuba, his sword lifted to stab her.

"No!" Ariel said as he darted in front of her and took the stab directly in his chest.

Inuba's eyes widened in surprise, as did the Arch-Adepts. But instead of remaining completely stunned, Inuba took the chance to slash the humanoid Grimm across the chest while avoiding Ariel, leaving the creature with a nasty cut as she soon placed her foot on its stomach, grabbed hold of Ariel, and kicked off the creature, taking Ariel with her as they distanced themselves from the Arch-Adept.

"Why would you-?" started Inuba.

"Go... kill that...that bastard," he said weakly.

He slowly dissolved into a pile of black dust, which swirled around Inuba's feet. The dust swirled higher and higher, then was pulled into her body.

"Really now? Do you truly believe yourself capable of killing me?"

"I do... As my Master used to say, 'It's my duty you see...to rid the world of scum such as yourself.' Believe me...you will not leave this place alive. That...is a fact."

"Hehehehehehe... heheheHAHAHAHA!" Balthazar laughed. "I killed your little darkling friend easily enough. I'll kill you just as quickly!"

"Is that what you think? Foolish creature... You have no idea...who you are truly dealing with."

"Oh really? Show me."

"Gladly."

Inuba vanished in a quick burst of white flame, reappearing behind the Arch-Adept as she drew her sword and lashed out at him.

He spun, and deflected her slash effortlessly with the armor on his arm.

"Pathetic," he said. "Why don't you use the power your darkling friend gave you. At least then you'll be more of a challenge."

"First of all...he is not a Darkling..."

Inuba shot her hand forwards as numerous bolts of black energy struck at the Arch-Adept, the Grimm dodging the first few blasts before being struck by the quick barrage of black bolts. As he lowered his arms from blocking, the Arch-Adept could not see Inuba, soon feeling a blade pierce through his abdomen, the white katana blade crackling with black energy, the Grimm slowly turning its head back in surprise to see the fox yokai.

"Second...when an external source of power is integrated with my own, my overall power and abilities is doubled. In the case of my Master however, since I am connected to him constantly, his power alone increases mine double of what it originally is. And considering the years we've been connected to one another...despite the loss of his old powers, a portion of them have been permanently added to my own power, making me four times more powerful than I normally am. You lost this fight before it even began." she finished as she plunged the blade deeper into the Arch-Adept's abdomen, a cry of pain emerging forth as blackened blood began dripping profusely onto the floor.

The Arch-Adept spat up black fluid, then slowly began to dissolve.

"Thank... you" he whispered as he dissolved into a pile of black dust.

The dust swirled up, then was absorbed into Inuba's body.

"Hope you don't mind if I share your body while I gather enough power to reform." said Ariel's voice in her head.

Inuba lashed out her weapon to the side, twirling it twice before sheathing her weapon.

"Take however much time you need..." she sighed as she knelt down to the pile of black dust.

"Something the matter?" asked Ariel.

"He said thank you before he turned to dust... Why?"

"From what I gathered, Adepts are corrupted humans. The process is excruciating, and the human part of them is locked deep within. They're only released once the Adept is killed."

"Which is why they had a humanoid shape... I suspected some form of corruption but...could not believe it when I saw it..."

"Precisely... the Adepts of my Master's Reality were a result of his entry into the universe of Remnant. Adepts seem to come into existence wherever my Master goes."

"Then if he were to leave...they would be gone as well? Or would they remain?"

"They would remain. They're tenacious little buggers."

* * *

Dante stood and watched, waiting for a chance to do something. But Hunter and his specters seemed to do a decent job on their own

"He's starting to slow down!"

Hunter as he unleashed a flurry of lightning fast slashes. Absalom slapped him back, and his wraiths caught him and set him down gently.

"Maybe I spoke too soon..." Hunter said.

Dante took a few quick steps forward until he reached Hunter, soon whispering in his ear.

"Really now?" Asked Hunter.

Dante nodded his head twice smiling.

"A little trick I picked up from a previous employer of mine. He taught me some of his moves so it'll work out nicely. Besides...I think it'll do the trick just nicely."

"But I thought-"

"I'll make an exception this time."

Dante quickly sheathed his longsword and extended his left hand to Hunter as he handed him one of the hand cannons he held. Dante drifted the cannon down to his left thigh as it invisibly attached itself to the side of his thigh, the teen soon unsheathing his sword again as he walked slowly towards Absalom. The large Grimm charged at Dante full speed, and as he did, the teen himself dashed towards him as he leapt towards Absalom. The Grimm tried for a stab with its massive sword, but Dante spun out of his way midair and tried for a stab himself.

Absalom managed to jump backwards to distance himself a bit from the blade point, bringing up his own sword to block the stab and lash outwards. When his field of view was clear, he could no longer see Dante, only his sword twirling up high into the air. Panicked, Absalom quickly looked around him, still not able to see the teen. Then, he heard a clicking noise and looked to his right to see Dante standing atop his right arm, Hunter's handcannon aimed directly at his head.

"It's time you left my Reality."

With that, Dante pulled the trigger as blast of white Aura outlined in black hit Absalom directly in the face, smoke covering the area where his head was as the massive Grimm's body began to slowly lean back, the teen jumping off and attaching the hand cannon to his thigh, shortly catching his sword midair before twirling it twice and placing it back in the sheath on his back. Hunter walked to his side as the wraiths surrounded Absalom's body, it's head now fully revealed as both teens stared directly at him.

"The honor is all yours." Said Dante as he removed the gun and twirled it three times before handing it to Hunter.

"Thank you." Hunter said. Black vapor swirled around him, and he transformed into his Grimm Lord form. His eyes changed from purple to pure red, and Abaddon picked up Absalom's sword.

"A fine blade..." he said as he looked it over. He threw it at Absalom, and it embedded itself in the ground by Absalom's head.

"Pick it up. I won't dishonor myself by killing an unarmed opponent."

Absalom slowly got to his feet, and pulled the sword out of the ground.

"Abaddon... you were once my most loyal lieutenant. Now you are being controlled by some... human child..." he said as he lifted the massive sword.

"I slaughtered millions of humans under your command... spilled seas of blood. By killing you, I can begin to make amends for what I have done." Abaddon said as he summoned his own blade. "I have seen the world through the eyes of a human, and I have seen the horrors wrought by the Grimm."

Absalom lifted his sword and swung it at Abaddon, who swatted it aside contemptuously with the flat of his blade. This continued for a while, until Abaddon created an opening. Then, the Grimm Lord lifted his sword high overhead, then stabbed Absalom through the chest.

"For the lives I've destroyed..." he said as he stabbed Absalom again. "For Remnant..." he said as he stabbed him again. His blade began to burn with black energy as he lifted it one final time. "For...my...FREEDOM!" he roared as he drove it through Absalom's heart.

Absalom coughed up black blood, then slowly began to dissolve into dust, which was absorbed into Abaddon's body.

The Grimm King leaned forward, then said, "You know... what...my greatest sin...is?"

Abaddon leaned in closer, then stiffened as Absalom stabbed his hand into the Grimm Lord's chest.

"That... I... never planned to... die... alone," the Grimm King said as he dissolved completely. Abaddon fell to his knees, then shrank back into Hunter, who slowly fell forward, black liquid leaking out of his wound.

Dante ran over, and turned Hunter onto his back. He saw the black veins in Hunter's face start to spread further, and bone start to protrude from the sides of his head.

"What the heck is going on?!" Dante said to himself.

He heard a weak voice in his head say, "Grimm blood... it's speeding the progress of the Grimmification…"

"Master!"

"Inuba? What happened to you?" Dante said.

Inuba's appearance had changed slightly. Her hair, ears and tail were now black.

She took note of this and answered quickly, saying, "Ariel took significant damage and needed to reside in my body until he is able to recuperate. He changed my appearance slightly. But what's wrong with him?"

"It's his blood... Inuba, can you do something for him?"

"I'm...I'm not sure Master... I've never had to treat such a thing..."

"Please, try!"

She gave a quick nod as she place both hands on his chest, white flames engulfing his body soon after.

"Please Master, hold him down!"

Dante quickly Shadow Skinned his right arm, soon using both arms to hold down Hunter as he kicked and screamed in agony. Dante's right arm was soon consumed with pain, his arm having the sensation of extreme burning as he fought the pain to hold down Hunter.

"Inuba!"

"His blood is resisting the treatment Master! And his psychological state is not helping my efforts either!"

The white haired teen growled in frustration before raising up his left arm and punching Hunter in the face hard enough to knock him out. Dante took a sigh of relief as his right arm reverted to normal, going completely limp again as he leaned back and sat on the ground, putting his right arm back into the sling shortly after.

"We'll treat it later... Did that help?"

"Despite the method, it did. Now that he isn't thrashing about, it's making the treatment go smoother. In a matter of minutes, I can purify his blood completely and prevent further...occurrences."

"How so?"

"With you master, you were unaffected by the adverse effects of a Dark Entity soul, a King Class no less, because you are part Dark Entity yourself, rendering yourself immune. However, Hunter is only a human. A human with such a soul residing within, even if they have come to terms with another will still affect his body...and...from what he's told us, will make him turn into a Grimm."

"And your Cleansing Flame will prevent him from turning...how?"

"Have you forgotten Master? The Kitsukami clan has combatted Dark Entities for centuries. As such, we have developed effective means of combating them, as well as healing the effects they have of people of all varieties. Whether they be human, magical creature, or a spirit. This... process isn't all that far from the effects of Dark Entity possession. Even so, it will take some time to completely purify his blood and his body. The purification is lasting, so he won't have any future instances."

"And 'his' Abaddon?"

"Their souls are intertwined. The purification will only negate the adverse effects, but will cause no harm to either of their souls."

"Good... If that wasn't the case...I'm pretty sure he'd be angry once he woke up," said Dante leaning back all the way to the ground to rest.

Inuba continued trying to purge the Grimm blood from Hunter's system. The bone at his temples receded, as did the black veins. However, they only receded to their previous orientation, before Hunter had been stabbed by Absalom.

"Is that it?" asked Dante.

"Yes. All done."

"Good. Now we can carry him back into town."

"But Master, your arm..."

"Ah, don't sweat it. I'll be fine. Besides, I left a sword back in our room at the inn. We won't have to travel far."

* * *

Ciel and Leo were cutting through the masses of Grimm and Adepts with relative ease, Ciel's scythe easily making minced meat of them as Leonard's Aura Beam's that hid his bullets easily penetrated their targets both at close range and at a far distance. Ciel heard a small chirping tune and raised her left hand in the air to bring up a holographic screen that soon expanded, revealing the words "voice call".

"Leo, keep these guys off me for a little bit. Dante's calling."

"Understood."

Leonard moved closer to Ciel and kept firing at the crowds surrounding, this time with a more rapid pace.

"What's cooking big brother?"

 _"How are things going on your end Ciel?"_

"So far so good. We're nearly done since we're on our last group. What about you guys?"

 _"We killed the anomaly causing this this mess and are returning to the village. How long until you guys are done?"_

"Um..."

Ciel looked around, seeing the last few masses of Grimm mounting up to charge them for a final attack. She moved her head out of the way to allow Leonard to take a shot at a Grimm closing in on her.

"Probably two minutes or less."

 _"Alright. Finish up and meet us back here."_

"You got it." Said the younger sibling closing her screen.

"You got this Leo?"

"Basically. I've set up enough shots by now, so clearing them out now should be no problem."

"Alrighty then. Don't mess up!" She said playfully punching him in the shoulder before vanishing out of sight in a blur of black and white.

"Honestly...you always leave me to do all the clean up work..."

Leonard quickly twirled around his handcannons and fired in numerous directions around him, leaving small "spots" of his Aura in the air surrounding him, totaling to one hundred spots. Shortly after, the same type of spots appeared directly behind the Grimm, forming a cage of these "spots" of Aura that numbered in the hundreds. The process was complete. Leonard only raised up his right handcannon and pointed it in front of him, giving the creatures of Grimm before him a menacing glare.

"Horizon of Subterfuge."

Leonard pulled the trigger of his gun, and in that instant, the "spots" of Aura became large circles that shot out large, devastating columns of white Aura outlined in black from all circles at once, annihilating all traces of the Grimm from both sides as the beams tore through them with eases, turning them into ash.

The immense glow of Aura ceased and the smoked cleared. Numerous small craters littered the wide area around Leonard as he twirled both guns and dematerialized them. A legless Adept went to reach for Leonard, but Ciel's scythe pierced the top of its skull, the girl soon tearing it through the rest of its body to cut in half.

"Looks like you missed one." Said Ciel slinging her scythe on her shoulder.

"Pure luck."

"Uhuh, sure~"

Ciel swiped her Sycthe across her body, leaving a massive slash of black Aura outlined in white that expanded into a large circle of the Aura.

"After you, mi hermano..." said Ciel motioning to her portal.

Leo stepped inside, followed by Ciel as the portal closed behind them.

* * *

Dante and Inuba teleported back inside their room in the inn and laid Hunter on one of the beds.

"Jeez this guy is heavy..."

"Agreed..."

A small, circular portal of black Aura outlined in white opened up, allowing Ciel and Leo to step on through.

"Heya broman, how'd it go? Woah. What happened to him?" Asked Ciel.

"Long story. Is your stuff already packed up?"

"Yes?" Asked the younger sibling slightly confused.

"Cool beans."

Dante reached into Hunter's robe soon after, pulling out another one of his iconic masks and placing it in the bed stand next to him.

"Master? What are you doing?" Inuba asked.

"Figured he's gonna want one when he wakes up."

"We will be leaving then?" Asked the Kitsune

"Well, we can't just wait around all day for him to wake up. We've got places to be. Clues to find. The faster we get there, the better. Plus, I don't really like this village all too much for certain reasons. If you'd be so kind, can you guys square away the bill while I leave him a note?" said Dante, removing a few lien cards from his coat and handing them to Inuba.

"Of course Master. I'll get right on it." she said as she took the cards and headed through the door with the younger siblings.

Dante sat down in a chair and sighed in relief.

"Haven't had that much excitement in a while..."

He found a piece of paper in the desk nearby and a pen, soon beginning to write out a note. After about two minutes, he put away the pen and place dryer corner of the note under mug near the bedstead were Hunter rested.

"Well...it's been fun. Take care of yourself, friend." he said patting the end of the bed before leaving the room.

* * *

"Are you sure he will be alright brother? Maybe we should head back quickly and-"

"Trust me, he'll be fine. He doesn't need a babysitter. Besides, he's standing right over there."

"What?!" Said the other three in unison, looking ahead of Dante to see that indeed Hunter was standing ahead of them currently.

"Hey." said Hunter casually.

"We weren't expecting you to wake up so soon." Said Dante.

"I need to be heading back to my Reality. Or whatever you call it.

"How did you get here so fast?"

"Teleported."

"Oh yeah… Forgot you could do that…"

"Anyway, good luck on your journey everyone. So long and thanks for all the fish!" Hunter said as a white portal opened behind him. He stepped through it, and it vanished, leaving no evidence that he had ever been there.

"Fish?" asked both siblings and Inuba simultaneously.

It seemed as though only Dante had realized the true meaning of Hunter's parting words.

"Aha! I see what he did there!"

"Are you just saying that or did you really understand what he was saying there?" Asked a skeptical Ciel.

"I understood it. Speaking of fish, do you guys think we should have some tonight?" asked Dante.

"If that is what you wish Master." Replied Inuba.

"Sure."

"Why not?"

"Well, do you guys want fish?"

"As long as you cook and prepare it Master." Said Inuba.

"We still need to settle our cooking duel of the ages you know. Not that it'd really matter since you'd win hands down..."

"Of course Master. Will the next village suffice?"

"Sure thing."

"We're judging! Just so you guys know." Said Ciel.

"Wouldn't you be slightly more biased towards your brother?" Asked Inuba.

"When it comes to food, no. That's bias-free at all times."

Inuba giggled to herself.

"Of course. Well Master, I wish you luck during our competition."

"Thanks. I'm really going to need it."

* * *

 **(Omake: "Counseling with an Immortal, Part 1" by** **OS Worldmakers** **)**

Dante looked down yet another time at headmaster Ozpin's elegant writing. "I suggest you visit a friend of mine. You'll find him on 00004 2nd Street East, Vale. Just say my name and show him the letter, and it'll be free..." the white-haired immortal read out. "Sincerely, Ozpin. Well, that'll be easy."

 _Does Ozpin think I need counseling? I think I'm fine-_

"Oi, don't loiter around. If you're going in, just knock or stand closer to the door."

Dante turned around to face someone unfamiliar. Black hair like midnight nearly covered silver- no, mirror-like eyes. They reflected every color perfectly.

"Ozpin sent you?" the stranger said.

"How did you know?" the tennager asked.

The bigger question was... well, who was the person in front of him? He looked like he could be in Beacon with him.

The teenager in front of Dante rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I don't know. A Grimm, maybe?" he said sarcastically.

"You're my age. I'm pretty sure you don't have a PH.D or a M.D.," Dante replied.

"Even if my name's Bone White? Oh well. You can come in if you want."

And so the Beacon student followed the self-proclaimed psychologist into his home. It was surprising to say the least.

A honest wood and charcoal flame lived in the fireplace, warming the rest of the room. The living space was simple and minimally unadorned, its beauty in its utility and matching style: modern. Cozy.

"Just take a seat, Dante. Ozpin let me know you were coming ahead of time. He says there's one specific issue you might have, and it's related to girls. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think it was Rose Red Petite and Lady 9-Tailed Foxy specifically..."

Dante stared at Bone.

"Ruby and Inuba." he corrected.

The psychologist laughed, quietly slapping his hand against his thigh.

"If you thought those two, who I assume are really cute, were the only two, you're wrong. If anything, they're the main reason."

"What..?" asked Dante confused as to what he meant.

"Let's not go there. For now, I just want you to imagine you're in a mall full of women. Doesn't matter if they're clothed or not."

He left Dante to his thoughts as he patiently brewed peppermint tea for himself and green tea for his client.

The sudden prompt made Dante redden a bit as his mind first switched to a scantily clad Ruby, then an equally scandalous Incuba, then...

Dante slapped his hands over his eyes in a feeble attempt to block out the images he produced. Unfortunately, the one thing he hated about his imagination is that when he had a painted picture in mind, it was near impossible to forget.

 _Forget seeing for a while!_

He removed his hands from his eyes as they fluttered open in embarrassment as the person in front of him began.

"You see a lot of beauties, right? That gives you choices you must make, much like the ones you make when buying coffee." Bone started. He picked up a pen and began flipping it, weaving it through his fingers in marvelous dexterity.

The white-haired immortal couldn't help but interrupt.

"I like tea. But coffee's just as nice on occasion."

To counter Bone, Dante too tried to flip a pen, only for it to slip out of his fingers.

Bone waved away Dante's response as he caught Dante's pen.

"Doesn't matter. What does matter is the opposite gender. After all, you have... ahem, Harem Attracting Syndrome. HAS. And yes, it's real. Infinite possibilities, infinite diseases."

"HAS?" Dante took a sip of green tea. Nice. Goes down smooth. It's as good as Inuba's.

"You heard right. You will inexplicably attract all members of the opposite sex you happen to be around, and although it's not love at first, it might as well be in the end. You have Stage 2, which is lucky. Stage 3, all women are attracted to you. Stage 4, anybody human wants you to bone them. Stage 5... well, all of those who've reached that stage died from intercourse related diseases."

Dante momentarily choked on his beverage.

"Stage 5? We're talking about other worldly feminine beings?"

"Not only them. Guys who are your rivals, cougars, animals, and just maybe Grimm. And don't ever think this is a good thing. I've met one person from a world who pilots exosuits. He's at Stage 3. It's pretty bad: all the women are having a little war over the poor guy. That said, I don't think that'll happen to you."

"Thankfully."

Bone White took a sip of his own tea: both hot and cold.

"You're an odd case. Your looks alone and nature would warrant a Stage 5," he began. "Yet you've been lucky enough to avoid the most clingy of significant others, and you travels have been limited enough so that you aren't on their radar. Either you have an outside power helping you or you're just a lucky bastard."

Dante laughed a bit.

"Trust me, back then before I came here to Remnant... oh boy... it got out of hand a few times," he replied. "Even the female villains were...interested in me... Right now I'm pretty sure Cinder has taken an interest in me given the small 'bondage' session she gave me during the assault on Beacon."

"Bondage session..? You got cougared hard, man."

"She pinned me to the wall with arrows, so...yeah..."

A yawn and a nod of understanding.

"Given The World and their infinite variations, in theory, that your Creator has, it could've been worse. You could've stepped into a version of Primordial or Remnant where everyone is, you know, hot and female and really, really tsundere/yandere. Not to mention clingy and really into you."

"That would be bad for everyone else really... Wait, you know about The Worlds?"

"Yep. When you're about as old as one of the earliest Remnants, you'll know. But that's from an alien's viewpoint, at least. Outside of The Worlds is even crazier. For example, think of an infinite number of Remnants with female Professor Ports, which have infinite versions, some of which also have different versions and so on and so forth."

Dante was silent for the next few seconds.

"I don't think I'd ever want to see that. Much less imagine that."

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia)**

"Heya Folks! I'm Ciel!"

"A-And I'm Leo..." said the twin sibling awkwardly.

"And we're here to bring you Semblance Encyclopedia!"

Ciel looked towards here awkwardly standing brother and slapped him on the back.

"Come on Leo! Don't tell me you're still awkward around new people!"

"I-I'm sorry... I just can't help it..."

"Well... Why don't I start us off then. Leo? Whose Semblance should we gossip about for our first episode?"

"M-Maybe brother's Semblance..?"

Ciel gasped in mock awe.

"An excellent idea! Alright, it's settled then! Today we'll be talking about our brother Dante's Semblance, which, if you're new to this whole thing, is Aura Manipulation!

"A-Aura Manipulation allows brother free reign to manipulate his Aura in practically any way imaginable." Said Leo as a large holographic display appeared between the two siblings.

"He can do cool things with it! Like make weapons out of his Aura!" Said Ciel as the display showed Dante forming different weapons out of his Aura.

"Sadly though, he can't make complex machinery. At least not yet. It'd be awfully convenient if he could make a toaster for toast in the morning..."

"A-A real tragedy... But that's not all brother can do! In fact, here's an interesting ability! By planting swords across the battlefield, and maybe even embedding them in enemies, brother can teleport to any sword of his choosing that he sent out in virtually an instant! He calls this ability Embedded Shifting."

"But wait! There's more! Since Dante isn't a fan of guns, he actually uses these Aura-made swords as his ranged weapon. He literally make and shoot them at a person ridiculously fast! Like a factory line on crack! These sword also travel faster than any bullet, making them really deadly ranged weapons!"

"W-What about defensive capabilities?"

"Ah! Asking all the right questions! I like it Leo! Ahem. For defensive purposes, Dante can create a tightly knit, defensive wall of swords that can block normal bullets and is highly durable overall."

"H-How durable are brother's Aura Swords and weapons overall?"

"I'm glad you asked Leo! Luckily..!"

Ciel dragged a case on stage and opened it up, pullling out two Aura Longswords that glowed with white Aura, each sword retaining a black outline.

"I brought two to test that out! Here we go!"

"W-Wait Ciel! Maybe we should-!"

Ignoring Leo, Ciel went straight ahead and smashed both swords' sharp edges against one another. The result was that only one of the Aura Swords broke.

"See that everyone? Both of them are Aura Swords and both are identical in shape and size. So then, why is it only one of them broke? Leo, you're the smart guy. Answer this one for us."

"Are you asking because you don't know the answer yourself Ciel?"

"Of course I know! I just want to make sure that we're on the same page...and...stuff...yeah... Anyway, tell 'em why already! Don't make them wait!"

"Of course... The reason why one sword broke and the other didn't is actually quite simple. The Aura Swords brother can make actually vary in durability. Normally, if brother simply creates an Aura Sword to shoot at any enemy, especially if he creates numerous swords one after another, they're not as highly durable. But if brother creates an Aura Sword to use for upclose combat, it's far stronger than one he would use for shooting at an enemy. This also applies to when he makes his defensive line of swords."

"That's fine and dandy, but how durable is each one?" Asked Ciel

"Well, a normally created sword for simple use of shooting at an enemy is almost as tough as tungsten in its purest form, which is highly durable. An Aura Sword made for upclose combat is as tough as Calcified Steel or Empyrean Steel, which are materials found only in the Dark World and The Plane. Those materials are also considered some of the best quality metals in all of The Worlds and even the toughest. There's a reason why Dark Entities and Angels use their respective metals found in their Worlds. There's only a rare few weapons made that have both used as an alloys to make some of the strongest weapons known in Creation. Our weapons for example, brother's weapon Anvil, and ms. Kitsukami's DarkLight Antithesis."

"So the swords made for upclose combat are a tier or two below our weapons?"

"Pretty much. The only downside is timing used to create each sword. For a quick use sword to shoot at an enemy, the creation time takes half a second. But if brother wants to use another sword for upclose combat purposes or defensive purpsoes, he'll need more time to create it. At least two seconds."

"I see, I see... So durability also has relation to time it takes to make one. Less time equals less durability, more time equals more durability. Well, good to know, right?"

"Right..."

"Lastly, here's a cool ability I like! Phantom Blades! Dante can make his Aura Swords or weapons invisible! That way an enemy can't notice he's using his swords as teleportation markers." said Ciel.

"Brother's usage of his Aura Swords can vary greatly as you can see, which can give him a superior advantage against enemies, especially in terms of range, sneak attacks, and defense."

"All of which are useless against me!" Said Ciel placing her hands on her hips confidently.

"If I recall, brother used those very same swords against you and won."

"Pure luck! Plus I wasn't fighting at my fullest!"

"Of course Ciel. Of course."

"Tch... Anyway, we have one last thing to share with you. Roll the footage!"

The holographic display showed Dante in his Shadow Skin form, also displaying numerous combat scenarios he has used it in.

"You guessed it folks! Dante's Shadow Skin! It's currently his most powerful ability of his Aura Manipulation Semblance!" Said Ciel

"When brother uses his Shadow Skin, it exponentially boosts all of his parameters to be ten times of that which they already are. It's like receiving a massive all-around parameter boost to put it in simple terms. And given how strong brother already is, Shadow Skin is a huge benefit, especially if he uses it to finish or crush foes. Though really, he only uses Shadow Skin to put himself at the level of very tough enemies or even rise above them. It's real purpose is to even the playing field or rise above it."

"Shadow Skin doesn't only serve as a massive parameter boost, but also as a sort of suit of armor that's weightless! Think of Shadow Skin as a skin tight suit that's extremely durable. But given the evolution it underwent six months ago, it looks more like armor than a skin tight suit that looks like a second skin."

"Where as there was virtually no armor in the first version of Shadow Skin, the second current version utilizes vicious-looking, segmented armor that layers his entire body from neck to toe. Considering this fact, I would assume this only adds more to his overall durability without slowing him down in the slightest. In fact, one of the many parameter boosts brother receives is actually a huge speed boost that makes him nearly as fast as Ruby Rose in terms of speed. Even so, we've determined she still is able to move faster than brother if she pushes herself to do so."

"Also, have you taken a look at it? I mean, that form is freaking scary looking! It'd send shivers down anyone's spine! Brrrrrrrr!"

"Well, it's meant to do that. After all, it's supposed to resemble his previous Dark Entity form."

"One more thing to add folks. Should anyone manage to pierce or break a section of the Shadow Skin hide, Dante can use his Aura to rectify the area. 'But wait!', you ask. 'How does Shadow Skin work in terms of Aura consumption?' Leo?"

"An also fairly simple answer. Brother uses a decent portion of his Aura to create the Shadow Skin surrounding his entire body, but after his Shadow Skin is formed, it no longer consumes Aura afterwords. In the event his Shadow Skin is damaged or breached, brother's Aura will automatically reform and rectify the damaged area."

"Excellent as always Leo! I think they have the gist of it by now. You guys do, don't you?"

"I think they do Ciel. If they do have questions, they can always ask us."

"Anyway, we hope you enjoyed this weeks Semblance Encyclopedia!"

"Until next time everyone."

* * *

 **Second week in and I'm feeling fine! Sort of! I had midterms this week, so I'm bit tired. And sick. I take studying for tests and the such seriously. But that aside, this is one of two submitted side stories, the next chapter also being another side story adventure that Dante, Inuba and siblings will be a part of. Credit this time for the main story here goes to Ezra Soulthief, for providing this interesting side story. And characters. Seriously guys, they're really neat.**

 **Now then, I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope to see you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	3. Chapter 3: Educator

**Heya guys! Welcome back to another week of Veil of the Aether! Another side story chapter this time, but hey, its a good one. Next time we resume the actual journey with a very...special surprise. Trust me, you guys will love it. And recognize a certain someone from the previous story. With that, let's begin!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Educator

The door to an abandoned apartment complex closed with a silent thud, only the tiniest of noises amongst the roaring fires in Vale. A man brought in a boy he had slung over his shoulder and laid him on the couch.

"Summer? What are you doing here?" He asked tilting his hooded head to peek into the kitchen watching as he saw Summer poke her head out from inside the fridge with a cookie in her mouth.

"Hmghe gund jon!" she said before finishing the cookie.

"Sorry… I was dropping of some new durable clothes for Damian given what's happened recently, Rox." She restated.

"Tch… Listen, right now he doesn't need clothes. He needs someone to help him control his powers and unlock the weapons deep inside him. You of all people should know that Summer." Rox said as he walked to the fridge and pulled out  
a box of graham crackers, catching Summer's attention.

"Rox I think I know just the guy we need." Summer said gesturing to the graham crackers.

"Wait wait wait, hold on! You can't mean..! I only ever met her once on accident and she told me about him but… Ah who am I kidding… Fine. I'll ask him. But I hope you know that she won't agree to this at first."

"It's alright. She'll agree to it. Just make sure to be nice."

* * *

"Waaachuuu!" The white haired teen sneezed.

"Are you alright Master ?" Inuba asked.

"Peachy… Ugh...sneezing always feels uncomfortable… It's like my heart will just explode out of my chest…"

"No kidding Dante… I hate sneezing too… I know we can't die, but we can still catch a cold once in a rainbow moon… And it's then I actually feel like I'm dying for once…" said Ciel.

"Interesting… I never knew that you and your siblings could get sick Master."

"What, I never-?"

In that moment, Dante slapped his hand over his mouth, turning his head to find Inuba glaring at him.

"Master...were you perhaps hiding the fact you fell ill now and then while under my care?"

"W-What? N-No…" he said turning away, hoping she wouldn't be still looking at him.

She still was.

"Y-Yes…" he said with shame.

"That's not good Master! You need to tell me these things! I cannot fulfill my duties as your Familiar if you don't!"

"I-Its just a cold…"

"A cold could be dangerous! If ever it were to reach a point where it becomes bad for your health...I'd...I'd… I'd have to resort to some fairly questionable means of treating you…" she said as her face reddened.

"What's so questionable about your Cleaning Flame? Does it do something it's not suppose to?"

"N-No! I meant it in a way that...it'd be rather difficult to treat you given...well...your body and such…"

"True enough… My body is highly resistant to all types of magic… I wonder if that's why your healing magic hasn't been working on me all that much…"

Inuba turned her head away, finding that Ciel was looking at her with a grinning face, one that said "I know."

The Kitsune girl gasped in surprise, looking towards Leo who awkwardly rubbed the back of his head as if he were trying to apologize.

 _T-They know?! How?!_

"Hehehehehehe… It really is too obvious…" whispered Ciel.

"Ms. Kitsukami, if you really wish for others not to know, then maybe you should try to not be rather...excuse me...blatant with your affection towards brother…"

"U-Um…"

"We understand your situation, so we'll be all hush hush about it. But~ we'll do something about it if you ask. When I say we, I actually mean me since Leo sucks at romance and the such."

"I-I do not!" He whispered rather embarrassed.

"Do too~! Anyway, just say the word and we'll have you covered!"

She couldn't respond at the moment.

"NOOOOOOO." Shouted Dante in a rather deep and demonic voice surprising them all.

They all looked to Dante as he looked to them, almost as if he were heartbroken.

"There's none left…" he said almost tearfully.

"N-None of what Master?" Asked Inuba.

"There are no more graham crackers left…"

They all sighed.

"You know…even if big brother is as smart as he is, he can still be a bit of an idiot…" said Ciel.

"Ah, hey, it's snowing again…" said Dante as he held his hand out.

Small white flakes fell from the sky to cover the already powdery, frozen earth. Winter had settled nicely in Remnant. What had transpired before it though… Events had not been preferable. Still, the teen had to admire the beauty of the winter season in Remnant. There was definitely a lot more snow than what he usually saw in Primordial, his original homeworld. He and friends would go to resorts in the mountains during their winter breaks and enjoy themselves for Christmas.

But probably Dante's most favorite memory of the winter season was visiting The Apparition Realm during that time period. Inuba's homerealm where all yokai had lived. There was so much indescribable beauty that the old and ancient realm had given off. It was enough to captivate him and make him want to return. In fact...now that he thought about it, he had a sudden desire to return. That and…

And what? What was it just now? He felt a thought arise… Moreso a memory… But as soon as he grasped at it, it disappeared from his mind like smoke. But why? This thought he had… He felt as though it were important. No, very important. But why did it slip away so easily?

Inuba's fox ears twitched slightly as her eyes focused directly ahead, forcing her to run up to her master's side.

"Master, there is a fight taking place up ahead. How should we approach?" Inuba asked.

"We'll rush over, but take a quick glance before doing anything. If they're in real trouble we'll help them of course. Come on let's go." He said before running ahead with Inuba and his sibling close behind.

Dante turned a sharp left and soon ran into a white cloaked man with a teen draped over his shoulder, a one strap backpack on his back. That, and the teen soon took note of the pistol aimed at his face. In one lightning fast swing, Dante struck the pistol form the mans hand and quick placed the sharp edge of his sword against his neck.

"Oh. It's you guys. Sorry about that, you just ran up so fast I thought you were Grimm."

 _You guys? Does he know us somehow?_

Dante looked over his shoulder and noticed the now dissolving Grimm behind the man,

"Who are you?" Dante questioned the hooded man.

"Me? I'm a friend Dante." The hooded man stated while with his free hand he pushed aside one of Dante's now visible Aura Blade that hovered behind the man with its point at his neck.

"Being able to see Master's Aura Sword when he used Phantasmal Cloak on it… You must be able to sense Aura as well…" said Inuba

The hooded man tossed the one strap backpack to Dante soon after.

"It's got graham crackers and clothes for this guy when he wakes up." Rox said before setting Damian down against a tree.

"Well... He doesn't seem to be a bad guy after all…"

"You're only saying that because he gave you graham crackers…" said Ciel.

"(That's not entirely why…)" said the teen covering his mouth as he was already eating some of the crackers.

Once he gulped down his first bite, he turned to the new arrival to ask the second thing on his mind.

"So...who is he? Plus... I never got your name despite you mysteriously knowing mine and bribing me with a rather large bag of these." Dante said.

He took a quick glance at the boy leaned against the tree who wore a black tank top and had his right arm bandaged up entirely, just like his own. His eyes quickly took note of the scar running from the left side of his chest up to his neck and across part of his chin. His hair was short and somewhat spikey, where the front bangs were parted from his right eye towards his left.

"I'm Rox Ravenmoon, and this is Damian moon he's what you would call a Human Grimm hybrid and the only one in our Reality."

 _Seriously now, what is with people and Human Grimm hybrids these days?_ _Wait...what did he just say?!_

"Alright, hold on for a second. Did you just say you're from a different Reality?" Asked Dante as inuba crouched next to Damian and placed her hand on his shoulder to perform a check up.

 _What is with all these people crossing over to my Reality all of a sudden?! Is my Reality hosting the Extra-Dimensional Reality Olympics or something?! Jeez..._

"Master... This Damian person vitals are fairly weak at the moment... May I ask what put him in this condition?" She asked looking towards Rox.

"We may not be able to crossover into your Reality, but we can still observe it from our own. Not much is different from the glimpses we've had, but I assume you also took on the Grimm Dragon as well? Your arm doesn't look all too good." Rox asked.

"Well, yes, I did manage to kill it, but that wasn't what damaged my arm. Let's just say I did something not so smart…"

"Despite that, impressive work with the Dragon. You really are strong. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about this little idiot. He managed to kill the thing but practically lost control of himself after taking it down. And as you can see...well, you get the gist of it..." Said Rox.

"That's nice and all, but why bring him here?" Dante asked.

"Ruby, the others and practically everyone else thinks he's dead. The thing is, I want to keep it that way for the next couple of days. Let me just get to the point right away. I want you to look after and teach him how to control his abilities in the next few days. Possibly even help unlock more of them. Do you accept?" Rox asked.

"Question. Of the all the people to ask, why me?"

"For now, let's just say it takes one to know one. Plus, your Reality traveling friend said you could help."

 _That little..! She's probably watching from somewhere far away giggling to herself maniacally like a villain who just took over Canada! Why do villains always want to take over Canada? Anyway, not important right now._

"Tch… My time's up here… Listen, I need to know now at this moment. Can you do it? Or rather, will you do it?"

"Hmmm…"

Dante turned to look towards his siblings and Inuba, the Kitsune girl and Leo being the only two to nod while Ciel simply shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll do it in three."

"Three? Three what?" Asked Rox.

"Three hours."

"W-What?!"

"Just kidding. Be back here in three days time. I'll have him whipped up into shape by then."

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"Not to sound rude or anything, but we have matters of our own to attend to. I can't afford to waste all too much time unless it's an absolute emergency. Right now, this isn't an absolute emergency for me, but considering the lengths my stalker took to send you to me, it's at least important. So three days is all I can do. But trust me, by then, I'll have his quote on quote training done. Fair enough?"

"W-Well… If you can get it done in three days, that'd be great. But I can't stay here to watch over him. I have some stuff to attend to back on our Remnant."

He pulled a small pouch from his robe and tossed it to Dante.

"After I leave, give him one of these. It's a special medicine designed specifically for him. See you in a three days." Rox said before disappearing out of sight.

"Well, we're in for an interesting three days… Here. Give him one of these Inuba." Said Dante handing Inuba the bag as she pulled one of the small skin contact patches out and placed one on his left arm and stepped away

"Well, you're our expert when it comes to healing and the such Inuba. What's his situation exactly and how does the medicine help? Is he like Hunter?" asked Dante while observing Damian's right arm, taking notice the patch placed on it had already vanished.

"I don't know the exact nature of the compounds used for the patches, but they seem to be neutralizing the adverse effects fairly well. This Damien is similar in some respects to Hunter, but of a less powerful degree. Because of this, the effects aren't as terrible as Hunter's. Even so...it'd still present some difficulties for him." said Inuba.

Damian's right hand started to glow brighter though the bandages as his eyes snapped open, his next action followed by him jerking forward to vomit out some black sludge before he leaned back against the tree looking at both Dante and inuba with his yellow eyes.

"So then... I'm going to take a guess on this… Rox dropped me off somewhere to do something? If so, what is it?" Damian asked.

"Well you're awfully polite…" said Ciel sarcastically.

"Sorry… I don't really like it when he does this kind of thing…" said Damian.

"I can tell… So Damian, I heard you killed your Dragon. How'd that happen?" Asked Dante.

"Well...from what I can remember, I'm pretty sure I ripped its wings off... But after that point it's a bit blurry so, I can't really recall all that much…"

 _So he's not entirely conscious when he uses his power… That can be a big problem for him in the future..._

"Who are you..?" Damian asked pulling out several articles of clothing, one of them being a white a coat with blue trimming and a hood. This coat also had a scarf of sorts fastened to the right sleeve to create a partial arm cape.

"I'm Dante. And that's Inuba, my sister Ciel, and my brother Leo.

"So Dante, why am I here ?"

"To start, for the next three days, I'll be training you to control your powers to a decent enough extent where you won't lose control when you tap into instinctively." Said Dante.

"Sorry, but you have one arm. How much can you really-?"

"Quite a bit really." Said the teen appearing behind Damien in the next instant and placing his left hand on his shoulder, completely surprising him.

"We're starting in five minutes. Finish changing I'll meet you over there." Said Dante pointing towards the mountain range behind him.

Damian nodded silently and began his walk towards the range.

"Well guys, what do you think of him?" Dante asked looking towards his partner and siblings.

"Don't like him all that much." Said Ciel.

"That was quick." Said Leo unsurprised.

"In any case, we can help train him." Added the younger twin.

"Well, from what I could see, he's a lot like you in the sense that he is tenacious, unyielding against greater forces. But...there is a part of him that seems...broken."

"Think it has something to do with his right arm?" Asked Dante before he took another bite of the graham cracker he had in his hand.

"I didn't actually notice until recently, Master. But...that arm of his is certainly peculiar..."

As Inuba said this, Damian came out from behind the treeline with his new coat fully buttoned up a grey scarf around his neck and the gray and blue single strap backpack over his left shoulder a black armored fingerless gloves on his left hand and black combat boots armored at the front of the ankle and the back  
on the heel finally his new dark grey cargo pants with a design on the left leg that resembled a shattered moon.

"So, where are we going again?" asked Damian.

* * *

"Alrighty then. Before we begin, we're going to gauge your basic abilities to get a decent understanding of your capabilities, that way I can properly determine how much to push you in our little three day training regiment."

"Three days? That seems a little...short."

"Like I told your friend Rox, trust me, I got this. Day one. Physical training to the max. Got a small all day regiment planned out for you."

"An all day regiment?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Not in the slightest."

"But that's-!"

"Not impossible. See those three behind me? They could do this kind of thing in their sleep. Her especially." Said pointing to Inuba.

"Trust me when is say this, she's a lot stronger than I am right now…"

"Shouldn't she be teaching me then?"

Dante laughed momentarily, slapping his hand over his knee.

"Trust me. I'm the mercy rule here. And it'd be in your best interest to keep it that way. So! Ciel, produce one."

"Got it." Said the younger girl snapping her fingers without taking her eyes off of the book she was reading on her holographic Scroll.

A circle of black Aura opened up in the air above Dante's left hand, the teen himself focusing his white Aura outlined in black to create an object. A sphere that was the size of a small throwing ball. He threw it into the circle of Aura only to have it fall out again.

"Good. Give it a toss. A normal one without using Aura or anything."

Damian gave him a skeptical look at first before he took the spehere into his left hand and tossing it up and down a few times before throwing it a far distance away until it was out of view.

"Nice. 307 meters. Not bad." Said Dante checking the throwing distance on his own HoloScroll.

"Not bad?" Asked Damian.

Dante gave him a simple smirk as another sphere dropped out of the hole of black Aura hanging above him. He tossed it about a bit until finally he threw it, a small gust of wind picking up as the ball quickly became non-visible.

"A thousand meters! Not bad bro!" Said Ciel giving him a thumbs up.

 _A thousand meters?! This guy...he just threw it that far without breaking a sweat… I threw it as hard as I could too…_

"A thousand on my non-pitching arm? Darn… I thought it'd be better…"

Another sphere dropped out of the hole of black Aura, allowing Dante to toss it to Damian. He took aim with his left again and-

"Ah bah bah! Righty this time."

He hesitated for a moment, but soon did as he was told, took aim, and threw.

"723 meters… At least we know you're more dominant with your right hand now. Now try it with adding a bit of your Aura into the mix. You know, focused burst shot." Said Dante as he tossed Damian another ball that fell out of the hole of black Aura.

Damian did as instructed and threw. It vanished behind the treeline.

"476." Reported Ciel.

"What? That doesn't make sense…" said Damian.

"Makes perfect sense. And Inuba will tell you why since she's leagues above me in Aura Sensing and so forth. Take it away partner."

"Right then. As my Master was saying, what happened actually does make sense. You're control of Aura-"

"Sucks." Said Ciel as she continued reading while Leo was cleaning the pieces of his gun.

"Despite how she just put it, your control of Aura is rather poor. It's moderate, but in the case of fine tuning it for specific uses it's...not adequate. The case with the ball for instance. Instead of your Aura shooting the ball forwards at a greater velocity and greatly improving distance, it actually interfered with the ball's velocity and trajectory."

"How so?"

"When you threw the ball, you did in fact use your Aura. However, instead of a focused point burst, it shot out in a cone-like shape. The flow of unfocused Aura worked against your throw, and weakened it. It decreased the spin drastically and so forth."

"Aura control is an important tool for you to use and master out in the field as a Huntsmen or Huntress. Without it, it'd be like trying to fight without a limb. And don't look at me and think 'Well, it's been working out for you'. Truthfully, that's only been on occasion. Tougher enemies have forced me to use my right arm despite it hurting a lot. I'm lucky because my Semblance is Aura Manipulation, and it allows my free reign on how I manipulate my Aura. Not only that, but it's gives me a whole different set of versatile skills to use at my disposal. For instance."

Dante snapped his fingers as dozens of white Aura Swords outlined in black appeared around Damian in an instant, forming a cage of swords that pointed at him from every direction.

"What the-?!"

"See? Useful huh?"

"V-Very…"

The second the white haired teen snapped his fingers again, the swords shattered like glass and the pieces dissolved into thin air.

"Right now we don't have a full work up on you. So far, we know you're fairly strong on your own and your control of Aura isn't so great. It's always good to know your limits. So, today is about testing your strengths and weaknesses. Seeing how far you bend just before you break. Tomorrow, we train you to improve or cover your weaknesses while also improving your current strengths. Who knows? You might a new ability out of it if you work hard enough. Then, on the third day, it's final exam day."

"What'll be on final exam day?"

"That's a secret. Daylight's burning away. Let's move on! Next is some more testing before we finish up with the Infernal Deathrun!"

"The Infernal Deathrun? What's that?" Asked Damian a bit concerned.

"I'm glad you asked."

* * *

"When did you come up with this?" Asked Ciel.

"Well, back in my days while in the CGA, we had a competition to see who could create the best Deathrun Course and complete it the fastest. Inuba and I won first place." Said Dante as he was constantly moving his left arm about.

"I can see why… This course is diabolical… Even for you brother…"

"'Twas dark times Leonard. 'Twas dark times."

"He's done well so far… He's sustained some burns, but still is moving forward at an acceptable pace." Said Inuba.

"He's dodging those flames traps and my Aura Swords fairly well… Think we should tell him he can't use his teleporting ability anymore to make it more interesting?"

"I like this idea!" Said Ciel.

"That would be a bit mean…" said Inuba.

"Maybe… Oh! Almost got him with that!" Said Dante.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" Screamed Damian from down below.

"No! At least...not too badly…" responded Dante.

"You're insane!"

"Just a little bit."

Damian pressed on, dodging falling columns of fire and incoming swords of Aura from random directions.

"Well, he may not be breaking our records anytime soon, but at least he's doing well than most…"

"You did design this course to be rather...difficult, Master."

"That I did." Said the young immortal as he clenched his fist.

"Darn it! Almost got him again! Quite dodging everything!"

"Are you kidding me?! You have been trying to kill me!"

"No! Just stressing you to a certain point where you might be induced in a state of permanent sleep!"

"That's killing me!"

"Same difference! Keep going, you have half a mile left!"

Damian struggled on through the flaming deathcourse, avoiding all that he could as the three siblings and Kitsune continued watching.

"Did you guys feel it too?" Asked Dante.

"You're talking about the big ugly resting inside his soul? If so, then yeah, we felt it." Said Ciel.

"The that question remains is when does it come out? Under extreme situations of stress? Is that why you've put him through through arduous testing so far brother?"

"Not entirely. The point of today's trials was to see how skilled and durable he is. The basic rundown of what he can and can't do normally. Tomorrow will be about training using his abilities and Semblance, which is teleportation. From what I've gathered, he can teleport in a radius around him between forty, maybe forty five feet. Haven't gotten a look at his weapons yet, so that will be fun. Last day is when we'll really stress him."

"Stress him enough to force out whatever creature is lurking beneath… While this may be an adequate way of assessing how powerful the creature is and what powers it will bestory upon Damian, there's also a risk Master. If he's not strong enough, he could be overtaken."

"He's strong enough Inuba. I may have just met the guy today, but...I can see the fire in his eyes. He's not a quitter. Ah, looks he just finished." Said the teen standing up.

"So, how was the run?"

"Run?! You… You call that a run?!" Said Damian in between breaths.

"That is still the term, isn't it?" Asked Dante.

"That?! That was like taking a quick stroll through Hell!"

"Well, that is where the inspiration came from…"

"Anyway, we're done for today. We'll set up camp. In the meantime, go wash up and we'll get dinner started."

* * *

"You're not from this world?"

"Nope. Came here just over a year ago."

"So you came from another World?"

"Basically kicked out of my own."

"What did you do to earn that?"

Dante smiled momentarily.

"Having a heart."

"I don't understand...what..?"

"Let's just say there were some me unfair circumstances I didn't exactly agree on with the people above. Their...loyal soldier tried to stop me and...it didn't end all too well for him. He reported in my actions just after I finished what I was that I set out to do. After that, my overseer, informed of their decision to 'banish me for my heinous crimes'." Finished the teen in a deep, mocking voice.

"I never really saw eye to eye with those guys due to numerous...differences we've had. It just goes to show not even Angels are as picture perfect like people make them out to be. Don't get me wrong, not all Angels are like that. It's just a specific group of them that happen to run things uptop."

"Wow…"

"Yeah… Wow…"

"And you've just been living life out here on Remnant?"

"Pretty much."

"To do all those things… You've got to be unimaginably strong…"

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"I lost my old 'God Like' powers before I came here. Well, 'sacrificed' would be the more accurate term. Now I'm just about where I started all those years ago. My powers now are different compared to my old ones, but they're just as versatile. And destructive. Well, not as destructive like they were before I lost them. I guess the easiest way to put it is if I were in a videogame right now, I'd very likely be level 50 out of level 150. Something along those lines anyway…"

"What'd you sacrifice your old powers for?"

"What I sacrificed them for?"

Damian nodded.

Dante looked up towards the stars, recounting the numerous reasons he came up with. There was only one that stuck out the most.

"I guess I'd have to say...I made a huge mess of things. Or rather, I made some mistakes near the end. Those mistakes...came with a heavy price. So...I took it upon myself to fix all of those mistakes. It costed me my powers and my freedom. But to me, that meant little. If it could undo my wrongs, then I'm glad I did it. And I'd do it again."

"You really are a nice guy…"

"I wonder about that…"

"Huh?"

"I've only told you the good bits. Did you assume it was all picture perfect from the start? Not even close… See...all those good bits you've heard about is a result of all the hard work I put in to make it that way. You wouldn't really believe it, but there were times even I took the easy way out. But...that was a long long time ago. I eventually changed that part of me. There was a lot to change either way but…"

He sighed.

"It's been one big mess after another. There's also been the good. But there haven't been too many of those. Recent months have proven that… Despite all that, it's our duty as people with power to ensure there's a better tomorrow. To use our power for the greater good so all may live on to move towards the future. Of course, there are those that will stand in the way for their own needs and wants. Be they simple and selfish desires, or desires of chaos and destruction."

"You say that as if you've seen both sides…"

"I don't mean to brag or anything...but I have. I've seen and studied both sides for many many years. I've seen many unsightly things and evils that have befallen people and The Worlds. But I've seen the good as well. And it's because of that I continue fighting for good. There's a great amount of it. But it's caged and surrounded by all the bad that happens. So I've made it a goal to eliminate the bad, and to always try to do what is good and what is right. But again, not everything is picture perfect or crystal clear. Sometimes...you just have to sift through a massive amount of mire just to find the right answer. Or at least, what we think is the right answer."

Damian seemed as though he was taking in the information fairly well. He was his educator for next two days. He had experience, correction, far more experience than he did. It was only right to at least listen to what he had to say.

"What happened to your arm? I just thought about asking now…"

"Meet the One Punch Man and you'll understand."

"Who's that?"

"A glorious man is who he is. And a pretty excellent hero."

"I guess if he's called One Punch Man, he must be pretty strong…"

"You have no idea…" spoke the teen softly as he recalled a rather unpleasant memory.

"You should turn in. We're going to work you even harder tomorrow than we did today."

"Brilliant…"

* * *

"Alright. Give it a throw."

Damian reared back his arm and focused his Aura, soon throwing the ball forwards at immense speeds as it traveled far out into the distance.

"Nice! Way better than before."

"You kidding me? Of course it was. Good job to you. And~ good job to you too partner." Said the teen rubbing the top of Inuba's head between her fox ears as they folded against her head.

She shivered slightly when his hand touched the top of her head, but as her eyes closed, her face reddened slightly while her mouth slightly fell open, letting out a pleased squeak as her fox tail whipped about rapidly.

"She's an excellent teacher in Aura control, isn't she?" He said as he stopped rubbing the top of her head.

She seemed slightly sad after the head rubbing stopped.

"She is. I'm actually impressed she knows so much." Said Damian.

"Well, she is smarter than I am…"

"N-Nonsense Master…"

"It's true."

"I've been meaning to ask for a while now, but what's with the whole 'Master' thing? Is she a slave, or a servant, or-?"

"She's a slave to-"

Leonard immediately covered Ciel's mouth to stop her from going further. Knowing her, he knew full well what she was about to say.

"N-Nothing like that! She's...well...she's my partner. And she's bound to me by a Familiar Rite, meaning she's my Familiar. Despite my protests, she's very attached to the term, so...yeah…"

"It's only proper…"

"I know that, but people might get the wrong idea… Anyway...how'd he do if you were to grade his performance?"

"His control has gotten better with the regiment I introduced… Better effeciency, greater focus, faster usage time… I'd have to give his performance so far a B+. Although you have been working hard and making progress, you still had struggles in certain areas where in others you were clearly having a frustrating time. You may have gotten better, but you still need more work on your own. With practice and training, I assure you your control of Aura will drasticlsly increase."

"Well said. So then. It's my turn. I'm going to be working with you on your combat skills. Everyone, clear the area."

They did so, leaving Damian and Dante by themselves in the middle of the open, snowy, mountain range. Snow had slowly began to fall and litter the air. Dante looked to his right arm in the sling, a thought entering momentarily. He smiled to himself.

 _Tomorrow._

The white haired teen reached behind the left side of his back with his hand and drew his longsword slowly, giving it a short twirl before lowering it to his side.

"The goal of today isn't to defeat me. Instead, the goal is to improve your combat abilities. It's a chance for you to improve your abilities, techniques, learn new ones, etc. I'm going to be pushing you today, so be ready."

Damian nodded and extended his bandaged right arm, a one sided white longsword forming in his hands a second later.

 _So that's his weapon… I wonder…_

Damian appeared in a blur of dark blue, striking downwards on Dante as he raised his sword to block.

"Making the first move… I like it! But..."

Dante easily pushed up his blade and prepared to swing sideways.

"Not always the best option when you don't know your opponent's strength."

His swing had enough force to send Damian skidding back on his heels.

"Moving first has the risk of getting you crushed almost immediately. This is especially true if your opponent is as strong or stronger. The risks both fighters is equal, but if the one who doesn't attack first is the type to be able to counter most attacks effectively, the risk is minimized for them."

Damian teleported to Dante and began striking at him, constantly attacking him to leave little to no room for him to counter.

"You're constantly putting me on the defensive… A decent tactic to use to prevent the enemy from attacking."

Dante parried the next attack to get Damian off balance, and quickly used the flat side of his longsword to sweep his legs from under him before smacking him in the stomach into the ground using the flat side again.

"Doesn't work too well against an enemy that can reverse the situation fairly easy. Woah!"

Dante jumped back to avoid a sword slash to his face, allowing Damian time to rise back up.

"Well now, looks like you're not one to go down so easily…"

"I'm a bit tougher than I look…"

"They always say that… Well then...let's see how you hold up against your own strategy."

Dante charged forwards and began his onslaught of blade strikes, easing up not even for a second as one attack came after another. Damian could barely keep up as it was, parrying what he could. His Aura took whatever damage he couldn't block or dodge, but just a single strike from Dante's sword felt as though the Aura shielding his body would break at any second, almost as if he knew the threshold or how much force it took to break through Aura Shielding, but struck just so much that it wouldn't break. Yet.

But it wasn't over yet. Damian still had that.

Surprisingly, Damian blocked an overhead strike from Dante, stopping the young immortal's seemingly endless assault.

 _You're mine!_

A black, double edge longsword formed in Damian's left hand, a chain emerging from the butt of the weapon that was attached to a shackle around his wrist. He struck upwards against Dante's sword, disarming him of his weapon as Damian went in for the stab.

The white haired warrior smiled as he spun around the blade trying to run him through, moving behind Damian and swinging the back of his left hand against the back of Damian's head, sending back into the dirt a small distance away.

"Hiding a second weapon… Clever. Looks like you're more combat savvy than I originally thought you to be."

"You act as if you knew…"

"Countless eons of battle tactics, strategies, countermeasures and so forth have been etched into my mind. As such, I can create fairly decent countermeasures and strategies to use against an opponent. But to answer your question specifically, I assumed from the start you had two or more weapons. It's an assumption I always have when going into battle against an opponent. It's why I was able to counter You easily."

Damian rose back up breathing heavily, glaring at Dante.

"Never dismiss any thought or idea you may have on an enemy, no matter how simple or complex the idea is. Any thought or idea can be a deadly weapon or tool in the right hands. Just like how your immediate surroundings can be."

Dante raised his left hand up into the sky then quickly brought it down as a large ring of Aura Swords crashed into the snowy ground around Damian, creating a smokescreen of sorts as Dante moved towards a nearby stone to reclaim his weapon Anvil.

Damian dared not to move out of the screen. Not yet. He could have set up traps with his Aura Swords. Speaking of traps, an Aura Sword flew inside the smokescreen and grazed Damian's cheek as he dodged back.

 _He's not trying to kill me… He's told me constantly he'd be pushing me to my limits. But how far is that? Will I..?_

He dodged another sword, spinning to block another and parry a sword moving towards his leg. Out of nowhere, an Aura Greatsword rapidly made its way to impale him in the chest, forcing him to bring up both his swords to block. This turned out to be a mistake, for the force of the Greatsword was powerful enough to send him skidding on his heels and out of the smokescreen.

He moved out of the way and let the Greatsword hit an outcrop of snow covered rock instead of pinning him to it, rolling around in the snow for a few moments until he got back up, only to see Dante upon him and ready to strike down. He moved his swords up into a cross formation to block the overhead strike, only to find that the young immortals sword had cut through Damian's own weapons, breaking both of them and sending him flying into a wall of rock.

"It looks as though you've lost both your weapons. What will you do now?"

He swung the chain attached to his shackle, the chain extending with the broken remains of the weapon to attack Dante. The teen simply raised up his sword to block as the chains wrapped around the base of his weapon. He felt a strong pull, but it was not enough to move his arm at all.

"Good try. But still not enough." He said swinging his blade as the chains surrounding his sword shattered, allowing him to approach Damian.

"It looks as though you're out of options at this point. If you have nothing else…"

He raised up his blade and reared it back with his arm, the point aiming for Damian's chest.

"then this is the end."

He dashed forwards at incredible speeds with the intent to pin him to the rock wall. He would have done so had something not stopped his blade.

His entire left arm and hand had been completely armored in dark metal, the fingertips of each finger having serrated, black claws that were two inches long each. Damian's armored palm had stopped the blade point of Anvil, and with the help of his right hand, he was slowly pushing back Dante.

Damian roared and pushed back Dante, moving in to punch with his right hand to find it blocked by the flat side of the young immortals weapon. The bandages on Damian's arm came undone and revealed his inhuman arm. From shoulder to wrist, his hand was plated in bone white armor reminiscent of a Grimm. The skin under the armor was also pitch black with cracks of dark blue that had a faint glow of his Aura color. This was most likely a measurement of his Aura, and the faint glow most likely told Dante that Damian's Aura was in the low. He did take a lot of hits earlier.

"So that's what it was… A Grimm arm… Not only that, but you had another weapon too."

"This ones new… But it doesn't matter! I'll use it to knock you of your feet!"

"You can try."

Dante and Damian lunged after one another, ready to strike each other again.

* * *

The girl cloaked in white stood at the top of a snowy mountain, looking down below at the combat session taking place down below between Dante and Damian.

"How's progress?" Asked Rox as he walked up beside her.

"It's moving along nicely. He just recently unlocked another one of those strange weapons of his. This gauntlet weapon seems to feed of off his rage to empower him."

"I see…"

"You never gave me a straight answer last time Rox. Why did you bring him here? There are people in your Reality who are just as capable of teaching Damian. So why Dante? Why go through so much trouble of crossing Realities for something as simplistic as this?"

"They're similar in some respects. Of course, there's the obvious differences but...knowing what I know from you, he's virtually seen it all. Well almost everything. Don't you think someone like that would make an excellent teacher?"

"While your reasoning is sound, Dante can't always make time for simple things like this. Why do you think he said three days instead of working with him for a week? Normally, he'd take this more with a grain of salt and would make sure to take his time teaching. But given the circumstances, he has his own matters to attend to as well as the mission he set out on. Didn't you say he was ahead of schedule?"

"Yes, but it is still in everyone's best interest to keep it that way."

"They're weeks ahead of Ruby's group. Couldn't they just take the time to slow down and take it easy?"

"In these times, no, not really. That and… A dark presence has coalesced… It's power is great. It's blocked it's view, as if it were expecting someone to be waiting and watching. Someone like me."

"And you can't afford to expend much power out of fear of The Plane of Angels or whatever finding Dante and then trying to smite him by smiths Remnant. I get it. Still, you're fairly strong on your own. Couldn't you just...barge in and do something about it?"

"I am only so powerful on my own Rox. Even I cannot stand alone against the Angels of The Plane. Not for long anyway."

"To think Angels of all people would be the kind of people to do something cruel…"

"Not all Angels. Only a specific group of ten. And they hold the highest seat of power currently."

"What? God isn't in charge anymore?"

"The Creator is still in charge. Only...he's been absent for centuries now. And because of this, The Council has taken it into their hands to rule as they see fit. They couldn't reign in Dante because of how free spirited he is. That, and he isn't one to follow authority. At least, when he believes he's right."

"Harsh…"

"To some degree, yes…. But merited for one reason really."

"The Cataclysm or whatever you called it. He destroyed all the passages to all the Wolrds. And because of that, no one can get in or out anymore without a 'higher power' helping them or unless they are that higher power."

"Precisely."

The two looked over the mountain top to see the training session end and an exhausted Damian collapse to his knees to catch his breath.

"Be here tomorrow evening to get him. They'll likely start early in the morning to finish things up."

"Alrighty then. See you later stalker girl." Said Rox as he waved goodbye and took his leave.

She sat alone now on the mountain top, seemingly irritated.

"I swear I'm going to kill the next person that calls me a stalker…"

* * *

"Final exam day Damian. Are you excited?"

"Sort of? I guess? How's this gonna work? Am I going to be taking on the four of you?"

"No… Your opponent will be me and only me. And your goal...will be either to defeat me or earn a draw."

Defeat him? That's almost impossible. He's immortal and it doesn't seem he ever gets tired in fight. But he's handicapped currently. He can't use his right arm. Even so...he's still a freakin monster with even one hand!

"Are you ready? Because this time…"

Dante removed his right arm from his sling as it soon became blanketed in black Aura, the Aura forming vicious-looking, black, segemented armor from his shoulder all the way to his clawed finger tips.

"I'm not going to hold back…"

The young immortal drew his longsword from its sheath and held it in his Shadow Skinned right arm

 _He what?!_

"The reason I don't use my right arm is because it's still recovering. If I use my ability Shadow Skin on it, it'll allow me full functional use again, but at the price of halting my recovery for the duration I use it. You did well fending me off with that new toy of yours yesterday while I used only my left hand. But...how will you do against me while using both hands?"

"Well enough I hope…" said Damian summoning both his swords.

"Going with the swords first huh?"

Damian readied himself and was about to charge forwards until he heard Dante's voice close behind him.

"You won't be able to do much with those."

Damian lashed out behind him, only to miss. He then used his left sword to strike behind him, clashing with Dante.

"My my, you've gotten better at attack prediction. I'm impressed. But it won't be enough to win against me."

Damian ignored his comment and began assaulting him rapidly, Dante simply moving side to side to dodge, rarely blocking the sword swings.

 _He's faster… No… That's not it. I'm assuming that the white sword in his hand is boosting his speed, the black one increasing his strength. He's improved drastically on his own. But the swords can only do so much to boost his capabilities._

As he thought this, Dante was then assaulted by a furious storm of stabbing attacks from Damian's blades, forcing the young immortal to dodge even faster.

 _He's just assaulting me over and over again… At least Damian's doing well avoiding my attacks when I counter him...but…_

Dante blocked both blades with his one sword and leaned in close towards Damian.

"It's still not enough to beat me."

The young immortal quickly broke the clash and delivered a strong side kick into Damian's stomach to send him flying into and very shortly through a tree.

"You won't win this fight as you are now. The only chance you'll have currently is if you use your right arm and that gauntlet of yours. They were the only things that kept you toe to toe with me on a marginal level. Use that power to win...or perish."

A burst of dark blue Aura emerged from the mound of wood Damian was buried underneath, his Grimm like right arm visible again paired with his gauntlet as he stood and glared at Dante.

"It seems you're a bit more motivated now. That's good. Really good."

Dante sheathed his weapon as his left arm was soon blanketed by black Aura. Both arms now had the vicious-looking, armored appearance of his Shadow Skin.

"Now then...let's have some fun…" said Dante as he stuck out his hand and moved his index finger back and forth mockingly, beckoning the young Huntsmen in training to come closer if he dared.

Damian did exactly so, dashing forwards to throw a punch that Dante easily caught. He threw another and yet again the young immortal caught it. Damian used one of his legs to kick himself away from Dante before the two charged at one another and punched. Their fists collided, unleashing a small shock wave that threw up the snow around them into the air. Another punch resulted in the same effect, only more snow now drifted in the sky.

They didn't stop there. The young immortal and the Huntsman in training began throwing punches at one another at blinding speed, their fists colliding against each other with great force that the snow drifting around them began to forcefully drift away. Dante landed a punch to the right side of Damian's face, forcing him back slightly. But it was not enough to deter him. Damian immediately lunged back towards Dante and punched at Dante, only to miss before returning to barraging each other with their fists.

Dante landed a punch directly to the center of Damian's face, expecting him to fall or stumble back. But instead, surprisingly, Damian immediately retaliated and punched Dante directly in the face as well. The force of the punch sent Dante skidding on his heels, but the young immortal immediately dived back into the fray and began assaulting Damian with another series of punches, but at an even faster pace than before.

Dante immediately noticed the more focused right punch Damian threw and blocked it by catching it in his palm, following up with a powerful punch to the Huntsman in training's chest, sending him flying a considerable distance away.

"He's really laying the smackdown on that Damian kid… I mean jeez… He could restrain himself a little bit…" said Ciel.

"You don't quite understand yet, do you Ciel?" Said Leo.

"Understand what?"

"From what Master and I have scene, and from what he's told me, those that have become Human Grimm Hybrids through magical means contain another soul within them. A newly formed soul to be more precise. This new soul becomes the center of the hosts Grimm power. This provides great risk however since the two souls will fight each other for control. That is until one of them subjugates the other. In the case of those that were created through science, the risk is considerably less, especially if the process was done correctly. They don't retain secondary souls and claim that new power immediately." Said Inuba.

"So what? The science projects are stronger than the magic made ones?" Asked Ciel.

"It depends really on the type of Grimm and the strength of the host. What remains indefinitely true is that the process of Grimmification through science has considerably less risk if done properly, but gaining strong power is likely."

"Each one has benefits, but each also have drawbacks." Said Leo.

"Okay...but what does any of that have to do with how hard big brother is pushing Damian?"

"Think about it Ciel. Remember the lessons we received on Secondary Souls? What do you think will happen if the host is pushed to his limits?"

It took her a moment to ponder her brother's words.

"The big ugly resting inside gets drawn out…" spoke Ciel.

"Precisely."

* * *

Dante stood his ground and waited. Shortly after, a massive Aura Signature swept through the area, the air seemingly rupturing and quaking as if to make its presence known to the young immortal.

Damian slowly arose as the snow around him began to fade, his eyes now changed. The whites of his eyes, his sclerae, was now a pitch black color, his golden yellow irises still remaining the same. He was growling, almost like a mad animal with a slightly distorted pitch in its tone.

Then it happened, a bone-white substance emerged from out of nowhere around Damian and began to slowly envelope his entire body, but he didn't welcome it. In fact, he was resisting it, trying to tear away the bone-white substance from his body as it slowly began forming on his body. It was if the substance was forming Bone-White plated armor around his entire body. The more he watched, the more the young immortal realized that the armor more and more resembled a Grimm.

"Well well well… I didn't expect you to screw up so badly a second time so soon, Damian… You obviously didnt listen to my warning… But no matter! Watch me closely as I kill him for you! Learn a thing or two from me!"

Dante drew his sword and blocked the strike from Damian's gauntleted left arm, soon breaking the clash of armored fist and blade and lashed out. He was gone. Dante moved his sword to his backside to block an attack to his spine, lashing out again to only miss.

So it's making use of his teleportation Semblance… Not only that…

Dante kept blocking and lashing out, making the battle a standstill for the moment.

But it's going for attacks to disable or cripple me. Damian doesn't know I'm immortal, and I'm assuming that thing doesn't know either. I should end this soon.

Dante ducked under a clawed swipe and swung his sword at Damian's ribs, shattering the armor covering it and leaving a small cut.

"You're tougher than the rest… A lot tougher… What are you?"

"An insignificant little thing. It doesn't matter who or what I am. Right now...what matters is that I end this right now."

"End this? Ehehehehehe… Oh no, we're only getting started!"

"Not likely."

Dante brought down his left hand as two Aura Swords pierced the possessed Damian's feet, pinning him to the ground as two more fell down and pierced both arms, keeping him in place.

"What the-?! I...can't...move..!"

"It's supposed to be that way. It's time we reign you in so you won't cause anymore problems."

"What?!"

"Those patches basically told me what the problem was. Luckily, the day Damian arrived here, we were already strategizing how to deal with you. It took some time, but we figured it out eventually thanks to my partner."

As he said this, Inuba appeared by his side in a burst of white flame.

"Ready?" Asked Dante.

"Yes."

The duo approached the struggling, possessed Damian, squirming around like a trapped animal trying to break free.

"Let me go you bastard! I'll kill you!"

"You're not killing anyone today. Be glad. You get to serve a new master and do something good with your life for once."

"No! Don't touch me!"

Dante grabbed hold of Damian's face with his right hand, Inuba taking his left as flaming white Aura traveled through his left arm and into his right, soon covering the entirety of the possessed Damian's head as he screamed in agony. The flames did not burn him, but they were erasing the entities control over him.

The screaming eventually stopped.

Dante removed his hand from Damian's face and caught him as he dematerialized his swords. The bone plated armor crumbled to pieces when he caught him, becoming one with the snow covering the ground.

"Looks like you did it."

The duo turned to find Rox approaching them as Ciel and Leo joined Inuba and Dante's side.

"Did you know we where going to fix this problem of his?" Asked Dante.

"In a way. So? Everything went well beforehand I assume?"

"I guess. He got a new weapon. And we just put a leash on that thing inside him. All in a day's work. Told you I'd get it done in three days."

"Heh… That you did…"

"I just gave him the basics. It's up to him to improve from here on out to grow and get stronger. Now that he's got that thing under control, it'll be a bit easier now."

"Again, I can't express how grateful I am to you for helping us. Well, him. You get the idea." Said Rox as he slung the passed out Damian over his shoulder.

"One more thing before you go…"

"What is it?"

"When he wakes up, tell him 'No matter how hard life gets, no matter what troubles you face, no matter the odds...keep moving forward.' He'll understand. If not, well, tell him what I said."

"Alright. I'll make sure to do that. Thanks again and good luck on your journey."

Rox spoke his final words and disappeared into thin air. Dante's Shadow Skinned arms returned to normal, his right arm hanging limply again.

"Well…that takes care of that…" said Dante.

"We can move on now at least." Said Inuba.

"Yeah…looks like winter is coming to an end soon… Leo?"

"Yes brother?"

"How far are we till the next village?"

"Well, it's not so much a village, but rather a city run by a rather wealthy family. They've done well for themselves so far despite being established only twenty years ago."

"And the next?"

"A village that borders the Anima Forest and village close by to it called Shion. We still have a rather long trek underway until we reach Mistral."

Dante sighed as Inuba went to work treating his arm.

"Why can't this be simple… Well, alright then. We'll pack up and move for that mini city. If we get there today, great. If we don't reach it by nightfall, we'll just camp out again and move out in the morning."

"Sounds good bro. Well don't just stand there Leo! Let's go pack!" She said kicking her twin in the rear.

"I'm going, I'm going…"

Soon, it was only Inuba and Dante that remained.

"What an odd three days it's been…" said Inuba as her white flames were slowly healing the blackened skin of his arm.

"Tell me about it… Let's just hope that's the last Reality jumping enoucnter we have. For now at least…"

"Agreed." Said Inuba giggling to herself.

"You alright? You seem kinda off these days. Like your minds two steps ahead. Or something of the equivalent."

"W-What? Oh… Well… I…"

 _Should I say it now? Should I tell him that I..? Would it mean anything? Would it change anything?_

"It's nothing really… I've just been wondering what would happen should we meet Ms. Rose and the others with her. And...well...what would happen when we reach Mistral…"

"It'll be alright. It'll definitely be a welcome change to see them all again after so long."

Her fox ears folded against her head as she continued treating his arm.

"As for what we'll find once we reach the end… Well… You just leave all the fighting to me." He said with a smile.

She gasped as her ears perked up, making the young immortal take note of this.

"Something wrong? Is my arm going to fall off soon?! Is it going to be just a skeleton arm now?!" He asked slightly panicked.

Inuba was caught off guard, but proceeded to laugh.

"No Master… Nothing silly like that… Stand still now. I need to finish the treatment."

"S-Sure… Sorry about the little freak out there…"

"No worries…"

 _I wonder…_

Her red irises looked up from his arm, staring directly at the young immortal as he looked off into the distance.

 _Is he starting to remember?_

* * *

 **(** **Omake: "Counseling with an Immortal, Part 2" by** **OS Worldmakers** **)**

"Thankfully I am where I am now. Sure this world has its problems, and yeah, I'm not exactly what I used to be, but I'll do what I can for it." Dante replied, leaning back in his chair as he poured himself more tea.

Almost sagely Bone nodded. "Good. Hopefully you'll stay like that for the next, say, 500 years? Angel and Dark Entity heritage is iffy in some worlds."

Dante grinned as he looked outside. It had just began snowing lightly. "Thanks to how long Inuba can live, I can live for even longer than that. Basically she's like an elf, in the sense that she can live for thousands of years. Even more."

"Aww, that's cute. Which reminds me how old I am... eh, might've been your great long lost ancestor's ancestor, but I don't care."

A eyebrow raised. "Really now?"

The psychologist sheepishly scratched his hair. "Maybe. Years get confused and jumbled if I'm thinking from outside the box. Everything's in there, but it ain't sorted. All I know is that it's possible, but really, really unlikely."

"So you're like me in the sense that you can't remember everything," the snow-haired teen said, nodding.

"More like I need to shift through it. It's like dust in the attic- you gotta sweep it away to see what's underneath. Although it's a really crowded attic..."

"There's just blocks for me. I still haven't remembered everything yet..." Dante said. And I don't know who got it luckier...

With a straight face, Bone White began. "Invest in a wrecking ball and have Inuba sing lyrics from someone, last name Cyrus. That could work- after all, it's one of infinite solutions."

Dante laughed, managing to restrain it so it wouldn't disturb the neighbors. "I'll pass on that. Granted, she's an amazing singer, I still wouldn't put her through that."

"Wow... What worries me is that you had a thought-out answer. But anyways, that's most I wanted to talk about. Last thing: you might want to invest in some pills. That's it."

"Pills? What kind of pills?"

Bone tossed Dante a little white container half the size of his palm. "Contraceptive. Keep two whole bottles in worse case scenario."

Dante dropped the bottle in shock, his face turning redder than Ruby's ever did. "W-Well... Thank you for the advice, but I'm immune to any and all drugs. Plus if you're saying what I'm thinking you're saying, then I'm not able to...ahem...get anyone pregnant until the age of 21. Some weird mumbo jumbo about my body or something..."

The psychologist growled slightly, sending Dante on edge. "That's a load of bulls***. It's due to the license by the 'Gods' above, the so-called authors. Those who created the Creator and everything in between. They're a diverse community, and not everyone's so nice. As for speaking of 'non-human' I might apply to that. Came from a cycle of humanity that appeared at the start of the world before turning into apes and then, after a really long time, back into humans. Evolution. Don't worry, I blame my author for things too. Like cross-universe interactions, for example."

"I kid you not, it's the truth!" the white-haired teen yelped. "I was just as surprised as you are. The way I know this is because there's this doctor I used to know who took interest in the...abnormalities of my body. She tested me for everything possible and examined practically every cell of my body."

An eyebrow raised. "I'm not surprised, since there's 30 out of, what, 30 girls who'd want to have your kids. Artistic license. Not a coincidence. Which also leads me to another question- how? And let me guess, super-mature big busted woman doctor? I'm right, ain't I?"

"How what? And she's in her mid twenties, and to be fair and honest, she is well well endowed and really beautiful. But besides all that, she was a big wig in the scientific community in the world I came from. Especially in biology and surgery. She was really good at what she did. They call her the 'Ultimate Doctor'. Capable of treating almost anything and everything. But they know her in name only. She's not too keen on all the fame. Which is why she worked at a hospital and the orphanage I was at."

"Well, how did she analyze you?" Bone replied. "And 'Ultimate Doctor' is a bit too... overkill and shouldn't be used. Just a thing I don't like- really long and superlative titles. 'The Greatest and Holiest Emperor' for example- I killed the dude because he kept waving it around like his dangler. Now that was a bad day."

"From what I've noticed, technology in my world is much more advanced than here on Remnant," Dante replied. "It's why myself, Inuba and my siblings are pretty much the only ones with HoloScrolls. Holographic scrolls for short. Anyway, with the kind of sophisticated tech she had and used, it was fairly easy to run the tests. It's actually how I found out that my black bones are virtually indestructible. And the whole "ultimate doctor" thing? It's a title people give her. She isn't too fond of it despite actually being that good. Like me, she isn't a glory hog or anything like that."

"Of course, man! You came into magic territory, so what did you expect? Space stations? And besides, most of the stuff you've mentioned is lost technology. Remnant developed it, but it's lost under the sea now. Other stuff, like the 'Crusaders', which the Atlesian Paladins are based on, were found in a mountain. And the secret societies dedicated to absorbing energy from Dust and the world- well, I'm not telling where those are. It's crazy."

Again, Dante finished his cup of tea. "I bet..." he started. "You must've seen some pretty amazing stuff through the ages in Remnant."

"People who could rival the Maidens, the wizard who gave them the powers, global freeze-over, travel to the Moon and beyond... Yeah, the only things left I think are death and parenthood. Oh, and maybe using 'Fumetsu' again..."

"Ah, the good old one two combo... Wait, you're old!?"

Fumetsu turned and winked at you.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

* * *

 **( Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide 2)**

Dante and Ruby stood on stage together, dressed in costumes in preparation for Halloween.

"Howdy folks. I'm Dante."

"And I'm Ruby! I still haven't figured it out yet..."

"What's that?"

"What are you dressed as?!"

"My Halloween Costume? Cyborg Ninja of course."

"Dah! I was so close!"

"Alright little miss Dracula, lets get this show on the road. Today we'll be talking Ruby's weapon, Crescent Rose."

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

"Awfully excited aren't we?"

"I'm always excited to talk bout my baby. Well, babies." she said pinching the young immortal's cheek to his embarrassment.

"First and foremost, we'll talk about Crescent Rose's transformation modes. First is "storage" mode, the form most compact and convenient for transportating when Ruby doesn't use her weapon, which is stored underneath Ruby's cloak at her waist. Then there's rifle mode, where it takes the form of a medium-length, bolt-action rifle. In this form, the absence of the scythe makes for more effective use of the rifle component. Then there's my favorite, scythe mode, where it's in its most expanded form, where it fully extends into the form of a scythe, allowing it to be used as a mid-to-close-range bladed melee weapon. This form also can also doubles as a long-barrel sniper rifle for long-range shots without giving up the melee capabilities of the scythe. If needed, the bottom of the shaft can also unfold to add more cutting power in a close-range fight. Finally, we have the war scythe mode, where the scythe takes on a form resembling that of a spear."

"Wow! You know so much about it!

"I've really only just talked about basic stuff Ruby. But I did take the time to carefully study your weapon. "

"You did?!" she before squealing and pouncing on him, moving him not even an inch as she now hung onto him from behind, arms wrapped around his neck and legs wrapped around his waist. She rested her chin atop his head.

"Sucking of blood is not allowed, hear me?" he said.

"Got it."

"Now then, why don't you provided some input on your weapon Countess?"

"Sure sure, I can brag a bit. Since my weapon is also a sniper rifle, Crescent Rose has some massive recoil. Rather than me trying to compensate for it, I use the recoil to enhance my mobility greatly. There's practical uses like firing shots to propel myself a short distance, simultaneously attacking while evading, so forth and so on."

"And?"

"Annnnnnnnnndddddd... I can also uses Crescent Rose's recoil to launch myself into the air. Not only that, but in combat, I can pretty much fire a shot immediately before a swing and use the recoil to increase the force and speed of my attacks."

"Also, she can also embed the scythe's blade into the ground to prevent the weapon's recoil from throwing off her aim when using the sniper rifle mode, which allows for rapid and incredibly accurate shots."

"My scythe also has a small, hook-like, double-pronged, jagged blade at the bottom of the shaft which I use to manually unfold the scythe by hooking the end of the blade on something, allowing for both the normal blade and the two prongs to slice enemies at the same time for more power. In this form the muzzle is also rotated 90 degrees which enables the recoil to rotate me instead of blasting me forward, that way I can increase slicing power by a lot!"

"What about the kinds of bullets you use Countess?"

"I'm glad you asked my minion! Bwahahahaha!"

Ruby took the remote out of Dante's hands, still wrapped around him, and clicked the button to swap to images of ammo cartridges that she used for Crescent Rose.

"Normally, I only use four types of Dust Infused Ammo for different effects. Fire Dust for...well...you know, fire. Ice Dust to fire icicle projectiles from Crescent Rose, Gravity Dust to increase the recoil effect when firing Crescent Rose to propel me to even faster acceleration speeds, and Electric Dust that fires an electric projectile that briefly paralyzes my targets."

"I have to say, for a weapon made by human hands, it's a pretty deadly and versatile weapon."

"Aw~ That's so sweet of you!" she said nuzzling her head against his.

"Anyway, I think that concludes this weeks Weapons Illustrated Guide." said Dante.

"We'll see you all next time!" she said in a deep voice and accent, opening her mouth wide to-

She bit into his finger, nibbling on it instead his shoulder like she intended.

"What did I say about no chomping?"

* * *

 **Taking it a bit easy this time. Fairly rough week. But yes, an interesting side chapter this time around. I wonder...what does this little development here at the end mean? Hehehehehe... All in due time. Next few chapters will have a rather...complicated and interesting development go underway. Trust me. You'll like it.**

 **Now then, I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope to see you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Fallen King and The Wolf

**What's crackin guys? We are back for another week of Veil of the Aether. Soon enough, Dante and group will meet up with Ruby and the others. There's a few more obstacles in the way before that happens. In short, we're back on track with the main story. **

**Remember the collab between Xera Stark and myself that we're currently working on? Well, in about two chapters or so you'll start seeing it here. It's the last stop before Dante and group link up with Ruby's team. So after our collab, expect a heartwarming reunion.**

 **Speaking of group members, Dante and his group are about to get a new member added. You've all seen him before in Hero of Remnant if you read. If not, well, be prepared to meet him. What? Think I'll say right off the bat? As Ruby infamously puts it, "Nope". Anyway, enjoy yourselves.**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Fallen King and The Young Wolf

The miles of snow had finally come to an end as the group of four trailed alongside the heavily wooded roads. The air still remained fairly chilly, but it was of non concern to the immortal, his two siblings, and his Kitsune partner as they moved along the path.

"Ardien is the name of that mini city you were talking about Leo?" Asked Dante.

"Indeed…"

"Why can't I bring up any information on it? I downloaded multiple databases to my scroll ages ago. If this place actually exists, it should be in the info archives. So why isn't and how is it you and Ciel only know about it?"

"Well, apparently they're a super secretive city that doesn't even make contact with other villages or Kingdoms. They only let in small amounts of people at a time, especially passerby's like us. Usually a group of seven or less is allowed." Said Ciel.

"We only spent four days within the city walls when we passed through. Truthfully, we were lost on the way to you and stopped at every city or village we could find to direct us towards Vale. They have plenty of animals in the forest nearby as well as a steady stream well suited for fishing. They also have a decently sized Dust mine of their own for energy resources and so forth." said Leo.

"The SDC doesn't control that mine?" Asked the elder sibling.

"As Ciel said, these people are fairly secretive and don't allow just anyone in. Despite this, they've done very well over the 20 years they've been established and are fairly wealthy."

"How are they wealthy if they aren't in contact with other villages? Much less kingdoms?"

"We wondered about that too. So we did a bit of scouting on our time off and found out they practically trade with all sorts of people around the four continents. But they do it anonymously so nothing can be traced back to them. If you ask me, I think they've been doing some 'under-the-table' transactions as well to keep them steadily afloat." Said Ciel.

"Illegal marketing and trade?" Asked Dante.

"Maybe, maybe not. I guess you can say they were just taking advantages of certain loopholes."

"So what gave you the impression they're in a fairly shady business? Was it their cargo?"

"To be honest, we never got a look at the cargo. We thought some of their deals were sketchy because of the places they went and the people they traded with." Said Ciel.

"Other than the main body ruling over the city, the citizens are actually pretty upstanding and honest people. A bread-making lady gave me a loaf of bread for free because she said I was adorable, so I was okay with that."

"Despite Ciel's poor example, I do have to agree with her. The citizens all seem like very good and happy people despite some of the strange business transactions the main family goes through." Said Leo.

"Who's the ruling family?" Asked Dante.

"I believe they are called the Friede family. Jonathan and Maria Friede were the founders of the city alongside Jonathan's brother, Martin Friede. Jonathan and Maria suffered a Grimm attack as they were traveling home from visiting a village, leaving Martin to rule over the city in their stead. Apparently, rumors circulated amongst the people that Martin was in fact responsible for Jonathan and Maria's death in order to gain control. But, three years ago, Martin was slain by Jasper and Minerva Friede, the son and daughter of the late founders. Since their system was patriarchal, rule went over to Jasper. As far as we know, he has been doing fairly well in his rule."

"Well that's good… At least he's doing something right…" said Dante.

Shortly after, the group of four felt the air strongly rupture and quake as a powerful presence swept through the area.

"What the heck is this?!" Said Ciel.

"I don't know… It feels...Dark…and overbearing… I've never felt such a presence before..." replied Leo as he looked around himself in all directions quickly, trying to get an accurate reading on where this presence came from.

Only Dante and Inuba knew what the presence was...or rather...who it belonged to.

"Master...is it-?"

"It's him alright…" said the young immortal as the whites of his eyes, his sclerae, turned black, his bright sky blue irises changing to a glowing white while his pupils remained black. His Shadow Eyes were now present.

"My question is what's he doing so far out here?"

"Um, I feel like we're out of the loop or something. Who is it?"

The rupturing and quaking of the air stopped. The dark presence lingered.

Dante's eyes returned to their normal bright sky blue color as his head turned slightly towards the direction of the entrance to the forest.

"You guys have seen all my past fights, right?"

"Right..?" Said Ciel.

"You'll know who it is soon enough."

* * *

The four eventually reached a clearing, finding the smoldering remains of a battle that took place not too long ago. Trees had been splintered and uprooted completely. Rock formations and boulder crushed to pieces. Scorch marks in different locations. The almost vanished bodies of dead Grimm.

"Sweet suffering succotash… These Grimm were massacred… L'horreur! L'horreur!" Said Ciel dramatically in a mocking fashion with her hand to her head as if she were about to faint.

"P-Pardon?" Asked Inuba.

"She was speaking French for 'The horror! The horror!'. When did you learn French?" Asked Dante.

"Ages ago. Dude, Leo and I basically had nothing to do most days."

"Right right…"

Dante glanced at Inuba and his siblings, then motioned them all to come forth.

"You're up partner." Said Dante.

Inuba knelt down on both knees next to her crouching Master, Ciel and Leo looking over them as Inuba's hands were engulfed in white flame. She touched the center of a small burn crater and slowly pulled her hands back up. A small stream of black Aura outlined in Dark green drifted inside the now small orb of white flame in Inuba's hands. She turned to Dante and gave her Master a nod before the duo stood up again.

"Alright, weapons out and be alert. He's still around. Inuba?"

"That way." Spoke the Kitsune pointing ahead of them towards another heavily wooded area of trees.

"Let's spread out a bit and move in. If you see someone, don't engage unless they come after you. You see him, you call me. Got it?"

"Understood."

"Of course Master."

"Got it."

They all spread out: Dante and Inuba taking the center left and the center right, while Ciel and Leo took outer left and outer right. They sank into the line of trees, moving through them as if they were shadows, quietly and ever so swiftly. The presence grew stronger as they all moved further and further ahead.

There wasn't a single sound. No creatures stirring, they had all left long ago to avoid this "predator". Considering "his" nature, he pretty much was a predator.

Dante was most certainly the closest to this presence than the rest of the group was. He was only a short distance away from making contact with it. Because of this, Inuba, Ciel and Leo doubled their pace and moved ahead of the presence, surrounding it from the rear. If he tried to run, he would have no means of escape.

Dante took a deep breath to calm himself and silently drew his longsword from the sheath on his back, lowering it his side.

"3...2...1…"

The young immortal quickly moved from behind the tree and lashed out. Metal clashed with metal, creating a thundering sound that traveled through the forest.

The pure white blade of Dante's longsword clashed against a black, double sided longsword with jagged, serrated edges on both sharp sides of the blade. This profane blade had dark green, glowing etchings adorning the entire base of the blade from top to bottom, the etchings resembling jagged thorns. The top side of the black cross guard was equally jagged like the blade, the underside perfectly smooth. It had a black leather grip that only fit one hand, while the rest of the handle remained bare. The pommel was a decently sized spike, but before this spike was a chain link at least a foot long, adorning decorative cracks that glowed dark green.

This figure remained dressed in a black, ragged coat that had split tails that reached his ankles and a hood that covered his head, obscuring his face from Dante. The edges of the coat had dark green trimming that almost pulsated. He wore equally ragged black jeans and black boots.

As the head of the hood lifted up, Dante saw dark green irises with black slitted pupils stare back at him with a spiteful gaze.

"My my… And here I thought someone might have finally killed you off once and for all…" said Dante rather coldly.

For the amount of time their swords clashed, the area of contact began to glow red hot, sparks emerging as the two warriors tried to overpower one another. The two broke their clash, but immediately swung at each other's necks, stopping just centimeters away from their intended targets.

"How odd of you… No rude remark, nothing at all… It's almost as if you're trying to ignore me…" said the teen.

"That's because I am trying to ignore you, brat. I don't have time to waste with you. Not now or ever again. So let's just call it quits before it even begins and go about our merry ways, yeah?"

"Did you really think I was going to let you walk away so easily?"

Inuba's pure white katana touched the side of the figures neck, Ciel's scythe blade wrapping around the other side, all while Leo stood behind him, his handcannon touching the figure's backside directly, aiming for his spine.

"No way… You're still alive Fox? I thought you got crushed like a bug by Aultus."

"Apparently not if I'm still standing here." Responded the Kitsune.

"Hmph… And just who the hell are you-?"

As the figure turned his head to look at Ciel and Leo, he froze in place.

"Bullshit…"

"What?"

"Why the hell do Ben and Jerry behind me look a lot like you?"

"That's my brother and sister."

"What?! No… No! There's more of you?! Are you kidding me?!"

As if he realized he made a mistake, he stopped asked a bit more quietly, "Are you kidding me?! Siblings?! As if I needed more of your kind!"

"Um, you never answered this last time, but who's this asshat?" Asked Ciel.

"I'd show some respect if I were you, you little hellion." Responded the figure.

"Ciel, Leo, meet one of the four Dark Entity Kings, Raum."

There was a few seconds of silence until Ciel began cracking up, laughing loudly.

"What, are you serious? This guy is one of the four Dark Entity Kings? Really?"

"Unfortunately…"

"Well if that's the case…"

Ciel pulled a bit on her scythe.

"then I owe you some pain for messing with my brother."

"Aw, that's cute. You're getting your sister to fight your battles now?"

"Hey, if it works…" spoke the teen.

"Look, I'm not here for another pissing contest that'll end up in a draw, or worse, me dead. Let's just call this unfortunate circumstance that we crossed paths and just leave."

"I don't buy it for a second. Just simply wanting to walk away? No fuss? Nothing? I have a right to be skeptical given our history together."

"Let's just say after our last battle I had an...what do humans call it again..? Ah, right. An epiphany. There we go."

"You having an epiphany… That's...wow… I'm speechless…" said Dante.

"I'm being serious you little cretin. You not being able to kill me as you are? Me not being able to ever kill you? There's no point to it. Not worth the time or the effort. So like I said, I give up fighting against you. Plus, there's no reason to it besides a stupid grudge from ages ago. I'm done. I'd have gone home by now, but I can't. Not strong enough to open up a passage decent enough to get there. Not only that, but the Dark World's been locked. No one get's in or out without Lucifer's say so."

"So you were telling the truth when you said you were stuck here on Remnant."

"Uh, yeah, wasn't lying about that ever dumbass. You think I'd willingly stay in the same World as you? Heh, as if! If anything, I want to be as far away from you as possible."

Dante glanced at Inuba, who was equally baffled and confused as to what to do.

"Fine… We'll cut you loose then…" said the young immortal as he, his partner and siblings removed their weapons from Raum's person.

"If we hear of anything… Anything at all… We will come looking for you." Said Dante.

"Yeah yeah, I get it… See ya around di-"

The topside of the elder Dark Entity's hood shifted and bulged slightly, as if something was underneath.

"What was that?"

"That was nothing." He said rather hurriedly.

They all heard a muffled yawn.

"Seriously now, what was that?" Asked the young immortal.

"That was me. I yawned." Said Raum.

"No, you didn't."

"How do you know?"

"I was just watching you you idiot! That's how!"

"You need to get your eyes checked. Now excuse me, I-"

A small head, the head of child, popped out from beneath Raum's impressively large hood. It was a female Faunus child, at least two years old, with near-shoulder length jet black hair, like the Dark Entity Kings own hair color, and large jet black wolf ears the fluttered slightly. The young wolf Faunus yawned once more, plopping her chin on top of the Dark Entity's head as her tongue lulled out of her mouth slightly, still drowsy.

Dark blue eyes with slitted black pupils opened up slowly to greet the morning, but stayed slightly opened. The hood shifted, as if something were trying to escape, and very soon, Raum's hood fell down. The young Faunus girl sat atop his shoulders wearing a sleeveless dark blue dress that reached her shins, and a white long sleeved blouse underneath. She had long white socks and blue shoes. There was a gap near the rear of her dress to allow her jet black wolf tail through and move about freely.

The group of four stood still, shocked as to what they saw, Dante and Inuba moreso shocked. Raum stood still, not moving a single inch as if he had been frozen in place. A look of pure horror could be seen on the Dark Entity King's face, as if he had just been caught in the act of committing a horrendous crime. The group of four looked up at the young wolf Faunus resting her head atop Raum's head, her hands atop his chin length and nearly spikey black hair, her chin resting atop as if it were resting in a pillow. Her legs rested peacefully atop the Dark Entities shoulders. As if she had fully awoken, her eyes opened all the way, looking around at the new faces she did not recognize.

She then looked down at Raum, smiling and giggling softly as her wolf tail, about as tall as she was, whipped about rapidly and happily as she nuzzled her face into his messy hair. The one and only word she spoke next, shocked everyone beyond belief. For Raum, his horror grew to unimaginable levels.

"Papa!" She said with a light, passionate and young voice full of innocence, innocence that was far unbefitting to be in this entity's presence as she continued rubbing her head against the top of his.

Hearing that word made Raum jump slightly, making the young wolf Faunus bounce atop his shoulders, her large wolf ears bobbing up and down as she giggled a little more.

Dante and the others backed away slowly, the young immortal the most shocked and most confused of the bunch. His head was searching for all sorts of answers at the moment. Who is this Faunus girl and why did she call Raum, one of the Four Dark Entity Kings, "papa"?!

Raum quickly put up his hood again, acting as if nothing happened.

"You saw nothing."

The young wolf Faunus quickly flipped it back down with a proud "hmph", as if she had just accomplished something great and amazing.

Ciel's scythe dematerialized in a burst of white Aura outlined in black, the young girl slapping her hands over her mouth to contain her silent squeal at the current display of cuteness as her eyes watered up slightly.

"SHE'S SO CUTE AND FLUFFY! IT'S ADORABLE!"

...

It was over for him.

* * *

The now group of six sat together in an open clearing, numerous trees surrounding them, a large river stream not too far away from them.

Dante and Leo overlooked the massive trunk of items Raum had summoned forth for them, the brothers examining the contents of the box while the young wolf Faunus was enjoying the company of Inuba and Ciel, Ciel mostly due to the amount of attention she gave her and with how she was playing around with young wolf Faunus. Ciel even fashioned a pair of wolf ears and a wolf tail out of her white Aura outlined in black.

The younger sibling though of something rather excellent. The younger Faunus child gave her the idea really. Ciel used her Aura made wolf tail to grab hold of the younger child and began tossing her up into the air with the tail, each toss varying in angles and tricks she performed with the tail as she caught the young wolf child each time.

Leo brought up an assortment of items from the trunk one at a time, Dante taking inventory as he did so.

"Six dresses of the same variety that she's wearing… An extra pair of shoes for her… A cooler full of applesauce, milk, and other children's food and drinks… Pocket dimension mini-chest full of all sorts of Dark Entity books and Dark Entity Spellbooks… Some extra coats for you… A large assortment of children's story books and… no… No way!"

Dante immediately grabbed the book out of the chest and held it closely to his face, staring at it for a few seconds to ensure he wasn't hallucinating.

"'How to be an excellent father'?! No way!"

The two brother looked to a rather disturbed Raum, who was seemingly getting more and more embarrassed by the second. This was the sweetest kind of revenge for Dante at the moment. But, he wasn't one to poke fun at people anymore. At least, not too much like he did previously.

"Good lord man, you're seriously into this whole 'dad' thing now aren't you? Not that it's bad or anything. But still… It's just… Wow… Of all the things to happen… This was the least expected."

"Yeah, well shi-"

The Dark Entity stopped mid sentence, looking over to the wolf Faunus to see her glaring at him.

"What I meant to say...is that stuff happens."

Looking at her again, the Faunus girl nodded before returning to playing with Ciel and Inuba, who were now playfully tossing her about using only their tails, giggling happily between each toss.

"So where have you been hiding all this time?" Asked the young immortal.

"In Vale. At least, six months ago I was. I've been laying low after our last fight against one another. Blending in and all that human nonsense. There was one or two times I passed you and the fox on the street. Despite you being near me was enough to set me off edge, I decided not to do anything and go about my day."

"Oh, so YOU decided to leave me be. Hmmm. How about that…"

"Got something to say brat?"

"Maybe I do."

"Um...please don't fight..?" Said Leo.

Dante and Raum simply glaring at Leo was enough to make him cease speaking and retreat to Ciel and Inuba.

"Despite me disliking you very very much, we shouldn't fight. At least not while she's still around." Said the young immortal looking towards the young wolf Faunus.

"What's her name?"

"No clue. So I gave her one instead."

"Oh? So what is it?"

"Irene."

"Aww, well that's cute."

"Shut up."

"No, it's a good name for her. Really. It's just-"

"Unexpected of me, I get it. What, did you think that because I am the way I am I'm not educated or don't posses some knowledge?"

"Well, when you're constantly screaming at your enemy that you want to murder them dead...yeah, I might assume a thing or two."

"Shows what you know. What about you? You look like a damn mess."

"Oh this?" Said Dante nodding to his bandaged right arm.

"This happened after I killed something waaaaaaaaay tougher than your royal weak-ness."

"Come again..?" Asked Raum in a menacing tone.

"You heard me."

"Don't act so cocky you little brat. The only reason I'm not trying to cave in your skull is because it'd be pointless. But that doesn't mean I won't give you a punch that'll tear through your flesh."

"Sure sure, keep telling yourself that."

Dante then glanced over at Irene once more, watching her play with Inuba's fox ears before the kitsune began tickling the child's sides with her fox tail, forcing heart-melting laughs out of the young wolf Faunus.

"Where did you find Irene? Don't tell me… Did you get some poor girl pregnant and-?"

"Not in the slightest you damn idiot! So shut the hell up!" Said the Dark Entity as he right hooked Dante across the side of his head, the young immortal still acting as if nothing happened while smiling and laughing in a deadpan tone.

"Fine… Serious talk now… Where did you find her?"

"It's not really that I found her… It's… What's the phrase that humans use… Ah, right… It's more like she found me…"

"Huh?"

Inuba, Ciel and Leo were now focused on Raum, curious as to what tale he had for them.

"First time I saw her was a week before the attack on Vale…"

* * *

 **(One week before the attack on Vale…)**

Inside of the small, cramped room was only darkness. Despite it being morning, the curtains he had in place still made it seem as though it were night time outside. Dark green irises with slitted black pupils opened, faintly glowing in the dark as they stared at the ceiling for a moments. They then glanced towards the small table and the lamp sitting atop it. He lazily tried to flip the switch, but failed each time.

With an irritated growl, he slapped both hands over his face and slowly dragged them down his face. He raised up his right hand and snapped his fingers, making every one of three lights in his room turn on at once. Raum pulled away the covers and stood from his bedside, his feet touching the wooden floorboards of his small, yet cozy apartment. He wore nothing but black and green plaid pajamas that were a bit large for him as they touched the floor he walked across.

He drew back the curtains and let the first rays of dawn enter through his window. There was never morning in the Dark World. It was always night. The only difference was that actual nighttime had lightning streaking the blackened skies in multitudes while thunder echoed and sounded throughout the rocky planes. It was a complete difference than that of Human Realms. It was almost always quiet and peaceful. Both in the morning and night. It was a peace he still wasn't accustomed to.

Looking towards his right, he found his object of desire on his desk. A half empty bottle of scotch to quench his early morning thirst. Correction, a now empty bottle of scotch. Tossing the bottle behind him in directly into the trash can, he moved towards his restroom and brushed his teeth, followed by patting down his slightly spiky black hair a bit.

Shortly after, he moved to his closet and changed into his daily clothes; black jeans, black boots, a sleeveless dark green shirt, and his hooded cloak; his trademark. His proof of being Raum, one of the Four Dark Entity Kings. A being of great and terrible power. A being...that now miserably lived out his days in a apartment. All because of one, single brat.

Did he hate Dante? Immensely so. Did he want to fight him ever again? Not in the slightest. That child was a menace. A pain in his ass far greater than any pain a hemorrhoid could provide an average human. Fighting him again would not be worth the effort and pain, especially if he didn't have even the slightest chance at success. Did this mean he thought of the young immortal as his better? Not likely. Did he acknowledge his strength? Certainly.

Even so, he hated him greatly. Because of him, he had to spend his time now amongst humans. And Fauna. He could never go home. Lucifer had already warded off the Dark World, preventing both entry and the ability to exit. The last time he did that was two thousand years ago when the Third War occurred between Dark Entities and Angels. A war Raum himself started, but Lucifer quickly ended.

He never understood why his brother desperately wished for peace between all. Peace was foolish. It was stifling. It was incomprehensible. It was...foreign to him.

He sighed, grabbing a black metal flask off his desk and moving towards the kitchen and opened the fridge. Three fourths of the entire thing was filled large one liter bottles of scotch of all varieties. The rest of the fridge contained two loaves of bread and two tubs of cream cheese. He grabbed one of the bottles of scotch and popped it open, pouring it into the flask until it was completely topped off.

He took a quick swig and screwed the cap of the flask back on, placing it inside one the inner pockets in his coat. Raum then spun around, using his index finger to quickly scan the assortment of items on the countertop, finally finding and grabbing his black Scroll that rested in its charge station. It was different than most. His was customized to have dark green etchings of numerous thorny vines. It was something he was very proud of considering he did the designs himself.

Pocketing his scroll, he left through the format door and started his day.

* * *

Like any other city, Vale had its beautiful monuments, its flourishing stores and shops, its bright and cheery people walking up and down the streets, going about their day. It made him sick.

Any other Tuesday, he would send hordes of Dark Entities to swarm a city like this, simply to watch it burn for his amusement. That was when he was one of the two remaining Kings. Now, he was practically like any of them. A being that simply went about its way, trudging through life aimlessly. He had no current goals. Nor did he have any current aspirations. He simply lived. Plain and simple.

But he he had no purpose. So why continue living then? Why was he given back a body a century early? Rather...who would do such a thing? And why? Why this World of places? It made no sense to the Dark being. Why be brought back a century early, especially without a purpose? It made no difference. He had flesh once again. He breathed once again. He walked the ground once again. Though his power had been severely cut, still in the infancy stages of being restored, he was still him. He was still Raum, an ancient being of Darkness.

But for now, he was simply Raymond, a superbly skilled bartender famous for his numerous and flashy services concerning the dispensary of all alcoholic beverages. In short, he was a god amongst men concerning the serving of alcohol. The humans and Fauna weren't too far off the mark concerning that idea. In fact, many had specifically come to the bar he was employed to see him work his magic. Literally.

He exited through the usual alleyway he traveled through. Though Vale had its bright and majestic side, it still had a rather unpleasant underbelly, just like any other city. Sick, homeless, abandoned, junkies. They were a rare bunch to find around Vale, but nonetheless, they existed.

His attention was drawn to the alleyway opposite of him. Three teenagers of the ages of fifteen, maybe sixteen. It looked as though they were harassing someone, pushing them around. Someone considerably smaller than them.

"Haha! What's a matter you filthy animal?! Not gonna bite back?!"

"Kick her again! Kick her again!"

A small voice had cried out in pain as she feel to the floor, placing her little hands over her head to defend herself from the leader of the groups stomps. There wasn't much force out into the stomps, mainly to ensure he was torturing the poor creature effectively.

One of his friends tapped his shoulder to focus attention to Raum, whose devilish eyes drifted to the young Faunus girl laying on the ground whimpering. She wore nothing but rags. She was no older than two. Even for a Dark being as vile as Raum, he still had some form of shame and honor. Was it a fault of his? He never really cared to think about it much.

"Hey! What are you looking at?!"

Raum glanced at the one trying for his attention, but ignored him, his cold, piercing gaze focusing on the young child whose teary eyes slowly opened. Her dark blue, black slitted pupils meet his dark green eyes. It was not a gaze of fear. No, it was a stare full of awe and wonder, as if she had bore witness to a marvelous sight.

"Hey! I'm talking to you jackass!"

"Does it look like I'm talking to you?" Replied the Dark Entity.

"What'd you say?!"

The group of three abandoned the girl, as if she had been completely forgotten and approached Raum. One of them had a crow bar.

Raum went to leave. He didn't have time for this. He was going to be late. Then he heard something. It was the girl. A simple whisper was all that it was, something the other three couldn't hear. But the Dark Entity sure enough heard what the little one spoke, his eyes going wide as his mouth fell slightly agape as he quickly turned his head, glaring at the young Faunus girl.

 _What did you just-?!_

"Check it out man, he's one of those freaks too…"

"Well then, just our luck."

It was the exact opposite. They had no idea what they were approaching. Where they that brainless and confused that they couldn't feel fear?

Their leader approached and tried to push him. This was a mistake. Raum easily caught his hand and gripped it tightly, the human with the crowbar quickly approaching him to take a swing. Raum effortlessly caught the crowbar with his other free hand, easily bending the pole of steel before stomp kicking the teen in the stomach to send him flying down the street. The other one fled, leaving their "brave" leader behind.

"Here's your reward…"

With a simple twist, the boy's arm was now facing the other direction. A took a moment, but the pain finally set in, forcing him to scream as he fell to his knees. He looked up at Raum with the same pitiful gaze all humans had when in pain and very well staring death in the face. He ran. It was all he could do as he clutched his now limp, noodle like arm.

It was now time for the Dark Entity to leave. But he stopped once more after that girl spoke THAT word again.

"Pa...pa…"

His demonic gaze fell upon her once more, a glare that would send shivers down men's spines, a glare that would make blood run cold, a glare that would pierce through the very soul of anyone unfortunate enough to look upon him. Yet this girl...this child… She continued gazing at him, as if he was some sort of miracle from on high. Did she not fear him? Did she not know the meaning of fear? No. She knew fear. She feared those foolish humans that assaulted the young wolf Faunus. But why not fear him?

"Papa..."

Why did she keeping using that damned word? He was not her father. So why did she call him that? He didn't have time for this blasted girl.

He left, continuing down his original, intended route.

"Papa!" She cried out with her tiny voice as she tried to chase after him.

But her little legs were weak enough as is from the cruel treatment she was given earlier. She stumbled and fell on the littered alleyway, forcing Raum to stop for a brief moment. His hood turned slightly, only now taking notice of her little hand that reached out for him. His gaze soon met the ground in front of his path, his demonic eyes closing momentarily before reopening. He simply moved on.

"Papa!"

He kept moving, attempting to block out her cries as tears filled her eyes once more. For the remainder of the time it took him to walk to work, he couldn't help but feel the tiniest modicum of pain in his chest.

* * *

"Hey Raymond! Looks like you had a fun weekend!"

 _Not really…_

"Come on man, still going with the silent treatment even after we've known each other for a month?"

 _Yes._

"Leave it alone Jones. He's not gonna talk. He doesn't even talk to the customers. Unless they're women."

"Oh~! Raymond you sly dog!" He said patting his back.

The Dark Entity simply rolled his eyes. He only talked to the customers that were women for two reasons. One, they wanted to converse with him, which was practically eighty percent of the single women that came to the bar. Two, the customers that were women were actually smarter and less idiotic than the male customers. Most of the time anyway.

Raum finished buttoning up the white dress shirt and rolled up the sleeves above his elbows, then followed up by buttoning up the black dress vest. This last part was his least favorite. The tie. Tying one of these took him a while the first time he tried. For something so simple, it was fairly complex to newcomers of this art. After tying the tie and tucking it in the vest, he grabbed his ragged cloak and placed it on one of the hooks inside his locker.

Before he closed the door, he caught a glimpse of himself in the small mirror. He just...stared. But why was he just staring at himself? Yes, he was a rather handsome individual, but he wasn't vain enough to stare at himself for moments on end simply to compliment himself. No, this was something more. But what? What was it?

He had a flashback to a few minutes ago. The girl and-

Raum's grip on the door grew tight enough to the point he began crushing the metal. He soon slammed the door shut with, angrily marching his way out of the locker room to begin his job.

* * *

 **(Six days later... Minutes away from the attack on Vale...)**

He stood there behind his counter top polishing the glasses. There were fewer customers today because of the finals for the Vytal Tournament. Raum finished the playback for Dante's fight. He was...slightly impressed. The brat came a long way since they last fought. And it seemed as though he gained new abilities.

The only reason he was watching the brats fights in the first place was for research purposes, should he possibly get into another fight with Dante. Even though he gave up on trying, he still kept the possibility in the back of his mind. It's one of the reasons why he has lived for countless millennia. Still...this power that Dante possessed… It...seemed familiar to the Dark Entity. It's as if he's seen it once before centuries past…

Raum brushed off the thought and continued polishing the glasses. That was until he heard numerous people in the bar gasp in shock and horror. He too soon stopped what he was doing and looked behind him. One of the contestants had been dismembered and cut apart. Interesting. But why was there no blood? Ah. She was a synthetic. How boring. And here he thought he'd see some blood today.

The humans and Fauna's eyes were glued to screen, listening closely to the words of some woman. She spoke of the kingdoms, who you could trust, blah blah blah. Her words held no meaning to him. But they certainly did to the now panicked citizens inside the bar. Once the transmission had been cut, everyone started filing out of the building, including the employees.

"Raymond! Let's go!"

"I need to get my stuff."

"What?! Dude, forget your stuff! There's word that Grimm have broken into Vale and are flooding the streets! We got to go!"

Raum simply waved him off and moved off to the employee locker room, taking out his flask from his vest pocket and taking a long swig.

"Great...things have gone from worse to completely fucked...again…" he said with a sigh as he took off his vest dress shirt to put on his coat.

"Well...time to go then…"

Raum moved out of the locker room back to the counter, trying to see how much scotch he could sneak away with now that Grimm were invading. It's not like they'd miss it. Plus it'd just stay here. It'd be a shame to let it all go to waste. He really loved scotch out of all the alcoholic drinks available. At least scotch was the one thing humans were actually good at.

As he turned to leave the bar, he spun around to immediately make eye contact with a Beowolf.

Raum held on to his five bottles of scotch in one arm, commencing a short staring contest with the creature of Grimm until it snarled at him.

"Out of my way."

The snark turned into a low toned growl, the creature leaning back as if to signify it was about to attack. Raum sighed and raised up his free hand, his index finger bending slightly while the fingertip remained trained on the Beowolf. A small spehere of black Aura outlined in dark green, no bigger than an eyeball, formed at the tip of the Dark Entities fingertip, for focal streams of energy converging in the center of his fingertip to expand the sphere slightly.

"Regis Exitium (King's Destruction)."

As soon as the Beowolf went to pounce, Raum straightened out his finger, almost as if he had pushed it, as the sphere transformed into a small, short burst beam of black Aura outlined in dark green that instantly made contact with the creatures forehead, the sound the beam made when shot resembling that of a high pitched demonic shriek. After a second of making contact with the creature, it's entire body expanded instantly until it could no more, and exploded into numerous pieces, splattering the creature's remains over a wide area.

Raum had put up a barrier of his Aura to shield himself from the black blood and wet chunks of flesh that adorned the front entrance of the bar.

"How unfortunate for you…"

He kicked its dissolving head out of the way as he stashed his bottles of scotch inside his bag and went outside. People were running for their lives. A few dead littered the streets. Blood had painted some of the streets. Fires cracked and burned intensely as the creatures of Grimm chased after their prey, both human and Faunus. It was like Hell on earth. Felt just like home. Or a casual Tuesday stroll. Either or.

A pack was chasing down a woman running away. When they saw Raum, they halted their chase and looked towards him with a hunger for blood and flesh. He gazed back at them. As much as he wanted to, it was far too much work than necessary to expend Aura killing them.

"Get lost…" he said in a hollow, echoing voice.

This alone was enough to make the back move back fearfully before tucking tail and moving on, deciding to keep hold of their lives for a little longer.

And so, it was time for the Dark Entity to move forth. He was going to stop at his apartment, grab a few items, and see if he could-

Crying. The cries of a small child echoed through the streets. Strangely enough, he recognized this crying. His eyes were wide, the Dark being hesitating to look to his side, but eventually deciding to do so.

It was the young wolf Faunus. She was all alone, crying to herself. Her knees were scraped, she had a few scratches on her arms, and her clothes were even more torn and ragged than before.

Then she spotted him. She immediately stopped crying and gazed at Raum, almost as if she couldn't believe she was seeing him now.

"Papa… Papa!"

He dreaded that name greatly. Why did she continue calling him that? He wasn't her father. He had no blood relation to her. So why did continue to call him that? The thought infuriated him, yet...made him feel something else.

He turned his head forwards, ready to leave again until he heard her cry out to him again, forcing him to a dead halt.

A loud thud sounded. A Beowolf had leapt from one of the short rooftops, glancing at Raum. It ignored him. Instead, it's wicked gaze turned to meet the small Faunus child, terror striking her entire being as the creature snarled and licked its lips.

Raum moved forward.

 _It's not my problem. I'm not her father. She isn't my daughter. She's just another lowly being. Another insignificant creature. She means nothing to me. It isn't my problem._

"Papa!" She cried terror stricken

 _Stop it… Stop calling me that…_ he thought as his eyes narrowed.

"Papa!"

 _Don't you understand? I'm not…_

His eyes were quivering slightly. The Beowolf growled while she shrieked loudly in fear as her tears fell profusely.

 _You aren't my problem… You aren't…_

"Papa!"

His eyes went wide.

After the last cry, it seemed as though the world had gone completely silent for Raum. He could hear nothing. Everything seemingly froze and went white, as though he were engulfed in an incandescent space. And then heard it. Felt it. A steady beating in his chest while the rest of the world remained still and motionless.

* * *

" _I really don't understand you… Why is it that you hate them so? What have they done so wrong to incur your wrath?"_

" _They're weak, inferior beings, brother. They take everything for granted. They can be easily crushed like the little bugs that they are. But most importantly, they're flawed. Horrifically flawed."_

" _Are we so perfect ourselves Raum?"_

" _We are better than them! In every way, shape and form! We're smarter! More powerful! More enduring! More capable! What can they do?! What are they capable of that we aren't?!"_

" _Change."_

" _Change..?"_

" _Moreso easily than we are. We are ancient. We follow the ways of old to our liking and our discretion. But after Him, we decided to follow his example. I too once thought like you. What are they worth? And how can we change? He showed me how. It's why I do the things I do. Why I try to keep the peace between all despite your tantrums and rather unsavory actions. There is something better for us too. Not just them."_

" _And I should stop because of that? They're fragile! Easily breakable!"_

" _That may be so, but...there is a beauty to their inferiority, their fragility. You may not see it now...but I'm sure sometime in the future, you will. And when you do...you'll come to understand as well."_

" _Understand what?"_

" _The beauty in their fragility, their weaknesses, their flaws...does it not make you sometimes wish to take up arms for their sake?"_

 _He grew silent. He had no retorts to give his brother._

" _You too will one day find something to protect. And when you do...you too will understand why I do what I do. Why He did what he did before us. And...why that boy you fight does the same…"_

* * *

"Papa!"

Her plea was heard by him. But it was nearly silent, almost as though he were deaf. He moved the hand clutching his chest where his heart now beat, moving towards his face to touch the side of his face. It felt wet. These were...tears…

The Beowolf had pounced, ready to devour its prey.

"Papa!"

He heard her this time, only more clearly. Raum spun around and pointed his finger towards the Beowolf, his index finger bent as four small streams of his Aura focused to his fingertip to quickly charge up a sphere of his Aura. And just as quickly, he straightened out his finger and shot out a small shot of Aura that penetrated the creature of Grimm's body. It's entire body quickly expanded and exploded in the next second.

Blood had painted the alleyway. But surprisingly enough, little of it reached the little Faunus wolf girl as she had her arms raised defensively, her eyes closed shut. A small amount of black blood had tainted her already filthy and ragged clothing, a smudge of the blackened blood located on her left cheek.

She opened her eyes to see no harm had befallen her. Her vision was still blurry from all the crying, forcing her to rub her eyes. When she could see again, she found that Raum had stood before her in all of his imposing glory. And she looked up at the Dark being, eyes still seemingly full of wonder.

She backed away slightly to allow him some space as he knelt down to her level. And so it was that the two simply stared at one another, doing nothing. Saying nothing. Unsurprisingly, the child made her move first. Even so, it still surprised the Dark Entity greatly. She drew closer to him and reached out to him with her little hand. Raum simply stood still and studied her actions closely, watching her hand grow closer. What she did next surprised him even more than he already had been.

Her little hand gently wiped away the tears on his face. He didn't even realize he was still crying slightly. When she had finished, she giggled to herself, something he didn't expect to warm his heart so easily. Her large wolf ears fluttered slightly as she reached out with both hands and grabbed hold of his head, hugging it as she nuzzled her face against his. He felt...embarrassed slightly.

"Look…"

She let go of his face and looked him in the eyes, almost as if she clearly understood that he wanted to say something and have her listen closely. He looked away from her, possibly feeling shame from earlier actions. And strangely enough, it seemed as though she understood this. She immediately grabbed hold of his face with of her tiny hands and forced him to look directly in the eyes with an affirmative "hmph".

She was full of surprises.

"I'm… I'm...sorry… About before I mean… You asked for my help...and I abandoned you. And today...only just a few moments ago...you called to me again. And again, I almost abandoned you like the last time… But you...you did something… I don't know what, but… I just can't find the words to describe it really. Whatever it was I...feel different. Better. A lot better than I've felt for numerous millennia now…"

She tilted her head to the side innocently, listening to him more intently.

"My point is… I may not be your actual father. Despite you calling me that over and over again… My point is, I may not be your actual father. But you can damn well be sure that I will always take care of you from now on and be there for you. And...I will never abandon you. That much I can promise you. Can you do the same?" He said sticking out his hand and his pinky.

She seemed confused.

"I don't know… I've...heard normal people do this sort of thing… So...I thought this was appropriate. Or something like that. People still do this, yes? I wouldn't know really. My 'people skills' are 'rusty'."

The cute little creature raised a hand to her chin as her wolf ears folded against her head, as if she were trying to process and understand his words. She gasped suddenly as her wolf ears perked up again, as if she had just thought of something, her tail whipping about happily as she giggled to herself, reaching out to him and constantly clenching and unclenching her hands. This told the Dark Being she wanted something.

"What is it?" He said lowering his hand.

It wasn't as clear as she thought it was. So she thought again, and another idea came to mind to express what she wanted. She patted her face twice with both hands before extending her arms to him once again.

"You want me to come closer?" Asked the Dark being while the girl nodded twice with an affirmative "hmph".

He did as requested and let the little one take possession of his head as she drew him in closer, eventually close enough so that she could give him a smooch on the cheek. Needless to say, he was embarrassed by her action just now, evidenced by the fact his face reddened suddenly. No living being has done this to him before. The fact a mere child had been the first to do so embarrassed him slightly.

It almost seemed as though she took satisfaction in embarrassing him. But in her own way, she had just conveyed to him that she was putting her complete trust in him now, accepting him as he was despite their previous encounters. She knew he wouldn't abandon her. The Dark being himself knew the same fact.

"Alright then. You're in my care now and...well...frankly...I'm in yours as well."

She giggled to herself and hugged his leg as her tail whipped about happily.

"Now then, let's go."

He lowered his hand to her so that she could grab his. This was something people did, right? Raum attempted to walk forward but soon halted himself when he noticed the young one was barely moving. Her legs were shaking. Was she afraid? No. He took note of the condition of her knees. She was in pain. Yet regardless, she tried her best walking forwards despite her struggle.

"Good grief…"

Raum let go of her hand and grabbed the young wolf by the back neckline of her shirt, lifting her up in the air in front of him. She looked at him with a sad pout, as if she were frustrated with herself.

"Don't be frustrated over something as small as that."

He then moved her behind him and dropped her atop his shoulders, her little legs dangling over his broad shoulders as her hands and chin rested atop the nearly spikey, messy, black hair of the Dark being. She felt a warmth that she never really felt before. Truthfully, even Raum didn't think he was capable of a such a thing. She took comfort in this new source of warmth, nuzzling her face in his hair. Yet again the Dark being felt an embarrassment that he never thought was possible before now. But...it was welcome.

Raum made moved out of the alleyway to continue down the street and make his way to his apartment. If he was going to leave Vale, he needed to gather somethings first, as well as take care of the little one. Which reminded him that he needed to get things for the young girl. Food for instance and definitely a new set of clothes.

He picked up the bag he left in the street, eyeing the numerous bottles of scotch inside. The Dark being stood silent, his gaze almost piercing through the bottles of alcohol as the young wolf Faunus stared in confusion. Raum moved his head up slightly so he could glance at the young one resting atop his head. It only took a second to decide.

Without warning, Raum suddenly stood up and tossed the bag high up into the sky and stuck out his right hand and index finger, aiming for the bag. Four streams of his Aura focused towards the fingertip of his bent finger to form a sphere of the very same Aura. When he straightened out his finger, a short burst beam shot out and hit the bag, creating a decent sized explosion in the night sky.

The little one looked above and gasped in amazement, as if she had seen fireworks go off. She looked down at him with an expression some form of puzzlement, as if she were asking why he had done this. And like all other instances, he seemingly understood what she meant to express.

"It was about time I kicked the sauce anyway…"

* * *

When he had reached home, Raum have the young wolf Faunus a bath. She really needed it since she practically lived on the street before he came along. On their way home, he had stopped at a nearby clothing store for children to "take" some dresses for her that were dark blue, as well as shoes, socks and other clothing necessities for her.

It wasn't like they needed it at the moment with the Grimm attack happening currently throughout the city. Thankfully, the Grimm had ignored him completely the entire time, simply looking in his direction before turning and leaving. Be it either luck or fear of the Dark being, Raum's journey so far was less troublesome.

Washing the young wolf in the bath was rather tedious considering she kept playfully splashing the Dark being with her large wolf tail. Despite the very small amount of frustration it brought, Raum found it rather...cute. He didn't entirely hate it.

He took the blow dryer to her, making sure to be careful of her wolf ears. What was particularly entertaining experience was drying her tail, since it was very poofy after drying it with the blow dryer, a situation he fixed when he neatly combed the fur of her tail, and soon combing her messy black hair. It was a bit straighter now, but was still fairly messy.

Knowing he did all that he could, he immediately set her on the countertop in the kitchen and got her dressed into one of the dark blue dresses she was very fond of, moving on to her socks next and then shoes. She was all set. Actually, there was still one matter to take care of.

Raum grabbed hold of the top of the young wolf Faunus' head and spun her around to face, all the while she smiled.

"I don't suppose you have a name?"

She looked distressed, evidenced by the fact her wolf ears folded against her head as her eyes darted back and forth, as if she were trying to remember.

"We'll just assume you don't. Which means I have to give you a name."

She stood up and proudly placed her hand on her hips, giving the Dark being her trademark "hmph", possibly to express confidence that he would select a good name for her.

"How about brat?"

She pouted at him.

"I was kidding. Give me a sec."

He sat down in a chair and tried accessing the internet on his scroll. Communications were down, as well as connectivity. That wasn't a good sign.

"Shit… Well that didn't- Ow!"

He turned his head to find the young girl tugging on his check, glaring at him.

"What are you..?! Are you serious?! You're doing this because I swore?!"

She nodded.

"Ugh… Give me a break… Fine! Sorry! Can you let go now? Please?"

She looked off to the side, almost as if she were pondering the idea. She nodded to herself twice before letting go, as if she agreed to the idea.

"First I quit drinking, now I have to give up cursing… You're making me do a lot of unnecessary things you know?"

She tilted her head sideways, giving him a confused glance.

"Right… I guess you wouldn't understand why I did that without telling you… Truthfully…"

He paused for a moment. It was difficult to say what he was going to say next. Mainly because he's never had to say something like it before in his life, which also made him slightly embarrassed to say it given who he is.

"Truthfully...now that...you and I are together...and now that you're under my care…I...I want to devote as much time to you and your needs as much as possible. And drinking...and apparently swearing will get in the way of that. S-So… So what I'm saying is be grateful. I gave up a favorite pastime of mine so I can give you my one hundred and ten percent. Got it?"

The young Faunus girl looked up towards the ceiling, pondering what action she should use to describe her understanding. It came to her a second later. She stood up at attention and saluted him. This earned a stifled chuckle from the Dark Entity, who thought of her display as rather cute, rubbing the top of her head continuously as she giggled to herself, her wolf tail whipping about happily.

"Now then...your name...let's see…"

Raum leaned back in his chair, sifting through his brain of countless names he's seen over the millennia. The young girl sat flat on her stomach, resting her chin in her hands while playfully kicking her feet back and forth, her tail still constantly whipping about as she stared at him while smiling.

It only took him a minute to figure out something. But he wanted to do it in a way that would seem slightly silly, simply for the sake of entertaining the little one. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"From henceforth, you will forever be known as her royal fluffiness Irene! Are there any objections?!"

Her tail whipped about at an even quicker pace as she quickly stood up and shook her head twice.

"Good…"

Irene's stomach soon growled, the young girl shying away as if she were embarrassed.

"I'd guess you'd be hungry… You probably didn't eat all too much while on the streets, huh?"

She still looked rather embarrassed.

"There's no shame in it. From now on, you get to eat as much as you want. Not too much though, otherwise you'll get fat. Got it?"

She nodded her head up and down.

"Good."

Raum got up from his chair and went to the fridge opening before staring blankly inside. He still had his stash of scotch that filled up the entirety of the fridge, the only item that passed for "food" that was in his fridge being a loaf of bread.

"Great start Raum… Great start…you damn idiot…"

One more time he needed to steal before leaving Vale. Food suitable for Irene.

Checking the cabinets, he found he had peanut butter and grape jelly.

"PB and J sound good?"

The mention of PB and J made her drool as she nodded her head up and down excitedly.

"Alright then. PB and J it is."

And so the Dark Entity would go a toast four slices of bread and make two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, one for Irene, and the other for himself so he could enjoy it alongside her and vice versa.

For the first time in what seemed to be never, he was happy. Truly and legitimately happy. And it was all because of this little girl that refused to call him anything else besides "papa." He was never a father. He never even thought of being a father. But now, from the moment he took Irene off the streets, Raum vowed to himself that would make sure to be the best damn father he could be, all for her. And he would never leave her side.

* * *

Raum had just finished gathering the last of non-perishable food for Irene, summoning forth his trunk and stuffing the food inside along with an assortment of other things she'd need. Extra clothes and shoes, story books and learning books, the non-perishable food, and so forth. That took up half the space in his trunk. The other half was devoted to his own personal effects despite not having all that much. Not that it'd matter to him really.

"Okay… I think it's safe to say this store is officially out of this...sauce of apples thanks to you. You really like this stuff huh?"

She nodded with affirmative "hmphs". That, and a fourth of the trunk being full of applesauce was evidence enough she enjoyed it. What was so special about this sauce made from apples? He had to know and know. For him, it was urgent. He grabbed a pack that made the "sauce of apples" drinkable through usage of a small, plastic neck with a screw off cap. Wasting no time, the Dark Entity screwed off the cap and consumed the package of applesauce immediately. He was very satisfied with the taste.

"I can see why you like it so much. Here." He said grabbing another applesauce pack and twisting off the cap, handing it to Irene.

The young wolf happily took the pack from his hands and slowly went to work consuming it as she sat atop his shoulders yet again.

"Don't spill any. Although this stuff tastes great, I wouldn't want any in my hair anytime soon."

He didn't know if she paid attention or not to that. She was clearly in her own world, devouring her pack of applesauce very slowly.

"Right… Now then-"

Raum heard a roar behind him as he exited the remains of the shop, turning around to find the source of the unwanted noise. A pack of thirty or more Beowolves. Ten Ursai at most. A few dozen Creeps. And finally, two Deathstalkers. This small regiment of Grimm stood between him and leaving the city. He sighed.

"And here I thought they'd have some common sense as to not mess with me anymore. But then again, only a rare few of their kind actually care to learn. Since you're all eager to die, allow me to help you with your request."

Raum stuck out his right arm and pointed his right index finger at the mass of Grimm, keeping the finger bent slightly as four streams of his Aura converged to his fingertip, forming a small spehere of energy.

"Watch 'papa' be totally cool."

He paused a moment as the sphere continued charging.

"I can't believe I just said that."

He soon shrugged his shoulders and looked back towards the charging army of Grimm, ready to unleash his technique.

"Fade To Black...Regis Exitium."

Instead of a small burst stream of Aura, this time, he discharged a massive beam of black Aura outlined in dark green, that when discharged, gave off a chilling sound resembling hundreds of ghostly wails, screaming in agony. The beam immediately crashed into the masses of Grimm, decimating their center force in the blink of an eye before the rest were consumed by a massive explosion of the same Aura. Uniquely colored Aura and massive gouts of fire filled the night sky as strong tremors traveled through numerous city blocks away from the epicenter of the explosion.

Everything came to a sudden halt, but the flames that were a result of the mass destruction remained, burning away what little remains were left of the Grimm.

Raum looked up at Irene, who stared at the raging flames in awe as she rested her chin atop his head.

She then giggled and pointed her finger at the epicenter of the attack and yelled in her tiny voice "Boom!".

Raum didn't understand why, but this made him laugh a great amount after she said this.

"Right...boom… Heheha…"

He then reached up and began scratching underneath Irene's chin, her dark blue eyes slowly close as her small mouth gradually fell open slightly. She was very much enjoying this given the fact her tail whipped fairly quickly.

"Well...let's see where the road takes us from here little one."

* * *

"We traveled, I killed a few giant monsters, yadi yadi yada. And now we're here."

Raum actually took the time to look at everyone's expressions. He was most surprised by Dante and Ciel's reaction. They were literally moved to tears.

"That… That was such a heartwarming story!" Said Ciel tearfully as she cuddled Irene, holding on to the young wolf Faunus tightly.

"I was...so moved…" said Dante just as tearfully.

Raum couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Two of his previous greatest enemies were really moved by his story, the young immortal moreso dramatically moved more than his Kitsune partner.

"I...really did not think such a small thing would make you change so easily…" said Inuba.

"You say that as if you've had faith in the idea I might be like this one day, little fox…"

"Your last battle with Master somewhat inspired the idea. Your actions, your words… I thought, 'Maybe he is capable of change after all. Even if Master doesn't see it entirely.' And here you are. Completely changed. And all it took was this sweet child." She finished playfully tickling the young wolf Faunus, who gladly enjoyed the attention.

"I honestly didn't think you had it in you. I mean...you were kinda a real jerk. And that's putting it nicely with nice words." Said Dante.

"Oh really?" Asked Raum slightly irritated.

"I could use other, more colorful words if you'd like."

"Please don't fight you two. There's no need for it anymore. What happened in the past happened. You had your differences but now no longer do so. So in my opinion, I think it best we align our interests and work together. Sir Raum, you currently have no other goals or interests besides taking care of Irene, yes?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"If you ally yourself with us, we will not only have more man power, but all of us can help with taking care of Irene. That, and you will be a great help to us on our journey. We'd be more than happy to have you with us if you're willing to put aside your past grievances with my Master. And Master would be more than happy to do the same. Right?"

The young immortal sighed. His Kitsune partner did make valid points through and through. It was hard to argue against her at this point. It was hard to argue against Inuba period. Which is one of the reasons he's only won one argument against her ever.

"Alright then… Thanks to partners excellent insight, I'm willing to bury the hatchet between us if you are. You've definitely changed, I can see that much on my own. To be honest, because of this, I have a lot more respect for you than I previously did…"

Dante raised his left hand up to Raum, who stood there staring at it. He looked to Irene, who had also been staring at him. She giggled and nodded her head twice. That was all he needed as he took Dante's hand and shook it.

"So then...what's first on our to do list?"

* * *

 **(Omake, "Tricks", by me)**

"I still can't believe how adorable she is!" Said Ciel as she was tickling Irene.

"I agree. She is quite entertaining to see so joyous." Spoke Inuba as she played with the young wolf Faunus' ears, much to her delight as she giggled happily at the attention and love she was receiving from the older girls.

"When are you going to start educating her?" Asked Dante.

"Soon enough. I got all the children's books I need for educating her and enough story books to keep her entertained. Plus I have stories of my own."

"So you haven't taught her anything in six months?"

"I have. Maybe not what you're thinking exactly, but I have."

"So..?"

"She knows some tricks."

"Tricks?"

"Yep. Watch. Irene."

The young wolf Faunus stopped what she was doing and stood straight at attention.

"Shake with the fox."

Irene gave an affirmative "hmph" and quickly spun around to face Inuba with a serious expression, then grabbed hold of the Kitsune's hands and shook it numerous times before letting go, resuming her play session with two.

"You're teaching her dog tricks?"

"No… I'm just teaching her tricks simply for my amusement. And others really."

"Really?"

"Yup. But you haven't seen anything yet. Watch this. Irene?"

Yet again the young girl snapped to attention.

"Bark."

In the next second, she raised her little arms up into the air and wore a rather mischievous look on her face as she said, "Rawr!" with her cute, tiny voice.

Ciel had to cover her face with her hands to contain her squeal at this display of adorableness. Even Inuba giggled to herself, soon accompanied with the giggling laughter of the younger child.

"Now growl."

Irene's eyes suddenly narrowed as she lowered her gaze slightly and balled her little fists, letting out a mewling growl that nearly shattered the cuteness scale.

Everyone nearly died from this display. Dante clutched his chest, feeling as though he was going to have a heart attack from the cuteness overload he just experienced.

"I'm going to have so much fun with this…" said Raum as he smiled deviously.

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 2)**

"Howdy folks! Ciel and Leo here back to bring you another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia!" said Ciel.

"We all hoped you all enjoyed Halloween. Thanksgiving's just around the corner, and soon after that-"

"It'll be Christmas!" shouted Ciel enthusiastically.

"But we can save Christmas for later. Think we can get Inuba to make us some Pumpkin pie?! Her cooking is heavenly after all!"

"We'll have to ask her when we see her. But Ciel, we aren't here to talk about food, we're here to-"

"Educate the masses on all existing Semblances of certain people and their current capabilities, I got it. So who are going to talk about today?"

"Why not Ms. Rose's Semblance?"

"Are you saying that because she's big brothers' girlfriend?"

"No, she just has a particularly interesting Semblance. Especially now after the duration of the six months."

"Uhuh, sure. I'll believe that when pigs fly."

"But-"

"Shut up. Since Leo wants to talk about Ruby's Semblance, we'll do exactly that. You first."

"Right. Well, let's start with the basics first."

The large monitor behind the twins turned on, presenting images of Ruby in combat whilst using her Semblance.

"Ms. Rose's Semblance allows her to dash with unnatural speed in whatever direction she chooses at the cost of Aura. We've previously said that our older brother Dante is capable of keeping up with Ms. Rose when using her Semblance, but if she pushed herself more while using it, Ms. Rose definitely outmatches our brother in terms of speed. In fact, Ms. Rose is so fast that she sometimes gives off the illusion of teleporting. Even more fascinating, she also has the ability to use her Semblance midair to create powerful whirlwinds that can suck in and knock away objects and foes caught by it, as demonstrated in the food fight between her team and team JNPR."

"Brother told me about that. He said it was awesome. The food fight I mean. Anyway, over the period of six months, Ruby definitely had greater control over her Semblance, evidenced by the fact she can use it to repeatedly change directions midair and attack at hyper dimension speeds! Okay, not hyper dimension speeds, but fast enough that it's freakin hard to keep track of her. Probably the coolest part of her Semblance I've seen yet is that she can dematerialize into three separate clusters of petals which can then flow around an opponent before reforming!" said Ciel.

"I mean, It doesn't match my ability to teleport, or stop time for a minute, but hey, it works." said Ciel as she was vanishing and reappearing instantly in different locations on the stage, stopping and leaning her elbow against Leonard.

"You do like to brag a lot don't you?"

"Only when I'm right."

Despite what my sister says, let's continue. By now, ms. Rose has increased her ability to pick up and carry someone, as demonstrated with her pair attack with ms. Valkyrie on the Geist. Another ability she's improved is her ability to encircle the air, creating a rather strong vortex. Previously it was on a smaller level, but she is now capable of enveloping her enemy in a tornado-like rush of air to completely throw them off. In short, ms. Rose's Semblance is a fairly versatile Semblance that works really well in combat situations as well as situations where a strategic retreat is required in order to re-evaluate and re-engage the enemy. Given time, I'm sure it'll evolve even further and become even more powerful."

Ciel grinned mischievously before speaking to her twin.

"Hey Leo..."

"Yes?"

"You know how Ruby leaves behind a trail of rose petals when she uses her Semblance?"

"What about it?"

"Think one day she'll 'leave a trail' of those petals to a bedroom for big brother?" she said raising her eyebrows suggestively while nudging him with her elbow.

"C-Ciel!"

"What? I'm just saying. It's a viable strategy. Anyway, we'll see you all next time for Thanksgiving! Catch ya later peeps!"

* * *

 **You know...Ciel isn't wrong about that last part at all...**

 **A-Anyway, exciting chapter this time huh? We get Raum, one of the Four Dark Entity Kings back as well as the cute and cuddly Irene! Strange how one child can change a being filled with hatred over the millennia, huh? Previously, Raum had no real focus since coming to Remnant. Now he does. Protect that sweet and adorable child while also trying to be a father to her.**

 **I leave you with one more thing to ponder. Irene simply wasn't put in for my own and your amusement. She has a purpose too. Her and Raum's meeting wasn't simply/entirely up to fate. No... It's much more. Like all my characters I introduce and use throughout my story, each has a purpose, as well as a goal and motive. Now then...with this in mind...what is Irene's purpose?**

 **Now then, I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope to see you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Abyss Stares Back

**Heya guys, welcome back for another week of Veil of the Aether! I really don't have much to say this time around, except that it's gonna be a little bloody. You are forewarned. Let's begin.**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Abyss Stares Back

"We're resting up in there? What if we're not welcome?" Asked Raum as he, Dante and the other three walked towards the city gates.

"We'll try convincing them." Said Dante.

"What if they want to take my stuff?"

"What could you possibly have that they-"

He paused, realizing his error.

"Stupid question. Forget I asked. There's plenty of contraband you'd have that they'd love to confiscate."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying some of the stuff you have in that trunk of yours is knowledge not meant for human eyes and minds, and tools not meant for human hands. Items far beyond their comprehension. And I'm not talking about the applesauce. I'm sure you've learned a few manners along the way because of Irene, so please don't do anything dumb and get us kicked out."

"Why assume I'm the one who's probably going to get us kicked out? Why can't it be you for once?"

"Because I'm a model citizen. In most cases at least. You're getting there but you're still rough around the edges since you're still practically new to this whole 'human' deal. I'm just helping you out as one ally to another."

Raum simply sighed as he hung at the back of the group, Ciel and Leo taking the middle while Dante and Inuba took the front.

"Is there need to be even the tiniest bit rude to Sir Raum, Master? Considering I was there for the entirety of it, I understand your previous history with him has been rather... unhealthy. But he has changed."

"I don't doubt he's changed Inuba. But...even as forgiving as I am now, it's still hard for me to accept all of it given the pain he put me through. I can't simply forget or put that aside. It'll take some time."

"In the case of others, you trust them fairly easily."

"That may be true, but that's when they haven't attempted to kill me and my friends at first. I understand where you're coming from. Really, I do. But as enemies long ago, we hated each other's guts immensely. We'd go out of each other's way to screw over the other, him moreso than me. History like that doesn't simply disappear."

"I never said that it would Master. I'm only suggesting that...you try harder in Sir Raum's case."

"I will. It'll just take some time is all I'm saying."

For a city hidden from all the rest, it was fairly huge. A small castle city if the young immortal had anything to say about it. Marble colored stone walls that reached at least five stories. Cannons were stationed at each wall and tower along with all sorts of military artillery, some of it Atlas tech that Dante recognized. The castle city's walls spanned for miles, reaching the river that was spoken of. The walls even reached the massive hills in the distance. Security stations were found in between cannon stations, most likely to survey the area. And given the Atlas tech that was utilized, they must have had sensors that would warn them of a Grimm attack. This place was definitely well guarded.

The group finally made it to a pair of massive wooden doors that spanned three stories high, the door adorned with intricate metallic patterns.

"Even if the people are friendly, this place still gives the creeps each time." Said Ciel staring at the doors.

Dante understood his sisters unease. He felt it too. Something hung in the chilly, silent air. It felt familiar. But most importantly he felt something else deep within the walls. It felt...alive...and hungry… It was calling to him. Reaching out to the young immortal in the form of silent whispers that blocked out all other noise. The whispers of numerous voices overlapped with one another, making incoherent sentences that reduced it all to a mad scrabble to find proper words.

"Master?"

The whispers faded. So did the darkness that clung to him. His head snapped to attention and quickly looked in the direction of his partner, who gazed at him with concern in her eyes.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah… I was just… I blanked out for a second. My bad."

 _What was that? Someone… Something… It was calling out to me…_

"Hey brat." Said Raum.

Dante turned to meet the Dark Entities gaze.

"Eyes up. They're opening the gates."

The teen heard the massive wooden doors creak and groan as they slowly opened, making enough space for a squad of three highly armored knights to pass through. Their armor had intricate, waves patterns etched into the metal and was tightly formed.

Their armor had some form of technology implemented due to how the armor was structured and how the knights moved with ease. The knight with the flowing black cape and black armor was presumably the captain, given that he was the only one to wear a cape as well as the extra decorations his armor had the other two knights in grayish armor didn't.

The two normal knights had large kite shields attached to their backs and sheathed longswords attached to the left side of their hips. The captain had no shield, only a massive black Greatsword at the right side of his back, tilted slightly towards his right arm. Each piece of gear was magnetically attached to their sets of armor.

"Are you the leader of the group?" Asked the captain.

"Um, yes, that would be me."

"State your name and your business for entering our territory."

"I'm Dante. I was a Huntsman in training at Beacon Academy in Vale up until six months ago when it was attacked. My group and I are traveling to Haven after picking up a lead on who may truly be responsible for the attack. We were just passing through and hoping to take shelter inside your city for a day or two."

"One moment."

The captain nodded his head towards his soldiers as he turned away, touching the side of his helmet. The knights kept watch of Dante and his group.

"Sir. Yes sir. I have a group of five seeking refuge for two or so days. Nothing all too important, they're simple travelers really. Yes, they're Huntsmen and Huntresses, or at least the equivalent. Yes sir. Understood."

The knight captain approached the group of five shortly after.

"You've been permitted to enter the city. In fact, Sir Friede has personally invited you to the castle for the duration of your stay. Rarely do people pass by that are Huntsman or Huntresses. He's taken a recent interest in them and the work they do when it comes to saving lives. And for that, he would like to give you his thanks for your hard work and dedication. Therefore, he extends an invitation to you and your allies."

"Oh… Well…that's awfully nice of him. Thanks?" Said Dante.

"Your thanks isn't required. Follow us closely and we will escort you to the castle."

The captain turned and nodded towards the knights as they walked back towards the gates.

"Well he was nice…" said Dante.

"Dude, of course he is! We got invited to the castle! We stayed at an inn last time, now the castle?! Bro, I'm starting to think you're some sort of good luck charm! We should bring you everywhere!"

"I did clean out a casino one time…"

"What?! For real?!"

"It was part of a mission where we had to draw attention to ourselves in order to draw out a Dark Entity that gambled with lifespan. Only the best of the best could compete and play so...Master took it upon himself to clear out the Casino's funds. At least the amount that was allowed…" said Inuba.

"H-How much did you win..?"

"Somewhere around 50 million dollars I think… Or was it 75 million..?"

"W-What the heck?! What did you do with the money?!"

"Kept ten percent of it. So about 5 million. The rest I donated to various charities and research institutes worldwide."

"Heh… Our brother the philanthropist." Said Leo.

"It's not like I have a need for all that money. I won that amount simply because it was what was needed. Besides, money isn't all that important to me anyway. Sure, I'll make enough and keep enough by almost any means to survive. But I don't need a truckload. Besides, what would I do with all that cash?"

"You could-"

"Ciel, I'm going to stop you there. I have a bad feeling about what you were about to say."

"You're no fun sometimes big brother…" said Ciel.

"Let's keep following them."

* * *

"Wow… This place looks amazing…" said Dante as he looked around.

Inuba and the others followed close behind as the young immortal himself followed the knights ahead of him.

"The founders of the city wished to for it to resemble something of a castle city to give the place a touch of modern and a touch of old. But they prioritized safety just as much as looks. The castle walls are actually made of steel while being layered in stone blocks." Spoke the knight captain.

"Doubled up on defense. Not a bad idea. Those cannons do you any good?" Asked Dante.

"The cannons shoot large, explosive shells that split apart. Each shell splits up into five warheads filled with a concoction of fire and lightning and dust for maximum and effective widespread destruction. Sometimes we shoot shells that don't split up for maximum impact. Those shells are enough to blow apart a Deathstalker."

"You guys sure did your homework. How many Grimm attacks do you suffer from on average?"

"Once a week. Sometimes two if they're feeling bold enough."

"Once or twice a week? You guys must be pretty popular with them…"

"Apparently…"

By now, they had all reached the interior halls of the large castle. The inside definitely resembled that interior of an old castle. Of course, it had its touch of modernization, the electrical lighting for instance. The walls had numerous paintings and we're a shade of dark grey mixed with blue. Stopping before a grand door, which had to be the throne room, Dante noticed a large portrait overhead of it. It seemed to be of the family.

He took note of the two younger children. Both had light brown hair. The brother had short hair that was slightly messy and parted towards the right side of his face. His sister had long hair that reached her shoulders that was neatly combed down. They both had light brown eyes that seemed to shine in the portrait.

The knight captain opened the heavy doors by himself and moved out of the way to allow Dante and the others to pass through. The throne room had numerous chairs surrounding the onyx black throne that was decorated with wavy patterns of intricate gold metal. There was a smaller throne-like seat next to the larger one.

The siblings were definitely older by now. The Jonathan Friede was close to Dante in age, if not the same age as him, sixteen. The same for sister, Maria, who by now had definitely matured. She was definitely an attractive girl with a well-developed body, more lithe than curvy really.

Dante couldn't help but take note of...certain things at times. It was just something he did. Sometimes to useful measures, other times...not so much.

Jonathan sat upon the larger throne and was reading a report along with Maria. That was until the two of them noticed Dante and the others. Jonathan practically sprang out of his seat and walked quickly towards them.

"Welcome, welcome! We've been expecting you!" He said reaching out with his right hand towards Dante.

The young immortal was practically baffled. Jonathan only now saw Dante's bandaged arm in the sling and panicked slightly.

"Forgive me! I didn't realize-!"

"No no, it's fine. You didn't have to apologize." Said Dante extending his left hand.

"I'm Dante. Nice to meet you."

"Jonathan Friede. At your service." He said shaking his hand. "Wait… D-Did...did you say your name was Dante..?"

"Um...yes..?"

"Woah~! No way! You're Dante?! The Dante?!"

 _Should I say no? I feel like I may have done something wrong and people have heard of it… Wait, if that's the case…what did I do?!_

"Maria! It's him! It's the White Swordsman Dante!"

"Eh?" Was all the teen could force out.

 _Okay...so I didn't do anything wrong… But still, White Swordsman? What's that about?_

"Oh~! And you must be his companion the White Fox! A pleasure to meet you too miss!" He said grabbing hold of Inuba's hand with both hands and shaking it up and down rapidly.

"Um...thank you..?"

"Brother please, they only just arrived. You can berate them with questions later if they wish to answer. After all, you've been on the road for sometime now I believe. Welcome to Ardien White Swordsman and friends. We're honored to have you here." Said Maria approaching the group, bowing to everyone else before bowing to Dante.

"J-Just Dante will be fine Ms. Fried. I'm not worthy of such praise. But I have to ask... White Swordsman?"

"A hero who has traveled from village to village, town to town performing wonders and miracles with his ally the White Fox! They assist the people with trivial matters and exterminate any and all Grimm they come across! Truly exemplary warriors befitting of the title as Huntsmen and Huntress!" Said Jonathan.

"Think I should start calling you White Fox?" Asked Dante as he nudged Inuba slightly.

"P-Please don't Master!" She said blushing furiously. "S-Such a name...is embarrassing...and you saying it... It makes me feel even more embarrassed…"

"Alright, I won't do that. Maybe…"

"M-Master!" She said in a hushed but embarrassed tone.

"Relax. I'm just teasing you." He said rubbing the top of her head.

Inuba had to hold her tail to prevent it from whipping about. She couldn't help it. She loved it when he rubbed her head.

"I'm assuming since you know me as the White Swordsman and White Fox, people have been talking about us?"

"Dude, seriously?! What about us?!" Said Ciel in a whisper.

"Don't be that upset Ciel. We've only worked alongside brother for more than a week now. We won't be as well known until later."

"Indeed they have. We have some of our people working in trade with other villages. Some of them were in villages you helped and others in villages you saved from Grimm incursions. They speak very highly of your actions." Said Maria.

"Truly an exemplary Huntsmen all should aspire to be!" Said Jonathan.

"I'm really not that amazing…"

"Is it true you can lift a Deathstalker by its tail using only one arm?!"

"W-Well…"

 _When did I do that?! Wait… I did do that! I did that two weeks ago and used that Deathstalker to sweep away all the other Grimm! People saw that?!_

"I-I don't quite remember that...but maybe it's a possibility..?" Said young immortal laughing awkwardly.

"You draw too much attention to yourself, Master…" said Inuba in a whisper.

"I think I might believe you from now on when you tell me that…"

"Please brother, can't you see he's trying to be modest? He's not one who enjoys bragging about his exploits." Said Maria.

 _Finally… Another person besides Inuba who understands! Bless you you kind woman! Bless you!_

"My apologies Mr. Dante… It isn't everyday we have the honor of meeting a Huntsmen of your caliber. The excitement went to my head. Please forgive me." Said Jonathan bowing to him.

"Don't trouble yourself over it! It's fine really! You don't need to bow or anything… Besides, I'm not an official Huntsmen yet. Neither is Inuba."

"But with your skill and Ms. Inuba, surely you are stronger than the vast majority of veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses, yes?"

"Again, not to brag or anything, but, sure..?"

"Regardless of reputation...we are glad you and your allies decided to rest within our walls Mr. Dante. We assure you that you and your compatriots will be safe however long you'll stay."

"We won't stay that long. But we have taken interest in your city since it's one we haven't seen or heard of before. So we should be here no more than two or three days."

"What wonderful news! That means you'll be able to attend the annual ball!" Said Jonathan.

"Annual ball?" Asked the young immortal.

"Yes. The ball is meant to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the city. It was a tradition our parents started, one that my brother and I wished to continue. If possible, we wish for all of to be able to attend."

"Lady Friede, we would be honored to attend. Unfortunately, we probably don't have the necessary clothes."

"No worries Sir Dante. We will accommodate you and your friends appropriately. First, we'll show you to your rooms and have the tailor take your appropriate measurements."

"T-Thank you for your kindness. We'll pay you back accordingly and-"

"Nonsense! Consider them as gifts for new friends."

"You're too kind Sir Friede. Thank you."

"Excellent! Now then, gentlemen, I have some business to attend to before the ball. I'll have Conner escort you to your rooms. Sister? Can you escort Ms. Inuba and the other girl to their rooms?"

"Of course brother."

"Excellent! I look forward to seeing you all tonight!"

Jonathan quickly left the room leaving the knight Conner and Maria with everyone else.

"Conner? Please help me escort them to their rooms and settle in. I will take Ms. Inuba and..?"

"Ciel." Responded the younger sibling.

"Thank you. I will take Ms. Inuba, Ms. Ciel and the little one to settle them in their rooms."

"Of course Lady Maria."

Conner was dressed in the same ornate armor that the knight captain that escorted the group into the city wore, only he had no helmet that covered his entire head. He had short red hair and blue eyes.

Raum glared at Maria, making her feel rather uncomfortable.

"Cut it out." Said Dante elbowing Raum in the side.

"Sorry, he's really possessive of his daughter. She's only two you see and he's basically new to the whole fathering thing. Because of that he's taking it as seriously as possible."

Inuba approached Raum and brought up her arms.

"It's alright. I'll take care of her." Said Inuba.

Raum hesitated. Letting others take Irene so easily? Especially in a place as strange this. He wasn't comfortable with the idea. He wasn't comfortable letting Irene out of his sight period. He was far more distressed in his mind than he was currently showing. But...if he knew anything, he knew for a fact Inuba would definitely take care of Irene as if she were her own child. He could trust her at least.

"Don't make me regret this, little fox." He said removing the sleeping Irene off his shoulders and handing her to Irene.

"I won't."

"Excellent then. If you'll follow me then." Said Maria as she went ahead of the group.

"Gentlemen." Said Conner.

* * *

The walk was lengthy as they ascended the castle steps. Conner was a few paces ahead, allowing Raum the privacy he needed. He quickened his pace in order to walk in between Dante and Leo.

"Hey...brat…" said Raum in a quiet voice.

"What is it?" Said Dante in an equally quiet voice.

"You felt that strange presence too, right?"

Dante sighed as his eyes moved to the floor, soon moving up to look at Conners backside.

"So I wasn't imagining it…"

"The two of you felt something?" Asked Leo.

"Some sort of presence deep within the castle. It felt...Dark…"

"And hungry." Added Raum.

"It called out to me too. I don't know why or what it is...but...I have a feeling these people are hiding something. Something they don't want us to know about."

"You don't trust them?" Asked Dante.

"No. I trust the sister a bit more, but the brother...he seemed strange. Despite him practically kissing your ass, something's not right with him."

"Jealous?"

"Not in the slightest. Look, I say as soon as we get to our rooms, we make up a shitty excuse for one of us and send that person out to investigate. Since it was only me and you who felt the presence, one of the two of us will go."

"I'll do it. But not tonight."

"Why not?"

"We're guests remember? Don't you think they'll quickly suspect us if either you or I disappear suddenly?"

"That may be true, but-"

"Here's what we'll do. We'll go to the ball tonight, and tomorrow night, I'll go investigate myself. If I find anything tomorrow night, I'll call everyone. But for now, subtly is our best option. Besides, if it turns out our senses are going whacky for some sort of weird, non-threatening reason and we get caught, we'll be disrespecting them after they invited us in."

"I couldn't care less."

"I know. But you're part of our group now. And you need to act more human-like now with everyone, not just Irene. I'll admit one thing, your way is definitely quicker, no doubt about it. But it doesn't take much precaution in the case of unknown factors. Hence why I say subtly is our friend. With subtly, there's a lesser chance of a screw up."

"Tch… Fine…"

"Look, I know what you're thinking. I'm not giving you orders. I'm just giving you suggestions to better yourself since I'm better and more experienced at this 'acting human' thing than you are. So from one friend to another, I'm just trying to give you pointers on how you should model yourself."

"Since when are we friends?"

"Since you joined our group unfortunately. I'm going to be honest with you. I still harbor resentment against you for the things you did. And honestly, I would've protested you joining us if it weren't for the fact you had Irene with you and if it weren't for Inuba vouching for you. So because of that, I'm trying to change my view of you and trying to help you as best I can. It's not going to be easy...but I'll try nonetheless. That means you have to try too."

Was he lecturing him? Was this child honestly lecture him? The audacity of it upset him greatly. But the more he thought and listened...the more he knew he was right.

"Fine… We'll do it your way."

"See? It's not so bad when you listen to others for once, huh?"

"Right in here gentleman. We'll send the tailors to you in a few minutes."

* * *

"Impressive miss Kitsukami… You have such smooth and peerless skin… Amongst other things, frankly, I'm quite jealous of you."

"Thank you Ms. Friede. B-But I'm not all that impressive…" said Inuba slightly embarrassed.

After settling into their more than glamorous and pristine rooms, Maria had invited Inuba and Ciel, along with Irene, to her room so they could prepare for the ball later tonight.

Maria's room definitely was one befitting a princess. The walls were painted a sky blue, the bed frame and other wooden furnishings pearl white. There was a small fireplace present as well that crackled and burned with a soft flame. It definitely resembled a room that, in a sense, resembled something out of a Victorian era that Dante had shown Inuba through the numerous history texts he had and used to educate her. All of it was impressive.

"You mustn't say such things Ms. Kitsukami! You are a stunningly beautiful woman! I would not be surprised if practically all the men were to ask for your hand in a dance tonight."

"Y-You really think so..?" Said the Kitsune softly as her face reddened slightly.

"Of course. Fox Fauna are a very rare sight in my opinion. I've only heard of them in stories my parents told me when they were alive. They always said that they were so breathtakingly beautiful. May I ask you something rather personal?"

"Yes..?"

"Do you have a special someone Ms. Kitsukami? Someone that you love?"

Inuba's ears perked up immediately while her fox tail became as straight as an arrow, soon whipping about rather quickly.

"W-Well… I...I…"

She was fumbling with her words, pressing her fingers together.

"I'll assume that as a yes then."

"Y-Yes…"

"May I ask who this special person is?"

She began muttering incoherently, trying to find a way to answer. Ciel smirked at this.

"She's in love with my older brother." Responded the younger sibling.

Inuba let out a silent squeal as her face became an even deeper shade of red, waving her hands at Ciel to stop.

"Your older brother..? Oh my! Do you mean Sir Dante?"

"Yup."

Inuba quickly covered her face with her hands to hide her embarrassment.

"I see, I see… How long have they been together?"

"They aren't together together if that's what you're asking. But they've known each other for years now."

"Years..? Have you not confessed your love for him?"

"Well… There's a teeny tiny problem with that. Okay, let's be honest, not teeny tiny. Pretty big problem."

"Problem..?" Asked Maria as she looked to Inuba for an explanation.

The Kitsune slowly removed her hands from her face and grabbed hold of her fox tail, nuzzling her face in it.

"Where do I begin..?"

* * *

"You actually look pretty great in that. You continuously surprise me." Said Dante.

Raum had finally stepped out from the walk in closet. He was dressed in a black satin stripe suit and dress pants, with a black tie that had diagonal grey stripes. Underneath the suit, he wore a dark green dress shirt and black oxford dress shoes.

"I feel ridiculous…" said the Dark Entity.

"Don't you ever take compliments?" Said the teen.

"Wasn't sure if it was."

"It is. Trust me on that. Who knows? Maybe some girls might ask you to dance with them."

"Do I have to..?"

"If you don't want to look like a jerk, yes, you do."

Dante was more or less dressed the same, only his black suit and dress pants did not have stripes. That, and he wore a grey dress shirt underneath. Leo more or less dressed the same as his older brother, only he wore a white dress shirt.

"You do know how to dance, don't you?" Asked Dante.

"Of course I do. What do you take me for? Some kind of idiot?"

Dante raised his hand and was about to answer.

"Don't answer that brat. Point is I know what I'm doing. I used to attend these things way back when just for show."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it. What about you Leo?"

"Ciel and I have watched enough television to know how to dance."

"Like television shows with Royal Balls and all that?"

"Pretty much. Like I said, we rarely had anything to do most days, so we decided on what we should personally learn. Dancing was one of them."

"So what about you? You gonna dance with that arm of yours?" Asked Raum.

"Well...it has been feeling better lately… Not 'good to go' feeling better. Just enough where the pain is manageable. I'll just leave it dangling and Shadow Skin it when I need it."

"Are you sure that's wise brother?"

"Shadow Skinning my right arm only halts the progress of its recovery. It doesn't actually set it back or make it worse. It only slightly adds more time. Of course, my arm is going to feel like I stuck it in a barrel of boiling water, but it'll be fine." Said the young immortal as he put on the dress coat.

"And what are we going to do about you-know-what?" Asked Raum.

"If I get a chance, I'll slip out of the party and track it down. Anyone besides our group asks where I went, tell them I didn't feel well and went outside to get fresh air. Or something if the equivalent. If I don't get a chance during the ball, I'll try for after when everyone is asleep. But for now, let's worry about the ball."

* * *

"I see… Your situation is rather...complicated..." Said Maria as she just finished with her dress.

Her dress was rather simple. A purple dress that patterns adorning it resembling roses with some light purple drilling adorning the bottom of the dress. She also wore light purple fingered gloves that reached all the way up to her elbow. For footware, she wore sparkling, light purple heels.

"Why not confess your feelings to him directly then?"

"If only it were so easy." Said Ciel with a sigh as she stepped out.

Her dress was simply a black and white spaghetti strap dress, the ends of the dress reaching her knees. For her footware, she wore black heels.

"What do you mean?"

"She's a sweet girl and kinda old fashioned. See, if my big brother does say yes, she doesn't want to seem like a shameless hussy that 'stole him away' or 'broke apart their relationship' or 'tempted him' to everyone that knows them."

"Then should she not speak to this Ruby Rose of the situation? I feel as though if she did, then-"

"If only the opportunity was present. They haven't seen each other for six months from what I heard."

"Oh dear… Six months? And this was after what happened in Vale?"

"Pretty much."

Ciel looked down and saw little Irene tugging on the end of her dress with her little hands, soon raising them both up to the older girl. Ciel nearly fainted at the sight of Irene in her cute dark blue dress as she lifted her up from the ground and raised her to face level, soon embracing the young wolf Faunus and nuzzling her face against hers, something Irene happily welcomed.

"I can see how that is a problem for you…"

Inuba had finally stepped out from the walk in closet. She looked dazzling and perfect in every sense of the words. Her dress was a straplees white dress that reached her shins and had numerous wavy patterns adorning it, almost like fire. The dress had a cut on the backside that nearly reached her waist. She wore white heels for footware.

"Heavens… You look spectacular Ms. Kitsukami…" said Maria as Ciel whistled.

"D-Do you really think so..?"

"Yup, ten out of ten indefinitely. Plus it puts some nice emphasis on your boobs. I'll bet you anything big brother is gonna have a hard time looking away!" Said the younger sibling giving the Kitsune a thumbs up.

Almost immediately Inuba raised up both hands to cover her chest.

"I agree. With how well endowed she is, this dress is practically perfect for her." Said Maria.

"I-I can't help but get embarrassed if you stare t-too much…"

"Aw lighten up! You'll be fine! You do want big brother to look at you, right~?" Said Ciel.

"W-Well… Y-Yes…"

"Then don't be afraid to show off a bit now and then!" She said patting her back.

"I'll head out first. Catch you guys in a bit! Come on you adorable little munchkin." Said Ciel as she left the room with Irene in her arms, whom the latter responded with an affirmative "hmph".

Inuba herself was about ready to leave until she was stopped by Maria.

"May I have a moment please?"

"O-Of course."

"Ms. Kitsukami...I won't say I entirely understand your situation. But I understand enough of it from the detailed explanation you and Sir Dante's sister gave me. May I be so bold as to give you my opinion?"

She nodded silently.

"I would implore you to take Sir Dante to the side later within the evening and confess your feelings to him."

"B-But…"

"I understand your concerns. But you should do so while you still can. You may never know when it might be too late. Forget what others may think of you or say about you."

Maria took Inuba's hands into her own, raising them up slightly.

"Do you truly love this man?"

She looked off to the side, slightly embarrassed but more than sure of her answer.

"Yes… I do. From the bottom of my heart."

"Then have no fears. Confess your love to him. Express the situation entirely. And I'm sure he will say yes to you."

She was right. If she did explain everything to him clearly, he would understand. He would more than likely say yes. Inuba made her decision. She wouldn't let fears overpower her. She would overcome them at least and finally express her feelings to the one and only man she has loved.

"Thank you Ms. Friede… You've given me courage… More courage than I've had in recent months. Thank you." she said.

"Your thanks isn't required. Now go. Enjoy your evening. And enjoy what's rightfully yours."

Inuba quickly left the room, waving to Maria while she waved back. When the Kitsune had closed the door, Maria let out a sigh of relief before moving to the nightstand where a picture of her mother and father lay. She picked up the small picture frame and stared at it.

"Mother… Father… I remember well what you said of our powers… That it must be used for good and only good. We must help the few first before we take on the hefty responsibility of helping the many. These new friends of mine…I consider them a blessing. And I hope to remain friends with them. Thank you for all that you have done and all you have given us."

* * *

Dante sat at a table, watching with a rather amused expression. He was indeed right. Many women had stepped forward to ask Raum to dance, despite his protests. He was on his fifth dance. His brother Leo remained the same with numerous of the younger girls that attended. Given his shyness around new people, and his overly polite nature, it was also quite and amusing sight to see.

Ciel on the other hand accepted no dance from any of the numerous boys that asked her. The only one worthy of her hand in a dance was Irene. She had asked Dante earlier, but he respectfully declined, to which Ciel responded by teasing him, asking if he was "saving himself for Inuba". He was slightly embarrassed and responded that wasn't the case.

Despite this, he happily watched from his seat as everyone was enjoying themselves.

"Oh? Sir Dante? Is that you?"

"Oh… Lady Friede…" said Dante as he stood and bowed.

"No need to bow."

She looked to his right arm.

"You're not wearing your sling."

"My arm was feeling better. Plus, it'd be a little bit unsightly wearing this to such a magnificent ball."

"You flatter me Sir Dante. But you needn't do harm to yourself for a simple reason such as this."

"No harm done Lady Friede."

"I see…"

"Have you seen Inuba anywhere Lady Friede?"

"I don't believe so…" she said looking around hurriedly.

"Ah, there she is." She said pointing her out.

Dante looked past Maria and took a glance. He was stunned when he saw Inuba. She looked amazing. Breathtakingly beautiful. His face actually reddened slightly.

When he took a closer look, it seemed as though Jonathan was "chatting her up" as they say. For some reason...the young immortal felt uncomfortable with this. No. That wasn't right. He actually felt...very annoyed. But why? Why did he feel so uneasy? Why did he feel so irritated? She was only conversing with him.

What happened next seemingly annoyed him even more. She was dancing with him. He didn't understand it. Why was he feeling this way? Where did this irritation come from? For a brief moment, the whites of his eyes, his sclerae, turned pitch black while his light sky blue irises turned pure white, giving off a faint glow. His Shadow Eyes were now present. That was until Maria Friede turned to face him.

"Sir Dante?"

"Hm?" He said snapping out of his trance.

"Would you perhaps indulge me with a dance?"

"A-A dance..?" He said with some confusion, earning a giggle from Maria.

"Yes, a dance. That is, if you wish to."

"No, I, I mean yes, I am honored that you would ask… Sorry, I'm a little out of it."

"No worries." She said extending him a hand.

Dante stared at it momentarily, before standing up. The next part was tricky. He Shadow Skinned his entire right arm underneath the sleeve of the suit and shirt, only his hand and arm wasn't armored with thin, segmented plating like it normally did. Not being able to move it effectively, he immediately took Maria's hand and began the dance. He thought she wouldn't realize, but Maria felt the difference between his hands. His right hand felt colder than his left. But it didn't bother her all too much.

"Your footwork is rather impressive Sir Dante."

"Really? Hmmm…"

"You don't think so?"

"Well, it's been a while since I've danced so formally. I thought I would've made a mistake or two by now."

"Nonsense. You're doing better than the vast majority of men would be capable of."

"You're far too kind Lady Friede."

The entire they danced, Dante occasionally glanced over at Inuba and Jonathan, somewhat glaring. The closer she was to him only served to irritate him even more, something he hid very well from his current dance partner.

"How long has it been since you've know Ms. Kitsukami?"

"Well, let's see…"

He had to think a moment. He met her when he was in the CGA, ten years old at the time. Given circumstances that happened in between…

"I'd have to say six years now. Close to seven."

Maria seemed to frown almost at his answer, something Dante didn't see since he took another glance over.

"You've worked together for a very long time then..."

"Pretty much. We've had our ups and downs throughout the years. Practically all the downs were my fault if I think about it clearly enough... It's been an interesting and...well...really fun partnership. I've never disliked a single moment."

"Then...it is safe to say she is someone...important to you then? Dare I say, precious?"

The young immortal couldn't help but feel as though he wanted to answer her, despite his first thoughts of skirting around it. It was as if he didn't really want to lie to her since she asked.

"She is. She's been with me from the beginning. She's been there for me through my best and worst moments. She's taken care of me, and has even gone above and beyond for me in that case despite me telling her it's unnecessary. Inuba is just...an amazing person overall. And it's highly likely that I wouldn't have been able to overcome some of the things I have without her."

A smile crept up on Maria's face.

"You have an amazing companion at your side Sir Dante. Please...continue to keep it that way."

"You needn't tell me twice."

The song ended, signaling the end of the dance. Dante and Maria bowed to one another simultaneously shortly after.

"Thank you for the dance Sir Dante."

"And thank you lady Friede."

The room full of people began clapping in unison, forcing the two to look around, Dante only noticing Inuba and Jonathan walking by.

"Hey, Inuba, did you-?"

She walked by, not even paying him any mind, with a blank stare about her. He was taken aback by this. Did...did she just ignore him? He didn't know what to say. His mouth opened, but no words came out. He… He didn't know what was happening. Did he feel...hurt by this? Not just hurt. He felt...pained by that.

"Dude, she totally ignored you. What'd you do?" Asked Ciel.

All he could do was slowly shake his head. He couldn't so much as say he didn't know why she ignored him. He wanted to go after her. Ask her why just ignored him and-

In the next second, the young immortals vision darkened as he heard a resounding, hungering growl echo through his head. The presence had returned. His vision returned to normal, and the growl subsided.

"I...I need to step out for a bit and...get some fresh air… I'll...I'll be back soon… Can you-?"

"I'll keep watch." Said Ciel

"Thanks…" he said softly as he grabbed hold of his right arm, making for the exit.

Dante managed to slip away unnoticed, walking down the dimly lit halls of the castle. The presence had reached out to him again. He needed to take his mind off of what happened. But...he couldn't help but feel a pain in his chest as he walked on.

* * *

One of the knights had taken a few glances on an outside balcony before entering back inside, possibly for a guard shift. Just as he entered back inside the structure, a white Aura Sword with a black outline silently hummed through the air with a soft, metallic tone, piercing the underside of the balcony. Not a second later, Dante appeared in a stream of black and white Aura where the Aura Sword was embedded, keeping a tight hold of the Aura Swords handle with his left hand as he hung in the air.

He quickly exhaled and took a few short breaths before planting his feet on the wall and kicking off it, removing the sword from the wall as he fell. He quickly tossed his sword down the castle until it hit a lower platform beneath the castle bridge. Dante yet again reappeared where his sword was imbedded, quickly looking around. When he determined he was clear, he hopped off the railing and landed on the platform, his Aura Sword shattering like glass into numerous pieces, the pieces disappearing immediately after.

Still wearing his suit, Dante quickly tugged down on the tie to loosen it up a bit, taking another quickly look around before moving forward and opening the small door. This part of the castle was different. The door opened a path to a stairway that led down into darkness. The young immortal took a deep breath before closing his eyes. When he reopened them, his Shadow Eyes were present. He was able to see in dark. His vision was now greyish in color, but all the corners, edges and gaps glowed and was highlighted in white.

Thankfully, as he walked the long dark, he couldn't feel the Aura Signature of any human or Faunua in the vicinity. As far as he knew, he was the only down there. That, and the dark presence that seemingly grew closer with each step he took. He eventually reached the end of the stairwell, which expanded into a large room. All was eerily silent. As he looked about the room, he saw nothing. There were only walls. That was until he got closer to the back wall of the room. His eyes highlighted a secret passageway, one the was easily opened by Dante as soon as he pushed it.

The door sank back further into wall before sliding into it, revealing a passageway to another room. It was then it hit him. His eyes widened as a foul, ghastly smell flooded his senses. It was a smell he knew all too well. The smell of blood. He stood there frozen, part of his mind still thinking about what happened earlier while part of it was concerned with what he would find further inside.

Should he go further? He didn't want to risk the chance of waiting if someone was further inside. But if that was the case, why couldn't he detect them along with the Dark presence? Or maybe…

He dreaded the thought of what he would find. He's seen it happen a few times during his career in the CGA. Even with how calm and composed he always was back then, he was always unsettled when he saw something like that.

He was hoping he wouldn't find something like that down here. But given the strong stench… The chances were high.

Time seemed motionless as he traversed the dark, almost non-existent. He didn't know how long he was down there. An hour maybe? Two hours?

He brought up the holographic display of his HoloScroll. It's been only twenty minutes. Twenty? Really?

He was shocked. Was he that unfocused at the moment?

After what seemed to be a few more minutes, he reached a large, metal double door. The foul stench seemed to be coming from inside. He rested his left hand on the top door, taking a few more breaths to calm himself down. Then, slowly pushed the door open. As soon as it was cracked open by even the slightest amount, he was awashed with the smell of blood. A foul, rancid stench permeated the air. Death had made its home inside.

Walking inside, he saw different spatters of blood blanketing the floors and walls, blood that was both fresh and old. Cages. Cages adorned the sides of the path. There were people inside those cages. Young. Old. Even...children.

There were so many bodies. So many corpses. Each body had been chipped away at or brutalized so much so that the young immortal couldn't precisely distinguish between the corpses and very few living humans and Fauna trapped inside those cells.

Dante didn't to ask himself what he was seeing. He knew very well what this was. What was happening. The only thing he didn't know was why. Why were so many imprisoned in this torture chamber? What could they have all possibly done to deserve such cruelty, such evil to befall them?

Before he could think of moving, a strong chill swept through the room, and with it, the ghastly whispers of many. Dante looked ahead at what had to be the final door. Waiting no time, he followed the whispers where they grew louder and opened the doors. Torture tools of all varieties were strung up upon the wall in a nest and orderly fashion. Blood was virtually the paint of the stone walls and floors.

And it was there, in the center...he saw it.

It stood on the pedestal, oozing with a black Aura that seemingly created the Darkness in the room. The suit of armor was colored a pitch black. The upper body, from waist to chest, was a layered chest plate, overlapping in nested, thin segments that folded in and slanted outward in a pointed, sleek prominence before curving in to slip down into a chiseled, powerful, yet shapely frame. The armor seemingly had a split collar near the neck.

From the waist down, the armor resembled black bone plating that covered the hips, thighs, legs and feet entirely, leaving only small gaps to allow maximum mobility and flexibility.

The arms were layered with thin, segemented armor that covered every side of the arm, still allowing flexibility to move the arms without trouble. The hands and fingers were played in the same bone-like plating, having only gaps at the joints to allow the fingers and hands to move just as freely, the finger tips like sharp claws. The shoulder armor was plate like as well, resembling slanted, razor like edges.

The helmet was the only thing that resembled that of a knights helmet, but it was heavily embellished. The helmet had a v-line visor.

Covering the left forearm and hand of the armor was an arm-shield that covered the entire forearm and hand. It was colored black like the ash of death's tears and angled into a sleek point, ready to pierce and jam itself into anything worth pursuing. Each edge was long, segmenting itself in layers of thickness to harden it's slim, long defense. Two predator-like points curved up into sharpened corners at the elbow, sharply dipping down and curving to meet one another at the shield's middle to form an opening at the shield's tip.

"What is that..?"

The whispers soon became silent. A faint red glow appeared from within the armor, yet it did not move an inch.

"You…" it spoke in a deep, distorted voice. "Long have I waited… Long have I slumbered… Long have I hungered… You...are worthy of me…"

"Worthy..? What are you?"

"Long ago I was made...in the time when man was infantile… When the Darkness enclosed and encircled...I was given form and shape… Through blood...and fire...and treachery...I was born… Powerful and cunning were the enemies of old… And so...I was made… A weapon of the Dark made to slay the encroaching Dark… I have been wielded only by the worthy… And as the worthy slew legions...anointing me in the blood and bone of the fallen...my glory was unleashed… They unknowingly fed me life…"

"You were made by humans then."

"No… The enemies of old had a betrayer among them… One who had a fascination for Humanity and Fauna."

"These enemies of old… Who are they?"

"They walk among you...sharing only appearance… But in truth, they are anything but..."

"How is it you came to be here?"

"Hehehehehehehe… The boy's father unearthed me…"

"Jonathan Friede's father?!"

"He knew of the power I possessed…and the terrible power I could bestow upon those worthy of me… He locked me away in this tomb of stone...but the boy...he foolishly wished to give me life once more... When the usurper had been eliminated, the boy would come day after day, attempting to awake me… But he did not realize…that I was always awake… Maddened by his failures...he came upon a realization… Blood…"

Dante's eyes widened momentarily as he spun around to stare back at the cages full of bodies and blood.

"He was sacrificing people…"

"Foolishly so… He was unworthy of me… He could never hope to utilize me… Though the blood he fed me empowered my being...I would not awaken to his desire of conquest…"

Dante clenched his left fist tightly, gritting his teeth. He was beyond furious.

"You who are worthy… I sense a power in you… A power far Darker than mine… You...are no mortal…"

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Use me…"

"I have no need for you. But...I won't leave you here either to be a toy for that sick…fool!" He said kicking a chair into a wall, destroying it almost immediately.

"I have no use for you. But I will figure something to do with you."

"Do with me what you will… Use me… Or destroy me… Know that I am yours…"

The voice ceased and the red glow vanished. The armor soon began to dissolve into black Aura that swirled and churned in the air, soon traveling in a small stream towards Dante. The young immortal stuck out his left hand and summoned forth an Aura Sword that floated defensively in front of him. The Aura Sword sucked up the mass of black Aura until none of it was left.

Dante then reached out grabbed the now completely black Aura Sword. He thought about destroying the sword, thus destroying the armor trapped inside. But he also thought of the possible risk that he would simply release it somewhere out in the world to find some other victim. It said he was worthy. But what did that mean exactly? He didn't know. And currently, he didn't care. He needed to find Jonathan. He needed to see if the armor spoke any truths. Then, he would make his decision on what to do.

As Dante turned to leave, a small, double chirp tune sounded off, reeling him he had just received a message. He brought up the screen and quickly read through. When the young immortal came to a realization after reading the message, he immediately closed the screen and quickly sprinted to leave.

* * *

Dante continued his sprint down the darkened streets, taking short breaths with each step he took. He stopped when he reached the city center, panickedly looking around. The young immortal quickly brought up his screen and looked at the message he received from Inuba only ten minutes ago.

"Master. I have something to discuss with you. Please see me at the church in town."

Two reasons he thought this message suspicious and Inuba to be in danger. One, he had learned what he had just learned. And two...when she ignored him as coldly as she did. He still had no answer as to why she did that. Or...why it hurt so much…

Closing the message, he looked ahead and found the church entrance. The doors were sealed shut. He took a few steps back and then sprinted towards the door, making a sudden leap and kicking forwards. The wooden door was immediately destroyed as Dante passed through and landed.

The young immortal quickly stood back up and found the person he was looking for as she slowly descended down the steps towards him, still wearing the dress she wore. Dante quickly walked towards her.

"Inuba! There you are!"

He took a closer look at her. She still had that blank stare from before.

"Are you alright?" He said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Inuba…"

He then felt something hit him, forcing a small exhale of breath. He looked puzzled. Looking down, he saw a blade had pierced his stomach. A katana. His gaze slowly shifted to the hand holding it seeing it was Inuba's.

"What..? Why..?"

The blade soon plunged further into him as a new sensation flooded his senses. Something he never truly felt before. Something he didn't think possible. Pain. It hurt so much in that second that he couldn't help but cry out. It hurt just as much when she pulled the blade free from his body and kicked him in the same place she just injured, sending flying backwards, tumbling on his back until he crashed into one of the walls.

His legs felt weak. His vision doubling and distorting slightly. He couldn't stand. Even though the wound had healed...the pain still remained. And it was excruciating.

"Nice, huh?" Called out a familiar voice.

Dante weakly raised his head and squinted his eyes to see Jonathan standing next to Inuba.

"You..!" Said Dante weakly before coughing up some blood.

"Aw… What's wrong? Does it hurt?"

Dante shot out his left hand, sending an Aura Sword flying straight for Jonathan, its point aimed at his head. Inuba suddenly stepped in front of him. Dante panicked and quickly clenched his hand, the Aura Sword shattering like glass before it made contact with Inuba.

"Hahahahaha! So I was right! You wouldn't dare harm a hair on her pretty little head…" he said rubbing the top of her head.

"Don't touch her you son of-!"

"Dear me… A bit possessive Dante? Are you sure you just can't accept she likes me more and wants to work for me?"

The young immortals blood was boiling live lava with each word he spoke.

"Of course, it's not something so simple. You know…" he said rubbing his thumb across her cheek, "she is very strong willed. Of course...even she isn't clear of some personal worries, doubts, resentments. All I really need is that one sense of internal turmoil. And poof! They're mine."

"You're… You're controlling her..!" Said Dante as he used the wall to slowly stand back up.

"Bingo. You are smarter than you seem."

"You're...a sick bastard!"

Jonathan knew there was more behind Dante's words. He didn't know what he meant until a few seconds later.

"Ah! So you saw it too, didn't you?"

"You're gonna pay...for torturing all those people..." he said clutching his stomach.

"I really don't think so. Regrettably, I couldn't get the armor to work. Things happen." He said shrugging his shoulders.

"But I don't need that piece of junk anymore. I have something waaaaaay better." Said the elder Friede as he grabbed hold of the back of Inuba's neck, drawing her close to his face.

Dante immediately lunged forward and summoned an Aura Sword, striking at Jonathan to only have Inuba block with her pure white katana.

"Now now! Let's not get too hasty!"

Inuba broke the clash with enough force to send Dante skidding on his heels. She immediately engaged him again, the teen only swinging to block or parry her own sword strikes, never thinking for a second to take a swing at her. Despite this, she was still able to land a few deep slashes to his legs and eventually one large cut across his chest, making him reel back as he cried out in pain yet again.

 _What's...what's happening?! No matter with what or how many times someone has injured me, I've never felt any real pain… Yet...why does it hurt so much when she lands a hit..? How is it that out of anything and everything possible...only she's managing to make me feel pain..?_

His thoughts and the massive amount of pain he was feeling gave Inuba the opportunity to immediately break his guard and force him to stagger back. With this opening, she thrusted her katana into Dante's right forearm, pinning to the floor. White flames crackled to life around the Kitsune's blade, soon beginning to burn the flesh it pierced. Dante screamed in agony from the strong burning sensation he felt, his screams soon erased by the explosive burst of white flame.

Dante flew backwards out of the cloud of smoke rolling until he hit another mass of pues. He was breathing heavily, and pain coursed through every fiber of his being, making it extremely difficult for him to stand despite Inuba approaching him, her blade slightly raised. When she was close enough, she lashed out at him four times, Dante feebly blocking the first three before he rolled under and away from the fourth.

This did little to save him, for within the next second, a chain of white flame wrapped around his left ankle and slung him across the room, making him crash into a few pues while Jonathan laughed maniacally from a safe distance. As he crashed through the wooden furnishing, he soon hit a wall before being slung up into ceiling, his pained cries filling the church along with mad laughter of the manipulator.

Finally, he was slung back into the floor, making a small crater. Dante opened his eyes only to see Inuba falling towards him, her blade moving ahead of her as she stabbed the young immortal in the stomach, burying him further in the floor. When she had stabbed him, Dante gritted his teeth to try and bite back the pain, but it didn't work. He weakly gasped for air until Inuba stepped on the side of his face to keep him pinned to the floor, forcing a yelp out of the young immortal.

"Amazing what someone can do when they're simply a puppet. No remorse… No emotion… A perfect killing machine through and through. Now I know I made the right choice deciding to use her instead of the armor…"

Dante moved his head slightly so he could see from the corner of his eye. He saw something strange. Inuba...was crying. Was she subconsciously resisting his control?

"You know the thing I love most about a doll? No matter how many times you use and abuse them…" he started as he approached Inuba's side, grabbing hold of the hair atop her head, "they don't hit back!"

He then punched Inuba in the side of the face, forcing a small cry of pain from her. Dante's eyes widened when he saw blood trickle from the side of her head. For a brief moment after hearing her pained cry, the excruciating pain felt throughout his body vanished, and was replaced with a burning fury he had never felt before.

The air ruptured and quaked violently as a massive presence swept through the area, forcing Jonathan to grab Inuba and leap back. Inuba still had held onto her sword, and the moment she was pulled away by Jonathan, the blade freed itself from Dante's stomach.

The young immortal staggered back up to his feet weakly, pitch black Aura oozing from his person as he growled angrily in a hollow, echoing voice. When he looked up, his Shadow Eyes were present, glaring at Jonathan with unfathomable fury as the air continued to quake.

Just as he was about to move forward, a sword pierced through his stomach from the back. The young immortal was already weak and disoriented as was from the pain, which soon flooded through his body again when he was stabbed. He tried to swing behind him but missed his intended targets neck by a mere inch. Before he could swing again, he was stabbed in the leg with a spear, forcing him to one knee as he lashed out wildly again.

Three swords soon found themselves plunged into his backside, but because of his black bones, the blades slid in between open spaces. More soldiers appeared and plunged swords in his legs to pin him the ground, and when he fell on his face, they plunged spears into his hands to completely pin and halt his movements.

He struggled, trying to get free despite how weak and extremely pained his body was. But the knight-soldiers stepped on his body wherever they could and firmly held and pushed the weapons further down into Dante.

"You know...despite brutalizing you like I am right now, I actually do like you Dante."

If he was ever going to get free, he was going to show that human the meaning of "brutalize" in ways he would never be able to imagine.

"You're a man who'll easily abandon morals whenever you or your friends are in extreme danger. I know this, because I've been keeping track of you. I heard about the incident with those cultists, and let me tell you, "bloody" fine mess you made." Said Jonathan as he approached with Inuba at his side, holding her by her waist.

Dante's blood boiled with great intensity, so much so that he felt it would soon melt his own flesh as he looked up at them, seeing the bruise on Inuba's face along with the blood where she was struck. The fact that filth was touching her infuriated him more than anything.

"It's all an act for you, isn't it? Being human and all that. You feebly try to be something you're not. Don't get me wrong, you out on a marvelous performance for everyone. So much so that they believe it. But if someone looks real hard...they can see your responses and actions are slightly forced and with no real meaning behind them. Sometimes anyway. Truth is, you probably don't know how to act like a normal human do you? You see something of particular interest, and whenever convenient, you regurgitate what you've seen in order to satisfy others around you. You probably don't really understand the concept of love either, do you? I mean, who does really?"

Jonathan kicked a nearby stone into Dante's face, chuckling slightly when it hit him.

"Big, bad, Dante. A man who surpasses the skills of many veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses. Turns out you're not that tough really. Why I was even worried I don't know."

Dante tried to get free yet again, only for one of the knight-soldiers to stomp on the back of his head to force it into the ground.

"This fox of yours is quite the beauty… Ravishing even…"

Dante quickly raised his head and looked up in horror.

"You know, I just had a wonderful idea… A series of wonderful ideas really…" he said slowly lifting her skirt with one hand.

Dante wriggled and moved multiple times, roaring despite the blood in his throat and the blood that spilled from his numerous wounds.

"Since she means so much to you, I'm going to fuck her in front of you numerous times simply for the fun and pleasure of it. Someone like her with the kind of body she has.."

He whistled, continuing by saying "she's bound to be nice and really tight. You know, when she eventually gets pregnant, I'll keep screwing her day and night. And you know what else? I'll keep her around for a while after she gives birth to a kid. And when I get tired of her or if she's no longer any worth to me, I'll sell her as a whore. With how marvelous she is, she'll definitely sell well, especially since she's a Faunus. And when she's gone...I won't be all alone and bored since I'll have the kid to kick around as much as I please."

By this point, the skirt was pulled up enough to reveal much of her thighs, his fingers slipping beneath the waist-band side of her panties, tugging outwards on them slightly.

"Who knows? Maybe she'll like it. I'll make her moan and fill her face with ecstasy like a whore. And you'll get a front row seat...starting now…"

Dante's vision darkned as his head lowered. He could see next to nothing. Even Jonathan's mad laughter had become deaf to the young immortal.

* * *

 _I… I can't...move… I can't...escape… I...I need… I need to get up…_

 _ **Get up…** _

_Someone...please… She needs help…_

He could no longer even lift a finger.

 ** _GET UP…_**

 _Please...someone...help me...get up… I...l need to save her…_

He felt his conscious slipping away, his thoughts distant as darkness overtook him completely.

 _Please_ …

As he was about to fade...he heard a voice...

 _ **Ask… And I will answer you… As I have always done…**_

A young woman's voice echoed through his head.

 _ **He is but a human...full of rage and without mercy… But you… You are worse…**_

Power suddenly flooded throughout his body. The pain had vanished.

 _ **Rip...and tear...and slaughter to your hearts content…**_

* * *

"Now then...how should I start..?"

Before he could further move his hand, something had stopped him from moving. Confused, he looked to where Dante lay and...found nothing? Jonathan looked towards his right arm to see something holding gripping it tightly. A black, clawed hand layered with greyish muscle fibers, jagged fragments of black bone covering the muscles fibers like armor, held a tight grip on him. Piercing black claws, all unnaturally long and deathly sharp wrapped around his arm tightly.

Jonathan made not a single sound as he turned his head fully to gaze upon the figure that stayed his hand.

Its entire blackened figure was lean and ridden with blackened spines and jagged, sharp bones that formed a sort of second skin of bone armor, covering the grey muscle fibers underneath that was its body. Its limbs were slender and long, toned by time with an ancient resistance to its name and thin as if its body was pulled and bent. It's faceless, skull like visage lay beneath two sharp, jagged horns that bent inwards before slightly curving outwards. The only thing present on its black, skeletal-like head was a dark maw of sharp teeth, stretched wide into a wicked grin of malice and thirst.

"Wha-? What the..?"

Jonathan tried to move, but as soon as he did, he had found that his entire right arm had been torn off, blood gushing out of his wound in profuse amounts. The pain had only come seconds later. He was about to scream as he let go of Inuba. But before he could, the creature had used the arm it had taken from Jonathan and batted him across the face with it, creating a sickening crack that sounded throughout the entire church.

Jonathan flew back into his group of soldiers, leaving a trail of blood as they caught him. For a few more seconds, he screamed. That was until his arm began to slowly reform, his bones forming and his muscle fibers covering them shortly after.

"Sir!" Said one of the knight-soldiers.

"Don't fucking touch me!" He said pushing them away as he stood up again.

He shifted his gaze, finding that the creature held Inuba tightly in both arms. It didn't move. It had no eyes, no ears, no nose...but it stared straight at Jonathan and the group of soldiers with that wicked maw of black teeth it had. It's head moved slightly, looking upon Inuba's face. She was unconscious. It then moved, each footstep an ominous thud that echoed through the church.

The creature lay Inuba upon the altar, staring at her with its near-faceless guise. It then gently caressed her head, rubbing its thumb over her forehead softly and slowly. The blackened figure then took a step back and extended its arm towards the Kitsune, where shortly after, large, Dark hexagonal shapes began forming together to create an oval shaped protective dome around Inuba. And when the dome had been fully formed, it had smoothed over, creating a dark barrier that shielded her completely.

With its work done, the creatures head turned slowly, looking over its shoulder until its body turned so it could face the men completely. It's menacing footsteps echoed once more as it descended the steps. When it had reached the bottom of the small steps, it stopped suddenly.

Jonathan was sweating slightly. Was that Dante? He wasn't able to move earlier. So why is it he stood before him in that new form? It didn't matter.

"You." He said turning to the largest of the knight-soldiers.

"Kill him."

Without hesitation, the soldier nodded and quickly walked towards the transformed immortal, punching his gauntleted knuckles together. He then let out a roar and punched. From the creatures perspective, the man moved very slowly. As such, the creature slowly raised up its right arm and curled all of its armored, clawed fingers, save its index finger that now moved in the way of the massive fist.

The fist made contact and created a massive dust cloud that obscured the blackened immortal. Laughing triumphantly, he tried pushing his fist forward, only to find it was unmoving. When the dust settled, the soldiers heart sank as he saw the creature had remained standing and had not moved an inch, its index finger pressed against the fist that it stopped.

No one understood what happened next. No one saw how it happened. Within one instant, their ally gasped in shock. And in the next second...the creature stood behind their ally's massive body that stood taller than it. In its hands was the soldier-knights entire spinal column, head attached and drenched in blood.

The massive body fell down, unleashing a massive torrent of blood. The rest of the knights backed away in shock and horror. Surprisingly, Jonathan did not move at.

The blackened immortal, with a sibilant and definitive whispering hiss, swung around the spinal column with the head attached a few times before tossing it away. It landed at Jonathan's feet with a sickening thud, yet the human remained unmoved, staring with wide eyes at the Dark being that stood before him. It wasn't until it moved towards him that Jonathan Friede began moving backwards.

 **[DOOM (2016) OST - Titan's Realm]**

"Stop gawking and kill him already!"

A few of the soldier rushed forwards, unaware of their inevitable deaths. The first soldier had the creatures hand tear into his body and out his back, holding his heart until it was crushed seconds later. He brutally ripped his hand outwards from the body and blocked the blade of another soldier swinging at him, soon stabbing its hand into the mans body before using its other, wicked hand to grab hold of his head, violently twist it around, and tore it clean off with the spinal column attached.

He tossed away the body into one of the soldiers and used the head and spinal column as a flail, bashing one of the other knights in the head with it. Disoriented, the soldier could do nothing as both arms where taken hold of, twisted around, and then torn off before receiving a bone crushing stomp kick to the chest that caved in.

The soldier who had been hit with the body from before thought he had snuck up on the blackened immortal. His horror was unimaginable as the creature spun around and used its hand to pierce his stomach, lifting him up into the air easily before plunging its other hand into the mans body and tearing him in half, separating upper body from waist while the violent creature bathed in his blood.

Another soldier, as large as the very first approached, trying to pummel the transformed immortals head. It simply stepped to the side and arm barred the man, soon quickly swinging its plated elbow towards his head and knocking it clean off.

Another group moved in, but the creature moved faster than what they could track. The first victim had his legs swept out from under him, followed by his head being met by the creatures fist and crushed into the floor. It soon followed by moving behind another soldier, sticking its hands in his mouth before splitting it apart by pulling in separate directions, tearing off the mans jaw.

One of the soldiers discarded his weapon and raised his hands up defensively, thinking the creature would show him mercy. It didn't. It pounced upon him and pushed the man to flower, following up with a powerful stomp to the face the immediately crushed it.

One soldier tried to make a break for it, but the blackened immortal grabbed hold of his leg to prevent him from doing so. The man screamed and feebly scratched at the floor, but he was dragged towards his death, his leg twisted around in the opposite direction and used as the tool of his death, his own heel caving in his face.

The soldier next to him had his weapon broken in half, the transformed immortal using the sharp and pointed end that he broke off to slit the soldiers throat before kicking him into the ground.

Another soldier was disarmed of his lance as the creature delivered a swift stomp kick to his knee, breaking it clean off as he hit the floor. He screamed loudly, but this would prove to be a mistake, for the killer of his allies used the mans own lance and stabbed it into his mouth, the point immediately emerging from the back of his head.

The last of the group of soldiers in the church was brave enough to strike from behind, but his presence hadn't gone unnoticed. The blackened immortal spun around immediately and grabbed hold of the lance. It twisted the spear point around so it would face its wielder, but the soldier did not let go of his lance. So, the creature granted his request and returned it to the man by pushing it forward and into his chest until the point of the lance had gone completely through his body. Deciding it was not enough, the creature then pushed forward with enough force to send the man flying and pinned his corpse high upon one of the walls.

When the creature had spun around, it found itself under assault from another soldier. When it reached out to grab him, the man had vanished and reappeared behind the blackened immortal, trying to lash out only to miss again. The soldier had reappeared and was confident with his next attack, taking a stab at the transformed creatures heart.

As soon as the blade made contact, it shattered into pieces. All the man could do was stare in horror as the creature slowly turned to face him. He meant to scream, but before he could, the creature quickly clapped its hands together in front of it, creating a small shockwave as he crushed the mans head like a grape between his hands.

The last remaining soldier dropped his weapon screaming in horror, trying to run. He didn't see the creature curl two of its fingers and point it's middle and index finger, which were pressed together, at him. Very quickly, four streams of black Aura formed at its fingertips, making a black sphere of Aura no bigger than a baseball. Within the two seconds it took to form, the sphere transformed into a small burst stream of pure black Aura, that, in the second it made contact with mans chest, his body immediately expanded and exploded like a balloon, spraying massive amounts of blood in all directions.

Jonathan was the last man alive in the blood coated church, a river of red flowing at their feet. The blackened immortal faced Jonathan and raised up both hands. It slowly cracked the knuckles of one hand, then proceeded to crack the other pair as sickening cracks echoed through the church. Eerily enough, in that same sibilant, hissing voice, the creature's twisted, grinning maw opened slightly and let out a chuckle almost as silent as a whisper of death.

He ran. Friede ran out of the church, knowing full well that death had come for him to claim his life. More soldiers had arrived on scene, this time with automatic rifles and launchers, and rockets. He stood at the front of the mass of soldier-knights, him and his men waiting.

"Sir, what happened to the men inside?!"

"He… He slaughtered them… All of them… He destroyed every single one of them with his bare hands…"

"Alright, men! Focus fire on the front of the church!"

The soldier-knights aimed their guns at the church entrance, waiting in anticipation of what would exit. They all saw something shift within the darkness of the church as the river of blood began to seep into street, making all of he soldiers sick and fearful of what would emerge.

Then...he appeared, slowly walking outside into the lights shined upon his blackened form, his black bone-like fragment armor covering the grey muscle fibers underneath giving off a small shine as blood dripped from its body.

"What the hell?!"

"The fuck is that thing?!"

"FIRE!"

The echoes of machine gun fire and explosives filled the night sky, some of the rockets missing their marks or landing a few feet away while the bullets simply bounced off the blackened immortals body as if they were rubber bands. A few of their explosive artillery met their mark, creating a large smoke screen. The gunfire stopped, and the soldiers stood and waited motionless. With how long they waited, it was almost as if time itself had stopped.

The smoke cleared and the transformed immortal stood where he was, completely unmoved as the ground around him remain broken and shattered.

"H-He's not hurt?!"

"It took no damage!"

"Sir, what do we do?! Sir?!"

The soldiers panicked when they saw their weapons had no effect. They called to Jonathan to give them orders on what to do next, but he stood there motionless.

Black Aura soon blazed around the blackened creatures hands as it slowly brought up its arms with its grey, muscle fiberish palms facing up towards the sky.

With that same, sibilant, hissing voice, it roared loudly in a distorted voice as it fully extended its arms and hands in the air, "RIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSE!"

 **(6:00)**

As soon as it's arms were fully extended, black, spear like spikes rose from the ground beneath the soldiers feet that spanned up to twenty feet high. Hundreds of spikes rose from the ground, impaling each soldier unfortunate enough to be behind Jonathan. Some were impaled through the chest, head or other regions of their bodies, while some were unfortunate enough to be pierced by two or more spikes as their bodies were lifted into the air above.

The blackened immortal then clenched his fists tightly and spread out his arms, as dozens of spikes emerged from within the soldiers bodies in randomized assortments, some spikes taking off and arm or a leg or both. Some bodies were merely torn to shreds from the dozens of spikes emerging from within their bodies at once. All that was certain was that the skies rained with blood, completely drenching the unharmed Jonathan and the transformed immortal, his whisper like, hissing laughs echoing in the air.

 _He's… He's not human… He's a monster… He's...a monster… He's…_

By the time Jonathan regained focus, the creature had already stood in front of him only mere inches away.

The creature stomp kicked Jonathan to ground with enough force to send him backwards a few feet. It wanted to give the man a feeling of inevitable death as it's echoing footsteps approached from behind. Jonathan crawled through the blood and the the body parts that fell from the spikes, trying to moving away. But...his escape was denied.

The blackened immortal slung him away from the field of long black spikes and towards the direction of the church. Friede yet again attempted to run, and yet again he was stopped when the creature stepped on his foot where his ankle was located, separating his foot from his leg. He screamed loudly, but it would not help him. His leg was slowly regenerating, but not fast enough to allow him escape.

The creature soon grabbed hold of his other leg and dragged him closer, despite how many times he tried kicking at the creature. Finding this action annoying, with Friede's foot still in its hand, the creature gave it a quick twist, earning a sickening crack from the leg and a loud cry of pain from Jonathan as he was flipped over on his back.

 **(7:12)**

The transformed immortal then sat atop Jonathan and raised up its fist before punching the man in the face, making a satisfying crunching noise. The creature would continued to slowly and repeatedly bash the mans head with his armored fists. It didn't put enough force into its punches to cave Friede's skull in, but it hit hard enough that each punch definitely made a crack in his skull each punch as it slowly went about it. He wanted the man to suffer slowly and very painfully. And given Jonathan's pleas to stop, it was succeeding.

After the tenth punch, thoroughly bashing and bloodying Jonathan's face, the creature stood up and grabbed hold of the back of the whimpering Jonathan's head.

"M-Mercy… Please… Mercy…"

The creatures head was next to Jonathan's, his one good eye being able to catch a glimpse of his torturer. For a mere moment, it seemed as though the creature gave his plea some thought. But only for a moment.

It's sickening maw opened slightly, whispering in its chilling, sibilant voice, "Ssssssssssufferrrrrrrrrrr…."

Jonathan made to scream yet again, but was cut short when the creature smashed his head face in the ground. It was only now the elder Friede siblings true pain had begun. The creature stood back up, but kept bent forward a bit, keeping hold of the mans head and firmly pressed against the ground.

Then, it began running quickly. It dragged Jonathan's face across the streets of stone, leaving a bloody trail and blood curdling screams along the way. Friede's screams filled the night air despite his head slowly being ground to dust by the creature as it ran in the direction of the church. When it had reached the steps after fifty or so feet of dragging, with half of Jonathan's head gone, he easily raised him up into the air and flung him inside the church.

 **(End Song)**

The creature slowly made its way inside the darkened and bloodied church, seeing that Jonathan's feet and even head were slowly regenerating. But what it didn't know for the moment was that the elder Friede had reached his regenerative limit. Anymore injuries inflicted upon him would be permanent, no matter how cruel or brutal they may be.

When Friede turned, he screamed when found the creature upon him already, slowly dragging him away from the altar where Inuba still remained, untouched and unsullied throughout the whole ordeal in thanks to the crystal-like barrier surrounding her.

"N-No more… Please… I'm… I'm sorry…" said Jonathan as he was face to face with creature once more.

It's response was short, and simple.

"Punissssssssssshhhh..." it spoke in its ominous, whispering voice.

The blackened immortal grabbed hold of Friede's neck and was about to start the next round of brutalization. That was until the elder brother had managed grab hold of this Dark beings face, laughing triumphantly.

"Hahahahahahahaha! I...I got you!"

It remained still and motionless with its head titled up towards the sky.

"You know how I managed to control your partner in the first place? Direct contact… After she got ready for the ball and left my sisters room, I managed to bump into her. I just couldn't resist the chance since we were alone. My Semblance...is the complete domination of ones mind and their body. An ability worthy of a ruler, no?"

The creature still remained unmoving.

"You know...I didn't do anything to her after taking control of her mind… But no matter… Now that I have you under my control… I'll make you watch...chained up and unable to do anything as I fuck that precious little fox of yours! You've lost White Swordsman! Victory is-!"

Jonathan's hand was soon grabbed by the creature as its faceless visage slowly looked down upon the elder Friede.

"What..?"

Jonathan's wrist had been snapped with a mere squeeze, forcing another pained cry from him. He tried using his remaining hand to punch the creature in the side of the head repeatedly, yelling as he did so. The creature immediately grabbed hold after a few hits and complete tore off his arm again, blood gushing out in large amounts.

The mans screaming soon came to a halt when the creature grabbed hold of the sides of his head with both hands. It applied pressure to his skull, almost as if it were deciding to simply squash his head. Then it began to slowly twist around his neck, notifying Jonathan of the possibility it might simply twist his head around before ripping it clean off with his spine attached, like how he did with one of the soldiers. The creature paused momentarily, as if a thought had just occurred to it. It then let out an ominous, whisper-like chuckle as it rubbed its clawed thumbs on the sides of the mans face. It had made its decision.

The creature ceased movement of his thumbs, then resumed by slowly sliding them up his face and towards the mans eyes. It was only now Jonathan realized what it had in store for him, a feeling sweeping over him as if every organ from his body was removed as the creatures long, clawed thumbs pointed towards his eyes. Despite Jonathan's screams, the creature slowly began to sink its thumb claws into the elder Friede's eyes very, very slowly. Despite now being blind, for Jonathan, it felt as though an eternity had passed with how slowly the creature sank its fingers into his eyes, continuing to do so even after. For the creature, the time was too short. It wasn't nearly enough.

* * *

 **Five minutes ago…**

"Where is he?! Where the hell is he Leo?!" Screamed Ciel paniked as she ran down the streets.

"I told you I don't know Ciel!" Responded her twin brother equally panicked.

"Both of you shut up! Your whining is annoying!"

"Shut it you old fossil! My brothers in trouble, so you can go shove it!"

Raum was annoyed by her statement, but he understood nonetheless. Both Dante and Inuba had disappeared. Not only that, but Dante's presence had been erased, as if it had completely vanished. Not even Raum could detect him.

Suddenly, night had seemingly become darker than black, as if all the stars in the sky had vanished, leaving the three in complete darkness.

"What the hell..?!" Said Raum as he and the two siblings stopped and looked at the sky.

Before they could think to move another inch, the air quaked and ruptured violently. The immense pressure they felt was enough to force them to their knees, even one such as Raum. Irene, who sat atop Raum's shoulders was the only one seemingly unaffected, expressing her concern with the state of her caretaker by patting his head and groaning uncomfortably.

"I...I can't...move…" said Ciel in a strained voice.

"What's...happening..?" Said Leo.

Raum tried resisting the force pushing down on him with little success, he could barely stand back up on his feet. He could recognize this overbearing presence and...the evil that accompanied it. No...this wasn't evil...this...this was Darkness… Pure Darkness.

 _Shit… What the hell is happening?! Is it… Is it the brat..? Wait...I've seen something like this before… Last time wasn't as bad… But this time...it's way worse…_

"Miss Ciel! Sir Leo!" Cried out a familiar voice.

Maria Friede rushed up to Ciel with Conner, her knight, and few of her knight-soldiers.

"Don't touch me!" Shouted Ciel.

Maria moved back, shocked as to why she would reacted so angrily.

"What the hell did you people do...to my brother...and his partner?!"

"Nothing! I only came because I saw you all leave rather hurriedly and thought something was wrong, that and we've been receiving reports that the city center streets have been blocked off and-"

Maria paused for a moment horror stricken, as if she had realized something.

"Brother, no… Quickly! To the church!"

Maria moved past the three along with her knights in direction Ciel and the others were about to move in.

"Hold it! Argh… Damn it..! Move..!" Said Ciel as she was slowly stood back up.

She was standing now, but could barely move forward an inch.

"Damn it… Brother…"

* * *

The blackened immortal removed his thumb out of the eye sockets of Jonathan Friede, who whimpered and groaned in pain, barely able to make a single sentence. His mind was a mess. His body was torn apart. He wasn't sure why he was awake or how. Maybe it was him? Was he using some sort of ability to ensure he would be awake the entire time to suffer? No. The answer wasn't so simple. With how he tore apart the soldiers and with how he worked on him, the creature made sure to injure him enough so that he wouldn't die without his regeneration while being awake.

The creature soon found its object of interest that it spent time scouring the church for. Inuba's katana, DarkLight Antithesis. Jonathan could no longer see, but he could still hear. The Dark being pinched the sharp side of the katana between its thumb and index finger and slowly dragged them up starting from the base of the blade to its tip, creating a small stream of sparks as it did so. The man lying on the floor most certainly heard this and dreaded what the transformed immortal could with a weapon in his hands currently.

"S-Spare me… Please… Spare me…. I...don't want...to die…"

With an ominous, whispering, hiss-like chuckle, the creature said "Vengeancccccce…"

Now he knew for sure he had no intentions of sparing him. His heavy footsteps echoed through the church, growing closer and closer to unmoving Friede. The air seemingly shrieked when the creature slowly raised the blade up into the air, taking hold of the pure white katana with both of its wicked hands and aiming his strike in the center of Jonathan's neck.

"Are… Are you…"

The creature tilted its head slightly, waiting for Jonathan to continue.

"the Darkness..?"

The creature re-oriented its head and raised the blade above its head, keeping its aim true.

"Worssssssssssse…"

He was about to strike down and lob off his head. But a voice stopped him.

"No! Stop Sir Dante! Please, stop!"

His head turned towards Maria Friede, who had stood at the entrance of the church.

"Please don't do this… I do not know all the details but I know that my brother must have caused you immense pain to go to such lengths."

Immense wasn't even the word he'd use to describe. It was more along the lines of unforgivable cruelty that needed to be returned in kind with devastating brutality.

"Please...don't kill him… My brother...however sick and twisted he may be… He's the only family I have left in this world… Please...spare him…"

The creature seemed...conflicted. For only a brief moment.

"No."

"Wait, stop!"

The blackened immortal reverse gripped the katana with both hands quickly and made to plunge it into Jonathan's neck. Yet again he was stopped. Not by a voice, no...but by some...invisible force. No matter how much the creature leaned its body into the blade to force it down, he couldn't. Why? This man deserved to die in one of the most vilest way possible. Yet why was his hand stayed? Eventually it tried hammering the butt of the blade with its fist, still yielding no desired result.

It was then he thought to look toward the altar where Inuba lay peacefully, still unconscious and completely protected by the barrier the creature put up. And then...for a brief moment…a voice echoed in its head... Almost as if it were a memory...

 _"Remember… If you do anything bad...I'll pinch you cheek."_

Where did he hear those words before?

Cracks formed on the faceless visage of the creature above the mouth, the cracks creating slanted eyeholes that revealed the harrowing gaze of the young immortals Shadow Eyes. He stood up slowly as his body began to crack and fall apart little by little, shards of black bone and strands of grey muscle fiber falling to the ground as he approached the alter.

The Dark being had finally broken away, leaving a bloodied Dante who remained in his torn clothes. Touching the barrier he had set in that Dark form of his, it immediately disolved, allowing him access to his partner as he placed the katana in the hand of its rightful owner. It soon dissolved in a burst of white flame, allowing Dante to take her into his arms, cradling her gently. He sighed softly as he closed his eyes, keeping his eyes narrowed to slits so others wouldn't see his current eyes.

He turned and carried her out, Maria Friede moving out of the way to let him pass. Soldiers still stood in his way.

"Let him through." Said Maria.

"But, Lady Maria-!"

"Let the man through Conner… He's been through enough tonight…"

He decided to move purely out of respect of her command, motioning to his soldiers to move to the side.

"Monster…" he whispered to the teen as he passed by.

He did nothing. Said nothing. He only kept walking, smiling at the name he was given.

Ciel, Leo and Raum turned a street corner, finding the field of black spikes first that still pierced and held the torn bodies, or at least what remained of them, of the soldiers from earlier.

Ciel looked around, finding her brother heading the opposite way. She too began to move until her arm was grabbed. She spun around to see Raum was the one stopping her, shaking his head slowly.

"Leave him be for now. Don't talk to him, don't touch him, don't do anything."

"He's my brother, I just can't-!"

"I know that you little hellion! I'm only telling you this in respect for your safety."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"The last time he was like this...I nearly lost an arm until I reattached it and almost lost my life too. Last time...he was really pissed… This time...whatever happened…must've pushed him off the edge. If you know your brother as well as you say you do...then you know how brutal and savage he can be when pushed past his breaking point. Hence this field of death you see."

"I...think he's right Ciel. Brother needs time to calm down… We can go and check up on him tomorrow morning."

Part of Ciel knew they were right. But part of her still wanted to go and see if she could help in someway. But she backed down. She, along with Leonard and Raum watched as Dante disappeared into the night, still holding on tightly to Inuba.

* * *

The first rays of dawn peeked through the covers of the blinds. Dawn had just arrived along with the new day. When Dante arrived at the inn in deeper parts of town away from the castle, he went to a nearby store and bought a pair of white and black pajamas for Inuba.

Closing his eyes while he got her out of the dress and into the pajamas, he placed her on the bed and cleaned the blood from head and white as snow hair. He bandaged the side of her head and applied an anesthetic patch to her cheek where she was also struck by that maniac. Just thinking about what he did made his blood boil.

When he finished taking care of Inuba, he quickly popped inside the castle to grab his bag of clothes as well as Inuba's by teleporting inside through usage of one of the Aura Swords he planted. After the quick trip, he took a cold shower. Not even that did much to relax him. After the shower, he dressed in his normal clothes. Grey jeans, black shoes with white, hexagonal shapes that formed the soles, and a grey collared dress shirt that had a zipper instead of buttons.

He didn't put on his white button up coat with black trimming. Instead, he drapped it over a chair. When he did, something fell out of one of the pockets. The necklace-charm with the small fox face made of pure white metal, and closed, slanted eyes colored black that Inuba gave to him as a gift. He picked it up by the black string it was attached to and slightly tossed it into the air, catching the charm itself. He opened his palm and found himself staring at the kanji Inuba personally etched into the backside.

Hapiness.

In the brief moment he saw the kanji he raised up his arm to toss away the charm but...he stayed his hand. Why was he about to throw it away? Especially when his partner went through the trouble to get it and the effort she put into the etching? He shuddered at the thought of what was he about to do and immediately gripped the charm while lowering his hand.

Dante opened his eyes and stared at the mirror to his side. He wanted them to go away. But they were still there. Be it a form of regret or shame that washed over him, Dante narrowed his eyes yet again just enough so that they seemed closed, but still had them open enough for him to see. Then, he pulled up a chair and sat in it next to Inuba's bed, and continued to stare at the wall all night. He had no real thoughts throughout the night. His mind was one big blank for the hours he sat in that chair. Seemingly enough, hours turned to minutes, and before he knew it, it was six in the morning, barely any light outside.

He looked towards Inuba, seeing her peaceful, sleeping form. He couldn't help but think she was beautiful. The young immortal didn't check earlier, but he did now, placing his hand on her forehead. Compared to him, she felt fairly warm. Soothingly so. She didn't have a fever, thankfully. Even after...he didn't really want to remove his hand. The soothing warmth she exuded… It seemingly flowed into his own body, drowning out the chilling cold he felt.

The young immortal soon found himself moving his face closer to Inuba's, as if he were being instinctively drawn closer to her. Slowly but surely, his face was only mere centimeters away from the Kitsune's own, slowly moving close enough until…

She stirred a bit as she let out a soft breath, making the teen immediately leap back silently and out of his chair. He quickly caught said chair before it hit the ground and made unnecessary noise. Dante moved back a few steps and looked off towards the side at the door. He looked at the charm once, staring at it for a few moments before he moved to the desk and placed it there. The young immortal took one last look at Inuba before he grabbed his coat and silently left the room.

* * *

 **So then... That happened. What? Expected something else for me to say about that? Well, what can I say really. Next chapter will be brighter. I promise. And after, we dive straight into the collab I've been working on. Speaking of which...**

 **Now then, I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Sorry everyone. No omakes this week. I've taken enough of your time as is.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope to see you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	6. Chapter 6: Stand by Me

**Okay, so I was about to say "Bad news, no new chapter 2 weeks from now", but I only just realized my finals start and end next week. Plus I go home next week. So yeah... I'm dumb. Sometimes anyway. But yes, nothing to worry about what I said earlier, next chapter is coming 2 weeks from now. But, here's the catch. I'll be on break. So, my goal during the break will be to attempt to get chapters out to you all on a weekly basis during that time. But who knows? I might be crazy enough to try doing that starting next week.**

 **Only two, practically one, final has my utmost concern. And that's precalc. Remember when I said I'd be crying a lot or depressed? Yeah...was not wrong about that. I seriously hate that class. Truthfully, it's beyond my ability entirely, so it's not the teachers fault and not entirely my fault. I just can't do that class. Pure and simple. Luckily, a certain friend of mine has been helping me through, so to thanks to them, my grade isn't that bad. So thank you certain friend. You are considered a hero forevermore in my eyes. I salute you.**

 **My pain and suffering aside, guys, Final Fantasy XV. NEED I SAY MORE?! You all know I can get a little nuts at times concerning certain games. Like beating the game the first night it comes out, or getting all the trophies within two days. I've done that. But yes, FFXV definitely had my attention through and through. In my opinion, the wait was worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline, freaking loved the characters, especially the main villain, he's just awesome, and I definitely enjoyed the combat system for Noctis and friends. Definitely a fresh approach, not overly complicated, and most importantly, really fun to play. Especially after you gather all 13 of the royal arms, which each has different stats and special abilities that make gameplay fun and exciting. Collected all 13 within the two days I was playing the game. The hunt was real for those weapons.**

 **In short, FFXV was incredibly fun and engaging the entire time I was playing. There's so much to do and so many different things you can see and experience. So again, in my opinion, when they say at the title screen "A Final Fantasy for Fans and First-timers", I really think they live up to that claim. The only FF games I ever played was a little bit of XIII and Dissidia 012 Duodecim for the psp. That's it. And those were fun. But playing FFXV was just an incredible thing altogether for me. And again, they live up to that claim of "Fans and First-timers" in my belief.**

 **So, if you were thinking about buying it and were on the fence about it, I definitely recommend you buy the game when you can, especially for Christmas. It's just too much fun entirely. And if you've already bought it and enjoyed it, good for you. If not, well, to each their own. But yeah, enough game review. You came here for a show, and a show you will get. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Stand By Me

 _"You're always so busy caring for others needs and wants that you never seem to care for your own. You keep saying 'I'm doing this to help others', but really now... Aren't you just hurting yourself in the end? And so, when you reach the end, I ask that you remember and take these words to heart… Where you're headed, you'll need them. So Dante…_ _What is it that you truly feel? What is it...that you truly want? More than anything?_

* * *

He was thrown in a cell, awaiting his fate like any other criminal would. To think that he, the ruler of the city would be here is something he did not expect. He was blind and permanently crippled. Any injury he sustained after exhausting his daily ability to regenerate would permanently remain, even with rest.

Blind and crippled…

He did not expect this. He did not want this. But he didn't want much of anything anymore. The torture he endured...was maddening. When Dante, in that form he took, plunged his thumbs into his eyes, for a few moments, and a few moments only, he saw within his mind and felt an unending torrent of madness and despair. It broke whatever psyche he had left. Now...he was simply a husk of his former self, rotting in a dark cell.

"Ah… Not good…"

He heard the voice, and lifted his head to see a figure cloaked in black standing in front of him.

"You really went and did it last night, didn't you? Did you really think you'd be able to escape him? Much less kill him? Especially after saying you were going to do all those horrible things to his partner?"

The cloaked figure sighed as he approached Jonathan, standing just a foot away.

"Human beings…are certainly more naive than I thought… Oh well… Not much you can do at this point…"

A pale hand emerged from behind the figures black and ragged cloak, grabbing hold of Jonathan's head.

"You see, he's a person of great interest to us. Me moreso than the others. And you had the audacity to do something very very bad to them. It really is an unacceptable circumstance. And so...I'm here to do what he can't. Or rather, wouldn't. He may be bound by some small degree of human morals… But...I'm not."

Black electricity crackled to life around the figures hand as Jonathan's body jerked and violently spasmsed, his flesh burning away as a horrid, rancid smell filled the cell, soon traveling throughout the block. The screaming came after.

By the time the guards arrived, it was already too late. The figure was gone. All that remained inside Jonathan Friede's cell was a completely burnt and charred body. It seemed as though one touch would make the burnt body scatter into ashes.

* * *

Dante sat in the wooden chair outside the cafe. It was the only one that was open at six in the morning. The sun was still taking its sweet time to rise over the hills completely, blanketing the castle city of Ardien in a thin veil of shadow. Every now and then Dante would see people pass by, moving about as if nothing happened. Was the mess he made in the city center covered up and cleaned up that quickly? He was quite impressed in actuality. Which only begged one question. Would they be coming for him soon? Or would they be too afraid to even approach him? Rather than go to them, he was going to wait and see if they would come to him.

The cheery laughter of a child interrupted his thoughts, forcing him to look towards his left under the sun roof of the outside of the cafe. An older man, his father, carried the boy on his shoulders. He didn't know exactly what they were happy about, but they certainly were in high spirits. Dante kept his eyes narrowed so that his Shadow Eyes couldn't be seen. They still remained, even hours after the...incident.

He didn't know how to feel about the father and son that passed by. But seeing them made him feel...what exactly? Dread? Sadness? Regret?

Loneliness?

He never knew his own father. Or mother. Perhaps he did when he had his memories. Perhaps not. He's only discovered very little of his family. He only recently found his younger brother and sister, and they, like himself, knew nothing of their parents. If ever he felt something...it was always a sense of not belonging.

"Still early in the morning for you?"

Dante's train of thought ended as he turned to his side to see a waitress next to him, about his age.

"Pretty much. It's kinda bright outside." Spoke the teen as he lied about his eyes.

"It's not that bright…"

"My eyes are a bit sensitive in the mornings."

"If you say so." She said with a giggle. "What can I get for you this morning?"

"Just a coffee with cream and two sugars, please."

"Nothing to eat?"

"No thanks. Don't really have much of an appetite…"

"Alrighty then. I'll be back in just a moment." Said the waitress as she took the lien card the young immortal gave her.

Now alone again, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. His thoughts returned to last night.

He should have killed Jonathan. He wanted to. But what stopped him? A small shred of morality? No… It was something else… He had no real way to describe it…other than it felt...important...as if he should recognize those words and who were they from… Why did something so simple stop him? How could something so simple stop him? Was it the words themself that held meaning? Or was it the person who spoke them?

"Here you are!"

The waitress brought him his cup of coffee.

"Thank you kindly." Said the teen.

"If you need anything else, just wave me down and I'll be right there."

"I will. Thanks."

She left him to his devices as he drank his coffee, taking a few sips before leaning back in his chair completely.

"S-Sir Dante?"

There went his peaceful morning.

Still keeping his eyes narrowed, he looked ahead to see Maria Friede standing before him, her knight Conner hanging back a short distance.

"Here to arrest me Lady Friede? If so, you're welcome to come and try. But I'm not sure I can guarantee the safety of your men. Or you."

"I'm…"

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a few moments to inhale before exhaling.

"I'm here simply to speak to you. May I sit?"

"Hmmm… Well, why not? I only have one exception though. Tell your dog over though to stop glaring at me and keep his sword in his sheath. Otherwise we'll have an issue."

Maria looked back to Conner and nodded her head. His brow furrowed angrily a bit before he too closed his eyes and nodded back. He sat down at a table behind Maria and kept close watch.

"So then, if you're not here to arrest me or keep me prisoner, what are you here to talk about Lady Friede?"

"I want an explanation of what happened last night… That...and a question I want you to truthfully answer first."

"Well, go ahead and ask."

"We placed my brother in a prison cell last night after the...incident. This morning...he was found dead."

Dante didn't care to hide his smile, or the soft chuckle he gave off when he heard those sweet, sweet words.

"Well then… Looks like someone beat me to it. Such a shame… Did you do an autopsy?"

"There was no need. The evidence was clear as to how he died. He suffered from extreme electrocution to the point his own flesh and internal organs were completely scorched and nearly liquified."

"Hmmm… And here I thought I had a better idea… Oh well… At least he got what he deserved. And even better, I didn't have to dirty my hands."

"You scoundrel! That is Lady Maria's-!"

The only remaining Friede raised her hand to silence her knight who nearly sprang out of his chair.

"As much as I wish it were me, it wasn't. I was taking care of my partner for the night and only stepped out minutes ago. You can choose to believe me or not, it really makes no-"

"I believe you."

He was surprised. Was she saying that simply to say she did? Or did she actually, truly believe him?

"Well that's a surprise…"

"You have no reason to lie to me...so...I've made the choice to believe whatever you say. Thank you for your honesty."

"You know… For someone who made a mess of your brother and killed a few of your soldiers, you're surprisingly calm. Not only that, but you're approaching me so easily…"

"I believe that you have no reason to harm me specifically. Therefore you won't and will not do so unless I provide you a reason."

"Rational thinking on your part. And most importantly, correct. Let me ask you something in return. Did you see it?"

Maria shifted uncomfortably in her chair before looking towards Dante with a sorrowful glance.

"I did…"

"So do you fully understand why what happened happened? Do you understand that your brother was a sick and twisted human being that tortured humans and Fauna? Do you understand he meant me harm? Personally, I could care less if he meant me harm. What mattered most is what he said he would to my partner. Then...he had my full attention."

"I understand it all. And...I understand that the fate that befell him was a result of his own actions."

 _This woman... She is very odd…_

"Well...at least you understand then as to why I'm highly aggressive about the matter."

"That… That form you took...what was that?"

"I honestly wouldn't know. It's the first time I've taken on such a form."

"I visited your siblings and...your friend… They told me a bit about your past after some thorough convincing on my part. They said that your brutality was-"

"I was fully and completely aware of what I was doing at the time."

Maria's eyes widened at his statement. Something akin to concern mixed with...sorrow? Was she feeling bad for him?

"What you don't understand Lady Friede is that despite how I usually present myself, I'm fully capable of extreme and brutal violence on levels you could never imagine. Well, I'd say last night only gave you a glimpse. I'm betting they didn't tell you the whole story, so I'll make it short. Despite how kind I am, or helpful, or generally positive I am...I can and will abandon my more 'human' morals to do unsavory things most people can't. I can and will cross any line necessary as soon as the lives of those I care for or trust are put in danger. It's simply who I am. In spite of this, I enjoy being nice. I enjoy being being decent. I enjoy being gentlemanly. I enjoy...being human. I take pride in the leaps and bounds I've made to act human. Which is why I get really irritated when I have to regress slightly back to that ugly side of me."

She sat in her seat, carefully taking in his words one by one to get a better sense of him.

"I've told you a bit about myself. What about you?"

"M-Me?"

"You and your dearly departed brother aren't normal humans, right?"

 _Did his conflict with Jonathan..?_

"For one thing, normal humans don't possess the ability of rapid cell regeneration, that much was evident when I tore apart your brother. So then...what exactly are you?"

He had gone this far to reveal himself. It was only fair to tell him.

"Generations of my family have been born with superhuman traits that have made them better than the average human. Strength, intelligence, durability...and in the case of what you saw, rapid cell regeneration. But there's a limit to how many times we can regenerate within a given twenty four hour period. Any injuries sustained after we reach our limit is permanent unless our Aura can heal the injuries."

"I see… Your brothers Semblance… I'm assuming you have something similar?"

"Not...exactly… It's something of a lesser degree… My Semblance is the ability of persuasion. I can persuade others to act or not act upon certain feelings, thoughts or ideas they have. Especially when it comes to feelings. Say a person is too timid or frightened to approach you about a certain matter. I can persuade them to be upfront, or give them courage to express what it is they want to discuss with you."

He seemed interested. He was certainly paying attention.

"How fascinating… You and your brother are definitely different from one another. So then...with his arrest followed by his death, I'm assuming you now have control over the city?"

"Yes…"

"Well then, I hope you're better than your brother Lady Maria. Otherwise...I may have to come back once day if I hear things are out of order."

The unsheathing of a sword could be heard as a sword was swung at Dante's neck. He had to give the man credit, he was fast and precise. But...he was only human.

A soft clanging noise was heard. Dante's index finger stopped the blade entirely.

 _I-Impossible! He stopped it with a finger!_

"You damn monster!"

A smile crept up on the teens face, his entire hand soon grasping the entire blade before he snapped it into two, quickly twirled the piece he broke off in between his fingers and took a stab right for Conners right eye.

The blade point stopped just mere centimeters away from his pupil.

"Don't go attacking just about anything that makes you angry. You might lose your life one day." He said dropping the blade fragment into the man's coat pocket before patting him on the back and returning to his seat.

"I mainly said that as a joke. But at the same time, not so much. It's really more of a life warning or lesson or whatever you want to call it. I do have you slightly figured out by now, so the chances of you turning out to be like your brother are very low. But all it ever takes really is that small amount. So take heed and rule wisely Lady Maria."

"You needn't remind me Sir Dante…"

"Good. Now then, I'm assuming we're done here. So for your own good, you should go."

She looked very troubled soon after she heard this, as if she had more to say.

"I'm feeling a bit under the weather since after what happened. If possible, I'd like as much peace and quiet as possible while I think of a way to explain things to my partner. She'll no doubt be looking for an explanation."

"Sir Dante? May I...ask a selfish request of you?"

"A request?"

"I may not have the right...but...despite everything that's happened...I want us to remain friends."

"Now why on earth does someone as respectable as you would like to be friends with me? I almost killed your brother you know. But...I have a feeling that's not a variable in this. Personal gain from being allies? No...that's not it either… Hmmm… You really are an oddity… Humans never cease to amaze me…"

A smile crept up on his face.

"I'll ask again…"

He opened his eyes and stared straight at Maria. And she stared back, gazing into his Shadow Eyes as the world around her seemingly went black. It was simply her and Dante, sitting in an empty black void. She could hear nothing and see nothing else. She felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of dread and fear flood her entire body, shivers constantly moving down her spine.

"Are you sure you want to be friends with someone like me?"

She felt like she would go mad at any second if she continued staring. But it was impossible to look away. She was trapped, almost as if the world of darkness that she saw around her was closing closing in on her, choking the life out of her little by little. But in that void...she felt pain. His pain. The pain he kept bottled up deep within him.

When she slowly closed her eyes and reopened them…the world of darkness had vanished. The overwhelming fear that nearly consumed hear had receded. She looked at Dante with a fierce gaze. As the teens eyes widened, he realized what this meant. She wasn't afraid of him anymore. He couldn't help but smile a bit.

"An oddity indeed…" he said narrowing his eyes once more. "Very well then. I accept your request. I'll be friends with you."

Maria practically smiled cheerfully.

"Thank you Sir Dante…"

"I don't mean to sound rude, but I really would like to be alone for now. Again, not trying to avoid or push you away. I've just been feeling slightly nauseated and exhausted."

"Of course. Please, if you need anything before you leave, do no hesitate to ask. We will do what we can to help provide you with whatever you need."

"I'll be sure to remember that. Have a nice day."

Maria stood up and bowed, leaving with Conner following close behind. The young immortal let out a relaxed sigh and leaned back in his chair.

 _So then...someone delivered swift justice to Jonathan Friede. I wonder...was it pure coincidence that it happened? Or is there something else I'm not seeing currently?_

"Um...sir?"

The waitress from before was outside again and stood next to him.

"Would you like me to get a refill for you?"

He looked off towards the streets, thinking about it carefully for a moment.

"Sure."

When she had left him after taking his empty cup, he took a deep breath before exhaling, looking up towards the sky soon after.

"I really don't feel all too well today…"

* * *

The Kitsune's crimson-red eyes slowly opened and took in what rays of sunlight peeked in from the blinds. Her head was slightly throbbing, forcing her to raise her hand to her head, feeling bandages wrapped around it, wincing slightly as she slowly pushed herself up. She noticed she was wearing a newer set of pajamas than her standard pair.

She felt...exhausted. This much she knew when her body felt very weak. After rising out of her bed, Inuba moved to the bathroom, flipping on the light switch to gasp slightly when she saw the bandages around her head and the gauze patch on her cheek.

 _What happened to me..? And...why can't I remember anything from last night?_

She continued searching her thoughts as she changed into her normal clothes, slowly undoing the buttons of her pajama shirt.

"I don't remember anything from last night...yet...I'm wearing pajamas… Did Master bring me here?"

A sudden thought leapt into her mind.

"W-Wait a moment… If I'm here… A-And I'm wearing these...d-does that mean he c-changed me himself?!"

Her face blushed a furious red as she slapped her hands over her face, numerous thoughts crossing her mind as she muttered incoherently.

"D-D-D-Did he… Did he see them..?"

As quickly as she thought of it, she soon dismissed the thought.

"N-No… Knowing Master, he probably had his eyes closed the entire time… Although… I wouldn't really mind if he didn't…"

She shook her head again before fully unbuttoning the pajama shirt and placing it on the table. Inuba then grabbed hold of the sleeveless, black compression shirt she usually wore that was skin tight and very form fitting. It did help keep her chest area from bouncing too much. The Kitsune then put on her sleeveless, black collared, white shirt, and zipped the zipper up to the center of her chest.

With that finished, Inuba then put on the skin tight black sleeves that reached to her elbows, the sleeves made of the same nylon-spandex material her undershirt was made of. With this step complete, she quickly took the finger-sized bands on the ends of the sleeves and slipped her middle in between them. Shortly after, she slid the white detached wide sleeves with black trimming, on her arms and firmly adjusted them to stay in place.

Then, she found her black sash and wrapped it around her waist, where on the right side of her waist, the sash's ends dangled freely.

Now that she was finished, she then took off her pajama pants and slipped into her pleated, black skirt, where the skirt ended at the center of her thighs, but a bit tighter, and had wavy white patterns across the black fabric along with white trimming along the ends of the skirt. After she finished zipping up her skirt, she put on her white, thigh-high stockings with black bands at the ends, where they reached a few inches below the hem of her skirt. Finally, she grabbed hold of her white shoes with black soles and put them on, quickly tying up the black laces.

She took a glance at the mirror and quickly adjusted her near shoulder length white hair to its usual, neat, but slightly messy appearal, her white fox ears fluttering slightly as she did so.

"Okay... Ready!" She said confidently.

She exited the bathroom after shutting off the lights, folding her pajamas neatly before making her bed and placing them atop the mattress. When she looked around the room, it only occurred to her now that there was only one bed in the room. That, and nothing belonging to Dante was in the room. Didn't they have rooms at the castle? Why was she even in this inn room in the first place?

Did something happen? She felt thoroughly concerned at the moment as she looked around. Her worried crimson eyes suddenly found themselves staring at the wooden desk, and as she did, she gasped as her heart sank low enough that it almost felt absent from her body. The Kitsune walked towards the desk, trembling as she stared for a second to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. When she touched the fox charm she gave her Master that rested on the desk, shivers traveling down her spine in multiple waves.

She didn't even think afterwards. She only snatched the charm off the desk and quickly ran out of the room.

* * *

His sixth cup of coffee and he still wasn't feeling all too great. He had a small headache along with the stinging pain he felt in his right arm. Speaking of which, he noticed a slight improvement actually since last night. He could move his entire arm and his fingers now, but he could only do so very slowly. It still felt numb in numerous areas, especially the fingers. He wished this nonsense with his right arm was done and over with already. It was really annoying whenever he tried to use one arm when fighting.

It was ironic really. The whole idea behind the current state of his right arm. An immortal, completely unkillable and able to regenerate and heal wounds within practically an instant, had an injured right arm that barely functioned. Just thinking about it made him almost laugh. Not only that, but for something he once thought was impossible, happened last night.

Pain. True, unrelenting, excruciating pain. Something he never felt before in his entire life. He didn't count the arm or the occasional headaches he would have. Those were only minor compared to the extent of the injuries he received. But something was strange about how it happened. And ever since then, he had a hypothesis in mind that he wanted to test.

He quickly looked around, making sure no one was in the immediate vicinity, then looked back inside the cafe to see the waitress hard at work for customers inside. Now was his chance. He quickly Shadow Skinned only his left hand, taking a moment to stare at. It was the normal, black, vicious-looking segemented armor that layered his hands and fingers from both the underside and topside of his arm and hand, a faint white glow emerging from gaps that were visible, and black, claw like fingertips. No bone plating segments. No grey muscle fibers underneath said plating. It was simply his normal Shadow Skin. However, is was not thar he wanted to test.

He took another quick glance around and waited as a couple entered inside the cafe. With no one in sight, he quickly curled up his Shadowy fingers, save his index and middle finger, and lifted up part of his shirt. He then pierced his clawed fingertips into his side, spilling a little amount of blood. Nothing. Nothing at all. Not even a sense of throbbing pain. He then removed his fingers from his side, and just as quickly as he removed them, his wound had already healed within the instant.

Now that he did this, he couldn't help but think one thing as he confirmed his hypothesis. Why was it that Inuba, and only Inuba, could make him feel the pain he did last night? How was it possible? Was it due to their souls being linked to one another? Or was it something else entirely he didn't understand? He always hated when he couldn't find an immediate answer. Either because there were too many or too little variables. His problem currently was that there were very few variables involved that could help him understand the situation. And until he knew more, he wasn't willing to look into it any further.

He heard footsteps approaching rapidly and looked up to see somehow he least expected currently, taking deep breaths as she stopped in front of him. She must have ran here without stopping.

"You should be in bed resting you know. I wouldn't want you to overwork yourself and-"

"Why..?" Inuba asked softly as she stood in place trembling.

He still kept his eyes narrowed, confused slightly about her inquiry.

"Why what?" He asked slightly concerned.

 _Does she know? Does she remember last night?_

"Why did you leave so suddenly?"

 _So suddenly? Why is she-?_

He then thought about it carefully. When he left the room this morning, he simply left. He didn't even think to courteously leave a note for her. He could tell what she was thinking.

 _She thought I just up and left without saying a word. Of course she'd panic a little and be concerned. That was really insensitive of me…_

"About that… I just...I just left in a hurry. I'm really sorry about that and didn't mean to concern you. Uh, take a seat." He said pushing a chair toward her.

She finally looked up at him, eyes expressing some form of sadness, possibly even a slight bit of anger as she took the seat that was offered to her.

"I, um...I just needed to go out for a bit, calm myself and whatnot."

She looked at him carefully, noting that he kept his eyes closed enough that nobody would be able to see them. He also seemed...off. As if he were incredibly exhausted.

"Master… Did… Did something happen last night? I don't remember anything after leaving Lady Friede's room."

 _She remembers that much? What do I do here? Lie? Or tell the truth in a more controlled way?_

"How do I put this… Um… Yeah… Something happened."

Inuba's hand were resting atop the table, the young immortal visibly able to see her hands clench tightly. Had she found him out already? Or was she thinking of what could have happened?

"It turns out that...Jonathan Friede had a torture dungeon running within the underground tunnels of the castle. Raum and I felt something Dark in there, so we decided I would be the one to go and investigate. I found the dungeon where he tortured and killed...ugh...so many I didn't have time to count them all."

Her eyes widened as she gasped, shocked to hear such a thing.

"Before you ask, Lady Friede had nothing to do with his...sick pass time. She was completely in the Dark about it."

"W-What happened afterwards..?"

"I went to go confront him...and it turns out he knocked you unconscious and took you hostage."

He wasn't going to tell her how she was controlled and used against him. He wasn't going to tell her about she injured him and managed to make him feel pain. She'd not only be mortified, but she would blame herself entirely when it wasn't even her fault. She'd even go as far as to find a reason as to why it'd be her fault when it really wasn't.

"After I managed to get you to safety, I fought him directly. It's safe to save it was a...short confrontation."

Numerous images popped into his mind of him eviscerating all the men under Jonathan's command, and soon after how he brutalized and mangled the elder Friede.

"Maria showed up soon after, arrested Jonathan, and I took you and left. I wasn't going to stay in the castle after all that. So I took you to the inn, bought you pajamas...kept my eyes closed as I changed you in them and just stayed there all night. I...wasn't feeling too well, so I went out to get some coffee."

"You aren't feeling well?" She asked.

He always like how she was legitimately concerned about him. Especially when it was completely unnecessary. From his point of view at least.

"It's nothing...I'm just...tired for once…"

Was he lying? He did look a bit more pale than usual. But there was one other matter she was concerned about.

"Master..?"

"Hm?"

"Why have you been narrowing your gaze and avoiding eye contact with me?"

She already knew part of the answer as two why. What she wanted now was the full answer from him. And she wasn't going to take no for answer or allow him to skirt around it.

"Well...it's pretty bright outside, and I don't like it when the suns too strong and-"

"Please don't lie to me!" She said slightly raising her voice. "You don't need to hide from me or look away… Haven't I made that clear to you already? Why do you insist on continuing-?"

"Because I'm that petty, Inuba… I feel as though if I share my problems with others, it becomes theirs, which is something I want to avoid entirely. When I do something bad, or when I do something unsightly, I turn away so that others don't stare too long and get swallowed up by my Darkness. And when I do the things I do because they deserved it...I don't even feel the slightest bit of remorse in me. The reason I look away...is because I try so foolishly hard to hide it, when really, just the slightest push is all that it takes to bring out the worst in me at times. I look away...because I'm the worst kind of-"

"You're wrong! That's… That's-!"

"Completely true. You've been around me longer than anyone else has… You know exactly how cruel I can be. You've seen it numerous times before. So can you really-?"

"I can!"

He was surprised with how quickly she answered.

"I can honestly say that...because you've done so much more good to make up for your past mistakes. You gave people help even when they didn't need it or deserve it. You've always done your very best to protect all around you. You've defied authority, deities, even gods to do what was necessary and what was right. You've sacrificed so much more than you ever should have for the safety of others… You've done more than you ever should and go the extra mile. If anything...you're the best kind of person."

"If I'm the best kind of person...then why is it I can do some of the things I do without batting an eyelash? How am I able to do some of the horrible things I do and even be considered a good person?"

"Because...you've given so much already…never receiving anything in return... And because of that, you're completely exhausted...nearly empty inside… You understandably stumble and fall sometimes… You get lost in the Dark… But don't you understand by now? There'll always be people who are willing to guide you back! People who are always willing to stand by you! Why do you push people away when they try to help you?!"

"Because Inuba...I've had so much taken from me… Most of the time far too quickly for me to do anything about it… After everything that happened on Primordial, after coming here to Remnant...I made a promise. I promised myself...that I will never allow anything, or anyone, be taken from me ever again. And if I have to cross every imaginable line possible to make sure that remains true…I will always do so without hesitating. You were right. I've had too much taken from me. But not anymore... I will never allow that to happen again."

He didn't know what else to say. She was right. Completely so. But he was right as well. He wasn't going to like what he was going to do next, but it was his only way of responding to her. Dante slowly opened his eyelids, revealing his Shadow Eyes to Inuba. She didn't look away. She didn't recoil. All she did was stare right at him.

"I'm not afraid…"

"What..?"

"I said…I'm not afraid… No matter what you do, what you say, how you look...as long as I breath and live...I will never be afraid of you or turn away."

His Shadowy Eyes widened in shock, slowly reverting to their normal, light sky-blue eyes before his gaze softened.

"In the end...you'll always stick by your answer...no matter what…"

She gasped suddenly when she saw him smile.

"You can be so irritatingly stubborn at times...you know that? But...I suppose that's one of your many good points… You simply just care too much… I just can't comprehend this thinking of yours at times..."

He saw droplets hitting the table, thinking it was raining for a moment. But he looked up into the sky and saw it was clear. It was then he only realized this way not rainfall, but tears. Dante quickly looked down to see Inuba crying.

 _I'm racking up all the insensitivity points today, aren't I?_

"I'm sorry that what I said upset you-"

"It's not… It's not just that…" she said sniffling slightly as her hand reached out to him on the table, leaving something for him as her hand drew away.

It was the fox charm she had given him, the one he left behind back at the inn.

"P-Please… Never leave this behind again… Because if you do… It...It'll feel like you're gone again… And...that would hurt more than anything else could…"

The young immortal couldn't describe what he felt next. No, he could actually. He just wanted to dismiss it, consider it foreign, unknown. But he knew this feeling all too well. The painful throbbing in his chest he had felt before, only now, it hurt worse than it did before. He slowly reached up towards his chest, clutching it tightly while never taking his eyes off of Inuba.

"I'm… I'm sorry… I promise I won't do it again…" he said softly.

She used her detached sleeve to wipe away her tears, still sniffling slightly as she looked up at him. By then, his hand was already absent from his chest.

"Please…make sure that's a promise you will keep…"

"I will…definitely…" he replied affirmatively.

She smiled when she heard this, soon looking behind Dante, which promoted him to turn his head to see. Ciel, Leo and Raum stood there, Ciel being the only one on the verge of tears.

"Big brother… you idiot!"

She rushed up and gave him a hug tight enough that he confused his little sister to be a little yeti monster for a moment due to the strength of her hug. He apologized as best as he could, to be her and Leonard. And of course, Ciel was lecturing him, parts of her lecture using...colorful words. When Dante looked towards Raum, it seemed as though he had something to say as well, making him move past his brother and sister to approach them.

Without a word, Raum simply raised up his right hand, presenting Dante his sheathed longsword, Anvil. He made to reach for it, but Raum pulled his hand away slightly.

"You good?" He asked as Irene hummed softly in a questioning manner, as if she too were asking him the same question.

"I'm good." Replied Dante, reaching out towards his weapon once more.

Raum nodded and handed the young immortal his sword, who then invisibly attached it to the left side of his back.

"Well, seeing as you brought your belongings, along with mine and Inuba's, I think we should make our way to the next town. Agreed?" He asked them all.

"Yeah!" They all responded in unison.

* * *

"From what I've read on the maps, the next village is close by to Shion Village, which isn't too far. The establishment is well guarded, but it does seem to have its fair share of Grimm in the area." Said Leo as he glanced at the holographic display showing a map.

"How long of a walk?" Asked Dante.

"Two days at most."

"Tch… And here I was hoping it'd be closer…"

"What? Getting tried bro?" Asked Ciel slapping him on his back.

When she did so, she noticed something odd. She almost pushed him forward a bit too much. There was little resistance.

"Woah… You're like a leaf in the wind. You okay?" Asked the younger sibling.

"I'm fine… Just feeling a bit iffy is all…" replied Dante.

Ciel hummed questionably before moonwalking back towards Inuba, who walked a few feet behind her master.

"Yo, Inuba. Is everything good with him? He literally looks like he's gonna pass out any minute." Said Ciel.

"He did say he was feeling rather unwell today… I was thinking it was simply him being exhausted but…"

The Kitsune only now remembered an emerging fact from not too long ago, quickly looking up at Dante in time to see him slowly stagger down to his knees.

"Master!"

Inuba immediately rushed to his side as he was on his hands and knees, sweating a decent amount while breathing heavily.

"Master?! What's wrong?! Please, say something!"

"I'm...not feeling too well…"

Raum and Leo had already turned back around to stop and see what was wrong.

"I think...I need to take a nap for a bit…"

His head hung low suddenly, and before he could crash head first into the ground, Inuba prevented him from doing so and held him in her arms.

"The hell is wrong with him?" Asked Raum.

Inuba placed a hand on Dante's forehead, then pressed her own forehead against the same hand, blushing slightly with how close their faces were.

"He...has a fever…" said Inuba.

"You've got to be kidding me… Him of all people has a fever? Seriously?" Asked the Dark Entity.

"And what of it?" Asked Ciel a bit angrily.

"Nothing. I was just thinking I should've fought him on the days he had a cold or something. I might've won then…"

"A fever and a slight cold…"

"I've only got medicine for the munchkin. I'm not all that sure it's necessary to waste on him. You've got those flames of yours, right?"

"That is correct. Since my Cleansing Flame can cure practically all diseases as well as regenerate and heal wounds, we have no need for medicine. Even so, its effect on him is only slight. Despite this, I'll take care of him. Would the three of you kindly set up camp here for today? As things are, he's in no condition to move."

"How long will it take?" Asked Leonard.

"It's uncertain. My Cleansing Flame has always been...finicky when concerning Master. As is, it only marginally works on him in the case of his right arm. I believe it has something to do with his near immunity to magic."

"Near immunity?" Asked Raum.

"To be more accurate, his resistance to magic is incredibly high that it can be considered near immunity."

"Tch… No wonder my magic hasn't worked on you all those times… I'm learning more and more about the brat every minute…"

"Where it not for his high resistance, his arm would have been healed by now by my Cleansing Flames, as well as me being able to take care of this in no less than five minutes. It would seem we're inoperable for the day. So again, can you all please set up camp while I take care of him?"

"Sure thing." Said Ciel.

The younger sister immediately snapped her fingers as a circular portal of black Aura opened up in front of her, and out of it, dropped numerous backpacks full of outdoor equipment as well as two tent packs colored black with a few white streaks located around the fabric.

"You two hellions set up the table and the cooking station. I got the tents and everything else."

They did as they were told and quickly went about setting up their share. Raum raised up both hands as they glowed with dark green Aura, the three tent packs as well as two of the five equipment packs floating in the air with dark green outlines. The packs began undoing themselves, the black tents setting themselves up along with the extra equipment and parts that came with them. Sleeping bags entered inside and unzipped themselves, ready to be sat in.

Five black, collapsible camping chairs unfolded themselves in an arcing band, a pile of stones forming a circle in front of the chairs soon after for the campfire later tonight.

"Done here. What about you two?"

Ciel had finished setting up the large, collapsible dinner table, and had just finished helping Leonard setting up the small cooking station, complete with a grill and a stove top. Pots and pans had been placed, along with other sorts of cooking utensils.

"And done!" Said Ciel.

She hummed momentarily, as if she felt as though she had forgotten something.

"Oh yeah! Forgot we had that!"

She snapped her fingers again as another black portal had opened and brought forth a mini fridge stocked with a large amount of meats, vegetables, fruits, and other ingredients to make different sorts of meals.

"Now we're done. Aren't you guys glad you've got someone who can store practically everything in another pocket dimension?"

"Yes. We are very grateful for your extremely useful abilities Ms. Ciel." Said Inuba.

"Hey… Was that sarcasm just now?"

"N-No! Nothing of the sort! I truly meant what I said. Your abilities are extremely useful overall and versatile in any, if not all situations. You are incredible in every sense of the word. And I'm very thankful both you and Leonard for joining us on our journey."

 _W-Well… When she puts it that way…_

"Alrighty then."

Ciel snapped her fingers a last time as a floor mat dropped out of a black portal hanging above her.

"Here. So he can lie down and stuff while you take care of him."

"Thank you very much Ms. Ciel."

"Come on Foxy, we're besties you and I. Just call me Ciel. Same for Leo, and Raum… Well, call him whatever you want. Of course, you can still be kinky and call big brother 'Master' and all that." Said Ciel with a mischievous smile.

"K-K-K-Kinky?!" Said Inuba as her face turned bright red. "I-It's how I formally acknowledge him and the like!"

"Uh-huh, sure it is." Said the younger sibling with a wink.

An idea soon sprang into her mind.

"Yo, Leo, tall, dark and elderly."

"Come again?" Said Raum.

"Sorry. Does old man work better?"

"Watch it you little hellion. Don't test me."

"Anyway, the three of us will go patrol around for a while to make sure things are safe and the such while Inuba stays here to take care of brother."

"Sure. At least I'll have something to do." Said Raum.

"Less pests, less work for us in the end. For once, you have an excellent idea Ciel." Said Leonard.

"I always have the best ideas. Well, at least almost always. But...first things first… Come here you two." Said Ciel bringing them into a huddle, whispering her plan to them.

"Are you serious?" Asked Raum.

"Yup."

"Ugh… This is stupid…"

"Shut up. You wouldn't understand. Leo?"

"I only slightly agree with you both on this matter. But...I agree more with you Ciel. However...my part in this will be minimal and nothing more."

"Dude, just do it. Brb!"

Ciel quickly opened a black portal and leapt into it. A minute had passed until it reappeared, the younger sibling stepping out with a bag in her hand.

"Whew! So glad they still had this!"

Ciel pulled out from the bag an item that made Inuba's face even redder than it initially was, the Kitsune trying to form words, but only managing incoherent mutters.

Irene quickly placed her hands on Raum's eyes to shield them as he turned around. Inuba looked to Leo for help, but he had covered his eyes as well, pointing one of his guns at Inuba's feet.

"I am very sorry Ms. Kitsukami… But...this was all Ciel's idea. While hairbrained and embarrassing, it will be worth it for you in the end. Hopefully."

He fired off four bursts of white Aura outlined in black, which did not harm Inuba, but tethered her in place. Gravity tethers was Leonard's secondary ability, his primary being his incredibly accurate and high damaging Aura beams that blanketed his already high damaging bullets. Tethering Inuba in place, Leonard and Raum walked away from a chuckling Ciel, who inched closer to Inuba with a mischievous smirk about her.

"Stand still now Ms. Foxy~! It'll be over quicker if you let it happen!"

"N-Noooooooooooo!"

* * *

 **Five minutes later…**

"It took you that long to do something like that?" Asked Raum.

"Hey, it's all in the presentation."

"Are you sure brother will like it?"

"Dude, that's like asking if five year olds love sugar. Of course he'll like it! Trust me...he will…"

* * *

Dante's eyes slowly opened, staring at a line of branches from numerous trees that blocked the sun's rays. He felt too weak to move, evidenced by the fact he tried to prop himself up, but failed entirely to do so, his head falling back into the soft pillow. A thin fabric blanket covered him, and he noticed something cool on his forehead. A towelette that had been drenched in ice cold water alleviated the uncomfortable heat emanating from his forehead.

"Did I...pass out? Ugh...my head… Fever..? I...must be sick…" he said to himself in between breathes.

Even breathing felt difficult at the moment. Strangely, this illness of his wasn't stopped him from moving, at least, not entirely. For once in his life, the muscles in his arms legs, and body felt immensely sore. Was it because of the form he took on the previous night? Did it put much more strain on him than anticipated? So much so that even made him ill? It was possible.

"M-Master..? Are… Are you awake..?"

"Yeah… Sorry about the scare earlier… "

"Y-You don't need to apologize Master… I-It's not your fault that you are ill…"

"So I am sick… Guess I was right… Um...where...where are you..?"

She didn't want to say. She was too embarrassed to say. Inuba felt as though if he so much as looked at her right now, her heart would explode with how rapidly it was beating. Even so...that same heart was telling her to call out and tell him where she was. She'd endure the embarrassment.

"I'm...over here…"

Following her voice, Dante slowly turned his head and was shocked by what he saw. His partner stood a short distance away, only her clothing was a bit different than usual. She wore what seemed to be one of the old fashioned nurse outfits, white in color and very form fitting, clinging tightly to her slender yet curvaceous body. The chest area was intentionally absent of two out of the six total buttons, exposing much of Inuba's ample clevage.

The nurse-dress was tight at the bottomand stopped above the center of the Kitsune's legs. It was safe to say that if ever she had need to bend over and pick up something, much would be revealed despite her fox tail. Speaking of which, there was a small gap in the skirt to allow Inuba's fox tail to freely move about without lifting up her already "short" skirt.

Along with the white nurse cap, Inuba wore her usual white thighhigh socks with the black bands on the ends. Only now, they had white straps that trailed inside and up her skirt, which told Dante one thing. Inuba was wearing a garterbelt.

His mind already hazy enough, the young immortal's imagination didn't produce any "pretty pictures" for him this time. He was more focused on resting and trying to get better. But that still didn't stop his face from redenning even more than it already was, unable to find words to describe the sight before him.

"S-Since when did you...own an outfit like that..?" Asked the teen as he was glancing back and forth, trying not to stare too much at his partner.

"S-Since a few minutes ago…"

"What...do you mean?"

"Your sister was very keen on the idea of me treating you while...wearing this… That, and she stole all my other clothes, leaving me with only this outfit..."

Inuba's fox tail soon found itself in her arms, the Kitsune cuddling it tightly as she partially hid her face behind it, her ears folded against her head to further express her embarrassment.

"Ciel...went and got that just for this..? Honestly… That little fool of a sister…"

Dante took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. Breathing was still a bit difficult.

 _I knew it… He doesn't like it… Why did I even consider allowing Ciel to-?_

"Don't take this the wrong way or anything...but...I think…well… I think it suits you well… Too well in fact…"

Inuba's fox ears immediately perked up as her eyes went wide with surprise, her face growing hotter the more and more she replayed his words through her head over and over again. Were it not for the fact that the Kitsune was holding her currently squirming fox tail, it would have been whipping about rather happily.

Did… Did he really like it? Did he truly think this outfitted suited her well?

"You...um...not only look great in it…but it kinda works with you with how you are. The seriously caring an nurturing part… Making sure I eat properly… Helping me out with small matters… Taking care of me in instances like this… Honestly...you can be a 'nurse' of sorts at times. Um… Y-You get what I'm saying...right?"

"Yes… I do." She said smiling.

"Great… Then...I needn't say more…" he said looking away from her.

He stared for too long at one point, and was hoping she didn't notice. Secretly, she did. That alone was enough to make her happy. But still...the outfit was rather embarrassing. Thankfully it was only in his presence currently and no one else's. She resigned to her fate and would wear the outfit without further complaints.

Inuba's only goal was to treat and ensure her Master's recovery. That, and to make sure to keep "accidents" to a minumum despite Ciel telling her to be slightly "clumsy" and "trip" every now and then. The younger sister of her immortal Master also made the suggestion for the Kitsune to use her remarkable "assets" to her advantage given that her outfit amplified them.

Was something like that alright in a situation like this? She felt as though she'd be taking advantage of him in his current weakened state. No, the outfit was enough. She would do what she intended, which was to take care of her Master. It may have been the first time she has ever had to treat him for being ill, but she's done so for numerous others over the years. It shouldn't be that much different. Hopefully.

Dante smelled something cooking. It smelled slightly minty.

"Do you...have something on the stove..?"

"Ah, yes! I-I'll be right back!"

She quickly ran off towards the small stove that was set up. He watched her work skillfully to prepare whatever it was she was cooking. The young immortal couldn't help but smile at the sight, closing his eyes shortly after to rest them a bit. He didn't really need any of this, being taken care of and all. He always just suffered through the day whenever his once a month sickness came by for the day. But it felt nice to be taken care of for once.

Opening his eyes again, he had found that his gaze had lowered more than he intended, catching a particular view that made his face hotter than it already was. He was wrong, no, very wrong to assume Inuba's tail would block anything, especially since it was whipping about fairly quickly. And given that he was lying on a mat on the floor and she was standing up, he could see everything.

"Master?"

He quickly turned his head he opposite way before she turned hers to look at him a second later. Inuba placed the lid on the small pot and walked by to her Master's side, sitting down on a blanket next to him.

"Are you alright Master? You seem a bit...strange…"

"N-No… I mean, I'm alright, there's nothing wrong with me! Hehehehe…"

 _Just look away! Look away and you'll be fine Dante!_

He then felt her soft hand touch his forehead after she removed the towelette covering it. It didn't take very long to determine he was still burning up quite a bit. But just to be safe, she pressed her forehead against the hand on her Master's, closing her eyes to get an accurate feel. Dante has his eyes closed as well so he wouldn't stare. Even so, that didn't help him ignore the two "large objects" pressing against the side of his chest.

"Your fever has lowered quite a bit compared to before, but it's still present… If only my Cleansing Flame could do more to help you…"

"Y-You're doing great as is. So don't blame yourself… If anything, it's my fault for being so highly resistant to all types of magic, even yours. You're doing fine. Even without your magic to help, you're taking excellent care of me with your...um...excellent nursing skills…"

Inuba's face reddened once more, knowing he meant both her skill in taking care of him and her outfit. He actually was looking. The fact his face was red and he was trying to avoid her eyesight was enough to prove that. She couldn't help but smile a bit, both in satisfaction and how adorably shy he could be at times.

"One moment please…"

She stood up and walked to the stove, grabbing a bowl off the table and filling it with the food from the pot. Inuba pulled down a bit on her already very short skirt that was a part of the nurse uniform before grabbing hold of the bowl and approaching the mat Dante lay on, sitting down on the pillow next to him.

"So...what did Inuba Kitsukami, chef extraordinaire make for me?" Asked Dante.

"I made rice porridge with some peppermint leaves I mixed into it."

"Hence why I smelled the minty freshness early… Nice work."

Dante propped himself up and weakly reached for the bowl, only to have Inuba move it away from his hands.

"Not likely Master. You are in my care. Therefore, I will feed you myself."

"That's not necessary, I can-"

"That's no good Master. Please, allow me."

"I-I'm not a kid you know…"

"True… But you still act like one on occasion."

She had him beat right there. There was no denying that fact. He did enjoy acting like a child sometimes. It was...fun.

"F-Fine… You win…"

Inuba giggled to herself and raised a spoon to his face full of the rice porridge, the minty freshness flooding his senses once more.

"Say ah."

He said nothing, pouting slightly before opening his mouth a bit, avoiding eye contact with Inuba as she fed him a serving of the rice porridge. It tasted...excellent. Moreso than when he usually ate food, which was a rarity on its own. That was until Inuba started cooking for him again like she did in the past. Only now, she had more people to cook for besides him.

"How is it?" Asked the Kitsune.

"It's...well…"

She seemed concerned for a moment.

"How do I say this… I can't think of anything else to say besides...it tastes great."

Her fox ears immediately perked up as she sat up straighter than arrow.

"D-Do you really mean it..?"

"Of course. Why else would I say that? In fact...I'm feeling a bit better now…"

That wasn't an exaggeration or a lie. He did actually feel a bit better than he did five minutes ago. What sorcery was this? How could he suddenly feel so much better from taking one bite?

"I think I'm currently old enough to feed myself now." He said extending his hand to his partner, silently requesting the bowl of rice porridge.

She couldn't help but stare at him with wide eyes as she hurriedly surrendered the bowl to him, allowing to dig in further. To the young immortal, this was a complete mystery to him. But it was one he'd enjoy rather than overthink it and try to understand to its fullest depths. Despite not eating unless his partner made him something, he always enjoyed her cooking. Never once has she failed to make something really delicious.

"How is it that you always manage to make everything good?"

"P-Pardon?"

"Your cooking is fantastic as always, no one should dare to even challenge you. Even when I feel like not being nice to jerks or bad people, you always are. You somehow manage to turn around the worst kind of situations, as proven throughout the numerous years we worked together. I just...don't understand how you can do it. I mean, I'm mediocre at best when I try. So my fluffy tailed partner, what's your secret?"

"S-Secret..?"

"What mysteries are in your possession that allow you to be so nice?"

"Um…"

She was caught off guard by the question completely. But she understood his subtle query. How and why was she so nice to him in spite of how he can be at times? And most importantly, why was she so nice to him with how he used to be in the past?

"We all have our reasons Master… Some believe that with positivity and goodwill, they can reach out to others in a way that would help make a change in their life. With a certain amount of positivity and heartfelt goodness, they can pass it on to others and so forth."

"Positivity and goodwill isn't something everyone can have or receive. Some are just people who outright refuse the idea."

"Even so...it's better to try than not at all, yes? After all...you're one such case...aren't you?"

Dante glanced at Inuba a moment before looking away, still working another spoon of the rice porridge before he spoke again.

"I'd give you the same answer I always do, but you'd only strongly disagree with me."

"I just don't understand why you keep suggesting such things…"

"Did you ever wonder that I may be hiding it?"

She fell silent, not moving a single inch until she looked away from him for a moment, biting her lip.

"There is good in you."

"Oh I don't doubt that Inuba."

"Then, why-?"

"There's a simple answer to that really. You should know what it is I'm talking about. But, I'll say it anyway as a reminder. There's a cruelty within me Inuba. One that runs really, really deep. And it scares me how bad it can be sometimes."

She wanted to say something. But she knew he had more to say. She knew all day really. But she preferred he said himself instead.

"I didn't just take Jonathan Friede into custody last night Inuba. Remember how I said he took people hostage and you were one of them?"

"Y-Yes…"

"Well… As you can imagine, I didn't take to kindly to that. Beforehand I was already…distraught over what I saw in that abomination of a torture dungeon. Him taking hostages, especially my partner, only added fuel to those flames. So...I brutalized him. I destroyed him until he was unable to move a single inch. Funny thing is, I didn't kill him like I planned to. Close, but not quite. His sister took him into custody and just this morning he was found dead. Truthfully, I'm glad about it. Not so nice as you thought, huh?"

"They way you say it… It's almost as if you're deliberately trying to paint yourself as someone terrible…"

He completely froze in place when he heard her say that.

"Why do you that to yourself?! Why do try so hard to bring yourself down and prove to others that you're someone vile?!"

"If you saw what I did last night, you'd agree with me."

"I wouldn't…"

"I will never think I'll of you! You know that!"

"I don't understand… You keep saying that despite the clear cut evidence in front of you… I can't comprehend this thinking of yours…"

"I say that because I lo-!"

Inuba paused immediately, realizing what she was about to say.

"I say that...because I look at you…and see a good man. A person that cares for others far too much. Someone who would go to all sorts of lengths to protect and save others… Even if that means traveling down a dark path at times… The issue you have is that you care too much, even if others don't. And because of that, you get hurt sometimes. Whether it be by your own hand or by others. Never have I thought of you as evil, or cruel, or despicable. Many others would agree with me as well."

"Many others don't know what we do."

"The simple truth of the matter is that you're just troubled at times… The things you've seen… No person should ever have to experience what you did. The issue is that you simply have too big of a heart… And villains shamefully take advantage of that when they can. Even so...never change that about yourself. Always keep that big heart with you and never let it go...because...I think it's the greatest part about you over everything else..."

Dante glanced at Inuba a few moments before staring at the bowl of rice porridge in his hands. He took the last scoop and ate it quickly, speaking only after he finished swallowing his food.

"You know… I kinda hate it when you're right about these things at times… I'm seriously starting to think you know almost everything…"

"I don't know everything Master… When it comes to people...I know what I see in front of me."

"You make a convincing arguement. And because of that...well...I guess I have no choice but to believe you."

Inuba smiled when she heard those words. She was amused, slightly because subtly, he was telling her "You're right" in his own way. The other reason was because she could tell he was somewhat embarrassed to admit that she was right. That, and he appreciated her kind words.

"You really meant what you said?" He asked softly as his sky blue eyes met her crimson eyes once more.

Without the slightest hint of hesitation, she said "Word for word. And there's nothing that will ever make me take back those words."

"And they honestly say I'm too kind of a person… Really now…"

He handed the bowl to Inuba and plopped back down on the mat.

"Thanks for the meal…"

"You're welcome." She said setting it atop the collapsable table before rejoining his side on the mat.

"Thank you." He said with his eyes closed.

"F-For what Master?"

"For everything that you do. I don't exactly remember whether or not I thank you all the time for your hard work, but I'll say it now just in case. Thank you for everything that you do."

"You're welcome...Master…"

A few seconds of silence remained between the duo as the sun was beginning to touch down behind the mountain range. The evening would soon come.

"Inuba?"

"Hm?"

"Do you remember that song from a while back?"

She knew which song he spoke of. It was a favorite of his. That, and she spent a full day or two rehearsing it so she could sing it for him. In actuality, it was a birthday gift for the young immortal long ago, and it was one he enjoyed greatly. But she would tease him a bit and play dumb.

"Which song Master?" She asked with a smile.

"You know which one. It's the one I really liked that you were able to sing."

"Ah yes...that one…" she said innocently.

"If it's not too much trouble...can you sing it for me?"

"Of course Master… I would be glad too."

Inuba scooted herself a bit closer to Dante, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes before she began her song.

* * *

 **(Songs from Final Fantasy XV - Florence + The Machine - Stand By Me)**

 _When the night has come  
And the land is dark  
And the moon is the only light we see  
No I won't be afraid  
No I won't be afraid  
Just as long as you stand, stand by me_

 _So darling, darling stand by me  
Oh, stand by me  
Oh stand by_

 _Stand by me, stand by me_

 _If the sky that we look upon  
Should tumble and fall  
And the mountain should crumble to the sea  
I won't cry, I won't cry  
No I won't shed a tear  
Just as long as you stand, stand by me_

 _And darling, darling stand by me  
Oh, stand by me  
Oh stand by, stand by me, stand by me  
_

Inuba then began a soft-hum tune for a few moments before beginning the song once more.

 _And darling, darling stand by me  
Oh, stand by me  
Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me_

 _Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me  
Oh, stand by me  
Oh, stand by, stand by me_

 _Darling, darling stand by me  
Oh, stand by me  
Oh stand by, stand by me_

 _Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me  
Oh, stand by me  
Oh, stand by, stand by me, stand by me_

* * *

Crimson eyes opened up to greet the evening. The sun had set halfway. Inuba looked down towards the mat to see Dante resting comfortably, sound asleep. It was a sight that brought her joy as she giggled softly to herself.

"If anything… I should be the one thanking you Master… For meeting me so long ago…and for taking me on this ever exciting journey since the beginning. That is something that I think I won't ever be able to repay you for…"

Her heart was pounding in her chest slightly as she gently placed one hand on his chest, her eyes narrowing slightly as she slowly began leaning in towards him.

The Kitsune knew what she had promised to herself. She knew all too well. But...there were moments she simply wished to forget that promise she made to herself. Right now was one such moment as her face grew closer to his, her eyes closed and the girl herself prepared to follow through.

"We're back!"

Inuba's heart stopped completely for a moment before it jumpstarted and was set hammering as she heard her Master's younger sibling call out, forcing her to quickly sit up straight, acting as if she had done nothing, or rather, was about to do nothing.

"Oh~ I smell something good!"

"Keep your voice down sister…" said Leonard.

"What? Why?"

Leo simply nodded his head in the direction of Inuba and Dante, the Kitsune rising from the pillow she sat on to greet them.

"Y-You were all gone for quite some time… Were there that many Grimm?"

"Eh, kinda, but not really." Responded Ciel.

"We decided to take a small break after meeting up. Then we decided it was time to head back to camp when the sun was beginning to set." Said Leonard as he grabbed a bowl and poured himself some of the rice porridge along with Ciel before they sat in their respective collapsible camping chairs.

Ciel took the first bite and was immediately wowed at how a simple dish tasted to great.

"Mmmmmm~! Delicious as always!"

"I concur… This is fantastic…"

"Raum? You're not eating anything." Said Inuba.

"Sorry. Was thinking is all…" said the Dark Entity as he grabbed one bowl and filled it with rice porridge.

When he sat down in one of the open chairs, he removed Irene from his shoulders and sat her down in his lap in a way so that she could face him. The young wolf Faunus looked up at Raum and giggled loudly as she raised her hands up, motioning for the Dark being to proceed.

"Alright alright, hold on a second. It's still a little too hot. Here, since you're so eager, you get to do the honors." He said lowering the spoon to her level.

The young girl took in a large amount of air, greatly puffing her cheeks until she slowly exhaled to cool down the spoon full of rice porridge, allowing her caretaker to feed her soon after. This same process repeated until her cheeks were too sore to do so, making it the Dark beings duty to continue in her place. Luckily, he didn't have to do this for too long since he shared his meal with her, taking an occasional bite as well.

"So~ What happened?" Asked Ciel.

"W-What do you mean? N-Nothing happened… And please, return my clothes!" Asked Inuba.

"Fine fine…"

Ciel snapped her fingers as a small black portal opened up above Inuba and dropped her clothes into her lap.

"Your pack with your clothes is in the tent."

The Kitsune went inside the tent immediately afterwards as the sound of quick shuffling noises could be heard, Inuba stepping out a minute later fully dressed in her normal clothes as she sat down in one of the two remaining camping chairs.

"What did he think? Come on! Tell us! Tell us!" Asked the younger sibling.

"H-He said it suited me very well…"

"Any funny business afterwards?"

"W-What?! N-No! Nothing like that!"

"What?! Oh come on! I spent fifty lien on that nurse outfit so you two could possibly have 'alone time', and nothing happened?! Seriously?! Ugh! Guess I have to return that outfit…"

"Um… W-Well… I...I think I might keep it...just in case…"

Inuba's face was colored a bright red, almost as if she were fantasizing about what could have happened before shaking her head rapidly to rid her of these thoughts.

"If something actually happened, do you really think the fox would say?" Said Raum as he continued feeding Irene.

"Well, no… But still…"

"If anything, she probably 'took him' when he was sleeping." Said the Dark being calmly, making Inuba squeal silently in terror at such a theory.

"I-I didn't! I w-would never do such a thing!"

"You don't have to be so defensive you know. It's not like we'd have a problem if you did."

"I-I didn't! I'm going to bed! Goodnight to you all!" She said with a voice filled with embarrassment and frustration as she approached Dante and dragged him and his mat into the tent.

"Make plenty of babies tonight!" Shouted Ciel.

The younger sibling moved her head to the left as an object flew past her.

"Ah~ Teasing her is so much fun!"

* * *

When dawn had arrived the next morning, the group packed up their campsite and had Ciel transport their gear to a pocket dimension for storage until the next time they would possibly need to camp out. Dante's illness had passed by the time he awoke, allowing him to help quickly pack up their campsite.

"Alright… Considering there's a village between us and Shion village, we'll stop there for the day before we move on to Shion. Afterwards we'll-"

Dante felt vibrations in his pack, forcing him to remove his pack from his back to search its contest for the source. A white crystal shard, no bigger than his hand pulsated with a white glow. This was one of the crystal shards he was given by his mysterious "stalker" when he visited a different Reality of Remnant long ago.

"What the heck is that?" Asked Ciel.

"The better question to ask is why is it glowing and what does it mean?" Said Leonard.

"It means one of your allies is in trouble."

All five had turned around to face the mysterious girl cloaked in white, who slowly approached them from the forest clearing behind them.

"One of my allies?" Asked Dante.

"Yes… It would seem one of your friends, Xera Stark, has found himself in quite a difficult position as of late. He's reaching out to you urgently through the connection the crystals posses. For quite some time now, I've felt a Dark presence gather and coalesce in his Reality. You might know what it is considering he was to be one of your targets."

"Soul-Slasher… Has he really become that much of a problem that I need to be called out there to help?"

"Not yet… But he will be soon enough. I've also felt a sort of distortion in their midst. One that wasn't present when last we visited. In fact...it appeared only recently after Beacon fell so long ago. But given how the flow of time passes differently with each varying Reality, not much time has passed since you were there."

"I see…"

"What will you do?"

"I'm gonna go obviously."

"Woah woah woah, just like that?" Said Ciel.

"If a friends in need, there's really no decision to be made. Sorry Ciel. Can you take myself and Inuba across right now?"

"Of course."

With a wave of the figures hand, a white portal had opened up in front of them.

"Alright, here's how this'll work. Ciel, Leo, in case we need it, you're our back up if we run into something more than we can handle. So for the time being, I need you two to stay here with Raum if such a case arises. And Raum, if it happens we need even more backup, you're the backup backup."

"What am I supposed to do until then?" Asked the Dark Entity rather irritated.

"I don't know, something. You're an adult. For the most part at least. Find something to do."

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you now, brother?" Asked Leonard.

"I'm sure. You two are my failsafes. I don't know exactly what we're going to encounter. And in the case we need it, you two are going to be my surprise attack. Understand?"

"Sure, got it." Said Ciel.

"Good. Ready to go partner?"

"Whenever you are Master."

Dante gave a nod before turning to his younger siblings once more to deliver his final instruction.

"Behave yourselves and listen to Raum."

"What?! Why do we gotta listen to him?!" Asked Ciel.

"Because he's older. Remember, best behavior."

"Just get going already."

Dante nodded towards Inuba as both immortal and Kitsune stepped inside the portal of white energy, the mysterious figure stopping a moment before entering to face the younger siblings.

"You best do what he says you two."

"Again. I repeat. Just get going." Said Ciel.

The hooded figure shook her head with a sigh before entering inside, the portal collapsing in on itself shortly after.

"Wait a damn minute… Did he say Soul-Slasher?" Asked Raum.

"Yeah… What about it?" Asked Ciel as both she and Leo looked at one another before staring at the Dark Entity.

"Oh Hell… They're fighting him?"

"Is there a problem?" Asked Leonard.

"Not so much a problem. More of a serious pain in the ass really. If it's who I think it is, they're not going to have a good time…"

* * *

 **(Omake: "Counseling with an Immortal, Part 3", by OS Worldmakers**

"Ruby Rose... You have silver eyes... that I don't care about... I'm not Ozpin... and you might've chosen the wrong psychologist to go to."

Bone White stared at his visitor, who Ozpin obviously had sent to him. I mean, seriously! First Dante, and then his girlfriend? How is that not suspicious, Ozpin!

He carefully made sure the resin-covered oaken door wouldn't close behind him by jamming his plastic doormat underneath it, and stepped out into the winter cold with long, grey sports pants made out of acrylic fibers and an undershirt of white fiber even he didn't know.

At least he could see why Dante loved Ruby.

"Um...thank you..?" the petite Huntress in training said.

Out of habit, he ran his left hand's fingers through his black hair. "Let me guess: Dante told you about me?"

Ruby adopted a cute thinking face. "No..?" she began uncertainly. "He just said he talked to someone a little strange yesterday. Not like super strange or anything, more like strange like it's something you never would've imagined and... I'm rambling on... But yeah, no. He didn't mention you at all."

"... I think that's me. Because Vale is pretty normal compared to me. But anyways, don't loiter around. I'll get drinks and food."

"Thanks..."

The psychologist let out a little yawn. "And you didn't even tell me what you wanted. I'll get some spoiled milk..."

Ruby's silver eyes widened in slight horror. "No, no! I'm sorry! Uh...do you have any strawberries?" she said.

He nodded. "Yes. And what drink? Still spoiled milk?"

"Um...maybe some coffee?"

"Strawberries and coffee. I'll just make some pastries, then. Anyways, come inside. It's a bit cold, eh?"

"Um...thank you..."

Bone opened the door wider, allowing the Huntress in training to step in and remove her combat boots.

"No problem. Besides, you realize I sort of have to do this right? Otherwise, my author fires me and condemns me to some kind of contrived hell," the psychologist replied.

"Author..?"

"Nevermind. Dante told you a story about the Creator and 10 Worlds, right? An author created the Creator."

"He's told me a few things... Not everything yet though. He keeps saying it makes for good story material to tell people if they're interested."

"Wow. So, Ozpin said you wanted to talk about boys. Yes, I'm not lying. Your headmaster is a ship master."

"Well...not boys persay...just...a boy..." Ruby admitted.

Mirror eyes squinted at her. "Who... is... sexy... and... why... do... you...talk...like...this...?"

Embarrassment flushed Ruby's cheeks momentarily. "S-Sorry! I'm just a little nervous is all because I haven't done this whole counseling thing before and..! Yeah..."

"And you think that I'm here to mess with you?" Bone asked. "You're right. I'm here to embarrass you and entertain everyone who's seeing this omake. Say hi."

A question mark. "Um, hi to who? It's just the two of us here..."

Dante was right...he is a little weird...

"Oh! I keep on forgetting that not everyone knows about the 4th wall. No matter. So, let's have a little exercise," the psychologist said. He smirked. "Imagine the sexiest guy in your mind."

That isn't hard to do at all considering..! Considering...

Her face flushed a deep red as Dante easily came up, his white hair perfectly complementing his sky-blue eyes and a muscular yet lithe figure.

"Now imagine him with just shorts on."

Her face went even redder as she slapped her hands on her face to cover up her embarrassment.

"He just put on a speedo and you're at the beach with him."

She squealed silently in embarrassment, shaking her head back and forth.

"And then you and him are in bed together, snuggling close..."

She wanted to bash her head against the table, but restrained herself.

"And now you two are naked, ready to become one."

Causally, Bone White poured Mistralian coffee into two mugs and washed the strawberries.

From the other side of the room, he could hear another squeal and someone hitting the table.

"You feel him inside you, and all you can do is- wow, I used the most vague terms for sex and look at you."

He carefully tip-toes around Ruby's form and placed the mugs and fruit on the table.

"Well, that's was a fun exercise for you, I guess. A little warmup for what we'll be doing today."

"W-Warmup..? F-For what?!"

"Oh, nothing naughty, unlike the thoughts in your mind."

"T-That was your fault! I-I-I-I really don't have those kinds of thoughts! Not to often...at least..." she spoke softly at the end.

"We're baking today. And no, it's not cookies. It was right on your tongue and lips. I can tell."

After calming down a bit, Ruby took a deep breath and asked "What are we baking if not cookies?"

"It's called a cake. You know, those towers of white dessert at weddings and at birthdays? The ones you get Dante to blow out?"

"But...his birthday isn't until the 24th of December."

"This is the omake-verse. It's a snowy December winter here."

"What are you going on about omake-verse and all that?"

A sigh and then a yawn. "Okay, let me put like this: party time. You need cake. Done."

"Um...okay...sure..."

"You'll need this."

Fumetsu piled on an apron, a whisk, a bag of flour, a carton of eggs, a whole gallon of milk, cake dishes, sugar, some salt, coloring, and lot of fruit onto Ruby.

The petite Huntress managed to dig her way out of the pile. "Well...let's get started then!" she cheered as she tied the apron onto herself.

He pulled out cake tins and a large bowl, before taking a whisk and some of the ingredients.

"Think you can keep your speed here? Don't think you can beat me at this?" Bone asked.

"If it's speed we're talking about, then I most likely have you beat!" Ruby replied as she stretched her arms.

The psychologist rubbed an imaginary beard on his chin. "Experience against speed. Now this should be fun. Here's the recipe, and away you go."

Quickly, he cracked eggs and poured in milk into his bowl, before measuring in flour and sugar. A few drops of vanilla, and viola.

Ruby struggled for a little while, even with her given speed, but still managed to do excellent work with mixing the ingredients and such.

Meanwhile, Fumetsu was whisking two bowls with his two hands, his arms a blur. At this rate-

"Oh, I should slow down. Almost caught fire," Bone muttered, steam coming out of his arms.

"And done!"

This time, Fumetsu was actually on fire, his shirt burning and setting off the fire alarms as he placed his cakes into the preheated oven.

Ruby was already sitting in a chair waiting while reading a magazine.

"Should be white, with flowers... Then the figurines of you and Dante..." The psychologist muttered.

"Maybe graham crackers too with some frosting?" Ruby said. "He really loves graham crackers. He actually has a whole large fridge just filled with graham crackers. And green tea."

"Add some crumbs of that and layer with green leaf. And some fruit."

Ruby took out her cake with pride. "Alrighty then... How's this?"

He examined the cake, sniffing it a bit before nodding.

"It's nice. Though I'd say it's a bit... too much sugar. Here, try this."

The psychologist tossed her a fresh loaf of an unknown type of bread. It was soft yet firm, bouncing back to its original shape in a few seconds.

"Milk bread. A little recipe from a country named China in one of the worlds I lived in. Try it, it's nice," he explained.

One bite. "Wow! You're right! It is tasty! It's really smooth..."

He nodded. "Yep. It's not too sweet: just right there in that Goldilocks zone. That's what I'm trying to go for. There's other recipes for reference."

In his kitchen, he opened up one large metal container, letting a plume of steam drift up. He took out two steamed bun and tossed them towards her.

"They're both good. Doesn't matter which you start with. Tell me which one you like," he explained.

She took a bit out of both, one after the other, then raised up the one in her right hand.

"You like black sesame and not the red bean?"

"I like them both... I really couldn't decide so I said, eh, I'll pick this one. The red bean is really good," Ruby replied.

He nodded. "So you like sweet... might as well make both then."

Bone took out a bag of sesame seeds and a bowl of soaked red beans, roasting the black seeds as he began to take out more ingredients. Butter. Sugar.

"We're going to make two? I mean, he doesn't need to eat at all, but when he does, he virtually has a bottomless stomach. Anyway, two seems a bit much... But hey, more cake for everyone, right?" the Huntress in training asked.

The psychologist nodded. "Yep. One will have multiple stories. I'll make it. Time to art again..."

And so, the two went to work building two glorious cakes to their desired outcome.

The immortal poured white chocolate into molds for use as pillars and layers and for... two familiar figurines. He took out the baked cakes from the oven as he finished the touches on his black sesame seed and red bean paste.

"There we go. That should do it!"

Gently, he packed up the cake and pastes, along with filling, fruit, chocolates, and some other things...

"And to Beacon we go!"

* * *

 **( Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide 3)**

"Ugh... I hate getting sick... It's always so stressful..." said Dante, looking as though most of his life had been drained away from him.

"You can get sick?! When did this happen?!" Asked Ruby rather concerned.

"Since ever. I just hide away in my lair for the day until it passes. No big deal really."

"Well, at least Inuba was there to take care of you and make sure you weren't being a big dummy."

"Y-Yeah... Let's go with that..." said the young immortal as he quickly recalled the nurse outfit his partner had worn, blushing slightly before shaking his head.

"Speaking of which, why don't we talk about her weapon today? What was it called again? Dark Thesis? Light...Scratcher..?"

"DarkLight Antithesis, Ruby." corrected the young immortal.

"Ugh... You come up with some of the weirdest names ever..."

"What? They're good names."

"Yeah. But they're still weird."

"We gonna talk about the weapon or it's supposedly weird name?"

"Well, you made it. So you talk."

"Right then... So, Inuba's weapon, DarkLight Antithesis, is a weapon I made back when we were on Primordial through the same process I made Anvil, my weapon. Only with one difference. Her weapon has no secondary stages or transformations, it's simply a katana. Well, not simply."

"Since it was made out of the same materials your weapon was made of, that means its components contain Calcified Steel and Empyrean Steel, right?"

"That's right. But here's something I bet the audience didn't know."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Why do you think I mix two of the greatest metals in the universe together, each owned by their respective Dark Entity and Angel races?"

"I don't know but I'm pretty sure its for a good reason!"

"The reason is actually pretty simple. Despite combining the two metals to create the toughest alloy in Creation, each respective metal has their own effective properties."

"Like...one effects a kind of enemy and the other effects another as differently?"

"Pretty much. What you guys didn't know before now, is that Calcified and Empyrean Steel each affect beings differently. Calcified Steel is meant to be extremely effective against all manner of living beings or creatures. Each injury dealt with a weapon that has Calcified Steel weakens and drains the life out of the victim or target. In a way, weapons of that make permanently strengthen themselves marginally with the blood and soul of defeated creatures and beings. The greater the soul or lifeblood pf a being, the greater strengthening effect. Sadly though, the strengthening isn't as big as you'd think it be. Its only marginal."

"And what about Empire Steel?"

"Empyrean Steel, Ruby."

"Right. That."

"Empyrean Steel is wielded by Angels and doesn't have sinister properties like weapons made from Calcified Steel. Empyrean Steel actually has a cleansing effect, meant to cleanse Dark or tainted souls. Instead of greatly effecting living beings or creatures, weapons with Empyrean Steel greatly effect Dark Entities, Shades, Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves-"

"Just about anything Dark and ugly?"

"In short, yes."

"So you and Inuba wield weapons that pretty much work against anything?"

"In a way, yes."

"Well, what else does it do?"

"I'm glad you asked. Using techniques I learned from Inuba's family, I also used some of their materials to allow her to channel her Aura through her weapon more effectively. Since she can produce fire, this allows her to cloak her weapon in her white fox fire without damaging it or decreasing it's effectiveness. But what you all probably didn't know, is that Inuba's fox fire burns as hot or hotter than the sun can. So if she hits you full force with her fire...well...it's safe to say you are definitely going to be one well-done turkey."

"And if she cloaks her fire around her katana?"

"The extreme amount of heat allows her greater cutting effectiveness. Knife through hot butter and all that. Not only does it allow her to channel her flame-like Aura effectively, but it actually boosts usage of her techniques exponentially since her blade is made from not only Calcified and Empyrean Steel, but also Silvered Steel, a metal Kitsune use for their weapons that works excellently with their powers."

"Triple S effectiveness!" shouted the young reaper in red.

"That's the basic gist of DarkLight Antithesis everybody. Now if you'll excuse me...I'm going back to bed..." said the young immortal.

"What?! You just got up an hour ago to come and do this segment!"

"I did. And we just finished. So I'm going back to sleep."

"Oh no you don't mister! We are going to do stuff today!" said Ruby as she feebly tried to drag Dante away.

"Like what?"

Ruby fell silent, stopping what she was doing to think about her response.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out as we go! We'll be back...next week...most likely..! Grrrrrrrrr..! Why...won't...you...move?!" said the reaper in red as she tried pushing him this time, much to his amusement since she still hadn't made him budge.

"Hopefully we'll see you all next Friday. If not, Saturday or Sunday most likely. Until next time."

Dante looked down at the struggling Reaper and chuckled before walking away, this time the young immortal dragging Ruby away as she feebly tried to stop him and move in the opposite direction.

* * *

 **Alrighty then, we are done for today! Hopefully I can sleep enough before studying for my finals next week. Again, not too concerned except for Pre-Calc. Other than that...eh... So yeah, FFXV. Buy it. You will love it in my opinion if you're a fan of the series or looking for a really fun game to play.**

 **Now then, I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope to see you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	7. Chapter 7: Rendition of Reality

**Ha! Told you all I'd do it!**

 **Welcome one and all to the beginning of my collab with Xera Stark! For months now, we have been planning out an exciting and enticing story arc for all of you, our audience members, to love and enjoy. Remember folks, main story arc components for this arc is all thanks to Xera Stark, so do him a favor and check out his story XSRA's Flame! It's a really awesome story from start to finish. So then, lets begin!**

* * *

Chapter 7: Rendition of Reality

The shimmering gold of dawn took the land by beauty in the silence of the morning, casting shadows across the stone courtyards of Beacon. Pillars rose from the cold ground in organized segments across its outer most reaches, lifting archways into the sky in an architectural effort for excellence.

They circled the courtyard, following its edge closely before turning down the large pathway into Beacon Academy. Trees glistened in the subtle wind, blazing in the new light as mid-fall was drawing ever nearer, rendering the trees in colors of scattering enchantments of flame.

No students were there to witness nature's beauty, it was too early in the morning to venture out into the cool air of the day. Those that were up though, happened to be getting ready for their early classes.

So, it was in this light, and this knowledge, that it was safe to say no one truly saw what happened next.

A bright white flash illuminated the courtyard of stone, vibrating the air around it in a subtle crystalline hum.

Light breezes then whisked across the ground, swirling forward and away from the brief flash as stray leaves scraped across the hard surface.

It wasn't long before the light faded away and the unnatural wind ceased, revealing two figures stepping forward out of where it all originated from.

"Well, we're back. Sort of..." Dante said as he turned his gaze upward, catching the bright reflection of the tower's high windows against the morning sky.

"She was right. Time hasn't moved much, has it?" Inuba asked as she looked around Beacon's grounds.

"No…it hasn't." Dante's eyes fell for a moment, one hand clenching as the black sling encompassing his bandaged right arm shifted ever so slightly.

"Remember what she said. We can't tell them anything up about what happened in our Reality. At least not what happened six months ago."

"Of course." Replied Inuba.

Dante knew full well the possible consequences of such actions, consequences he simply didn't have time to deal with, nor the power necessary.

"I'll be good. Promise." He then said with a coy smile.

Inuba nodded once before turning and falling back in line with Dante as they moved toward the school.

"Why do you think Mr. Stark called us here?" asked the Kitsune.

"Not sure. He's usually pretty calm about everything and seems determined to face a lot of tasks on his own. That, and by himself, he's pretty powerful. I never thought he'd need help any time soon."

"Is there a chance of him just wanting to see us?" Inuba asked, bringing a small chuckle out of Dante.

"He's not a social butterfly either. So, I doubt that. But… I could be wrong. I mean, we are pretty friendly."

"Yes, friendly… Let's assume that is the case."

Dante cracked a smile and rubbed the back of his neck, "In all seriousness though, this could be a lot worse than what we're currently imagining. Soul-Slasher is out there, and I never got an accurate read on his Aura Signature."

"Worse?"

A new voice cut through the morning air, causing the two teens to come to a stop. Dante's gaze soon tilted upward to meet the eyes and ears of a familiar wolf faunus.

"I thought you were asleep up there. And don't you have class or something? This is a school you know...Destiny."

Black hair drifted in the wind as ebony wolf ears perked up a bit. She was a wolf faunus with long black hair that had a deep magenta ribbon roped through it. Her attire consisted of a white button down shirt and a black, long sleeved shirt underneath the white one. She also had faded purple shoulder covers and a skirt of the same color with white trim. On her back was a thin faded purple ribbon tied in a bow with the ends trailing down and hanging behind her thighs, while also wearing black leggings and black, short heels. To top it all off, she wore red rimmed glasses.

 _Fashionable as ever…_ thought the young immortal.

"I was… until Fate woke me up. She said her boy-toy's come to visit her." Destiny commented as she stood from her spot atop a nearby pillar and stepped off, landing with a small wince once she landed.

Her tournament injuries were still present.

 _His Aura Sensing has improved… Greatly might I add… Or was I being too obvious?_

"E-Excuse me, b-but I'm sure you're mistaken." Inuba spoke up in the kindest voice she could muster, though it was laced with a couple shards of ice and a lingering sting of searing heat.

"Boy-toy?" Asked Inuba glaring at her Master.

"N-Nothing weird or anything like that... What she probably should have said is punching bag. Or if we're being more realistic, chew toy." He said earning a punch from the wolf Faunus in question.

Destiny quirked an eyebrow as Inuba took a step forward, still questioning the meaning behind their words.

"We just fought each other and had a few conversations. That's it. Although she's annoyingly grown accustomed to teasing me whenever she gets the chance." He said defended himself.

"Oh, and here I thought we were friends." Destiny retorted in time to see Inuba's eyes narrow… and then relax.

"W-Well, yeah. We are… You're just mean sometimes."

Dante looked to the side, letting out a quick breath. Only for it to be choked on after he heard what she said next.

"I haven't met your girlfriend before. She seems… nice."

Almost in sync, Dante's and Inuba's faces took on Ruby's name-sake as they both shook their head frantically.

"N-No, it's not like that!" Inuba quickly said, even though she had a moment to reconsider the idea and say otherwise.

"Yeah, we're just partners for life-"

Dante stopped himself before he said too much there. He only just realized what he said could have been easily taken out of context. When Inuba and he had first met, they enacted a special bond to remain partners for eternity. To fight side by side against all odds. It's why Inuba called him master, much to his insistence of using his actual name instead.

"M-Married huh? I never would have guessed you were that kind of guy to get married so early… I mean, congratulations?" said Destiny as she turned her own gaze away, her cheeks dusting red for a moment as she stopped her inner thoughts from venturing down too many rabbit holes.

Inuba had to stop her tail from instinctively swaying back and forth as she suddenly stood rigid, her own face burning all the hotter. She told herself she wouldn't squeal, it would just be off-putting and obvious. Of course though, that didn't stop her from squealing and dying within her own mind as she took a few moments to fantasize.

"Y-You know what, I'm not going to even bother this time. How about we just head inside?" Asked Dante, hoping to drop the subject at hand.

"You two can go on ahead, I've been waiting for something."

Her gaze drifted to the black sling his right arm was in, noticing his hand had been entirely bandaged.

"Woah… What happened to your arm?" She asked.

"Long story short, I got into a bit of a fight back in my own Reality over some graham crackers. It was just…one big mess."

 _Yeah, let's just go with that…_ thought the young immortal, hoping Destiny and Fate wouldn't look too far into it.

 _"You know, the pretty boy gave us a run for our money the last we met. He's more than just a little powerful. In fact, we've never fought anyone stronger…"_

The voice of her twin sister Fate, whose soul was being shared with her body, echoed through her head, causing Destiny to tilt it subtly.

 _True, so what do you think was able to do so much damage to him?_

Destiny's inquiry was met with silence. Neither her sister nor she had any true guesses as to what could've hurt Dante, which was quite the statement. They knew plenty of powerful entities throughout the worlds…

"Sounds like you were forced into a confrontation against something pretty powerful. Should I even ask or will you leave me to try and deduct it myself as usual?"

It was a neutral and calculated response, but it opened up the opportunity for him to give her a direct answer.

"You probably shouldn't."

Dante was taking every precaution and hating himself for it. Warning them about an imminent threat to Beacon would prove to be beneficial and prevent any casualties, or at least keep them to a minimum. In the past, he was warned before by the Keeper of Time to avoid doing so. But this was a different Reality. Would such a thing be okay?

He looked towards Destiny to see her nod after a moment, fixing her glasses soon after as she fixed her eyes onto Inuba.

"Is she going to be alright?"

Inuba had her tail wrapped tightly around her waist as she struggled to stand upright, blush still intense as it had been moments earlier. She was muttering something about a rite, some incoherent whimpers and claims of her mother being at fault.

"She'll…be fine. She'll snap out of it…eventually. But, I do have a question. What's going on here? Xera called us in, but we don't have an accurate idea of what's going on." Dante asked, walking over to Inuba and supporting one of her shoulders.

She was swaying a little too much.

Destiny let out a long sigh and moved back over to her pillar, using it as something to lean on as she addressed the two, or was it just the one now, in front of her.

"Xera filled me in, but as you probably found out yourself, he faked his death during the tournament."

"I found that out before I left, but I never asked why he did it."

"There's an organization, more of a syndicate actually once you discard their legal façade, that wants him and his race dead. It was the reason why Zerath was sent into the tournament. He's an assassin, and his mission was to eliminate Xera…his own brother."

"Brother against brother… How come Zerath went against his orders?"

"From what I know, they worked out a deal before the tournament. Xera wanted to see if he could convince that corporation that the hit was a success, and in doing so, he managed to get a third party to track back the source of a signal that was meant to execute Zerath. It seems Soul-Slasher wanted a bit of revenge for being used."

"In turn, that would lead him to where the organization is…" Dante concluded.

Destiny nodded her head before she turned her gaze to the horizon, beyond Beacon's airship docks.

"At least somewhere close, but that's the gist of it. As of yesterday morning, team XSRA and Professor Miralla flew out to the Krono Desert. I found out later from team RWBY as to why."

"To seek out where the signal led him, and to gather what he could."

 _I'm starting to think I should've stayed just another day… Time moves slower here as it is, so it wouldn't have made much of a difference._

Dante ran a hand through his hair as he thought everything over.

"From what I've seen, he can definitely take care of himself."

The wolf Faunus nodded to that comment.

"You said you were waiting for something?" Asked the young immortal.

"Yes, since it was a reconnaissance mission it's likely his team would return today. So I've been waiting around."

"You didn't leave after the tournament?"

"Nope. Ozpin invited me to join Beacon Academy." Destiny replied with a smile, "He hasn't worked out my team yet, so I don't have to attend classes at the moment. Thanks to that, I've had a lot of free time on my hands."

"I don't see why he shouldn't invited you. Your fight was pretty incredible. It was as obvious as night and day to bring you in."

Maybe it was the compliment, or just Dante's proximity, or maybe a little of both. In any case, Inuba suddenly flinched and shook her head, flicking her gaze around to see what was going on.

"S-Sorry, d-did I miss anything?"

Crimson eyes finally rested on the girl leaning against the pillar.

"Not much, actually. Good luck with your…thoughts. I'm sure if you try hard, you'll make a great waifu." Destiny teased as she whispered to Inuba before winking, earning yet another hard blush from the fox yōkai.

Their moment, however, was broken when Destiny's wolf-ears suddenly twitched. Velvety black appendages stood up on alert as she turned her head to the docks, eyes scanning the horizon. Despite Inuba's own distraction though, she managed to pick up the noise too.

It was familiar. No one in Vale could mistake the noise for anything else. The banking winds surrounding Beacon carried it all the clearer, ripping through the air like a pin dropping in a silent room. The increasing hum of engines cut through the horizon. And from the south-western side of the school, the speck of a bullhead shimmered into view alongside a large bird.

There was a trail of something following behind the airship.

"Is that…?"

"Smoke." Dante confirmed, following the two girls' lines of sight.

* * *

The three rounded the corner and saw the now landed airship, watching as a team of medics stepped inside.

"That's not good…" said Dante before he, Destiny and Inuba ran towards the airship.

"Hey! What happened? Is everything alright?" called out the young immortal.

His eyes quickly scanned the inside of the ship, staring at new faces he had never seen before, save for one. They had to be Xera's teammates. He never met them personally, but he remembered the names Xera's partner, Skyla, had once mentioned to him when he last visited.

The first one had to be Rex from the looks of it. He was laid out on a stretcher, but from a glance, Dante estimated him to be a little over 6 feet tall and about 18. He wore what remained of a torn silver trench coat with gold trim, a dark blue t-shirt underneath, black jeans, and silver boots, also with gold details and highlights. He also had short, silver hair with a few golden streaks, spiked straight up with gel. His eyes were open slightly, revealing he had dark blue eyes. He was seriously injured.

The next one, presumably Allix, was definitely shorter than Rex and had dark red hair. She looked to be about 5 and a half feet tall. Her hair was placed in a braid that fell down her left shoulder and appeared to be about 16, owning dark silver eyes. Her apparel consisted of black and red leggings, a dark red battle skirt with red fringes, a black long sleeve shirt, and black combat boots sporting crimson red dust designs on them. She wasn't as badly injured, evidenced by the fact that she was the only one able to stand.

The last member of Xera's team was someone he definitely recognized. How could Dante ever forget? This girl did blow up an ice cream store on accident once.

Skyla was a girl that had brown hair that went halfway down her back with purple highlights that ran through her hair with side bangs that were on the left side. He remember that her eye color was a deep dark purple, which sometimes changed to a light shade of purple before reverting back. Her clothing consisted of a purple battle skirt that went mid thigh with black swirls at the bottom, a light purple tank top with black/dark purple half sweatshirt that went mid waist, a dark purple choker necklace and wore black and purple converse shoes. She was about Ruby's height but slightly taller.

This was all that remained of Xera Stark's team, who was currently absent.

Allix, the teams archer took some solace in the warm hat atop her head, before she tipped it up slightly and saw the grimace on Dante's face.

"You… You're…from the tournament, right?" She asked.

His skyblue eyes drifted over her teammates once more slowly before looking back to her.

What in the world happened to them..?

"Yeah… I'm a friend of Xera's, Dante. I'd ask 'how do you do' but..."

"Dante…" Allix reiterated, "Skyla mentioned something about you." She concluded, more to convince herself of his words than anything else, "I can fill you in once we're inside."

The archer then turned to Inuba as she watched her eyes and blanket her white flames over to the other Kitsune present, who remained unconscious. She was smaller than Inuba, and seemingly younger given her near child-like, lithe appearance. Like Inuba, she had hair and a pair of fox ears as white as snow, along with three fox tails the exact same color. The only other difference was that her hair was longer than Inuba's reaching her waist.

"What's she doing?" asked Allix.

Dante gripped the red-head's shoulder softly before giving her a reassuring smile.

"She's just seeing if she can sense any injuries and heal them up for now."

 _A Kitsune here in another Reality… Could it be possible that she's from one of the Kitsune Clans in our Reality? If she is…how did she get here?_

Dante pushed that thought off to the side for now. There were more important things at the moment.

"Alright… Get yourselves treated and let's talk later. If we're going to be able to help, we're going to need a lot of details of what exactly happened."

* * *

Allix told them as much as she could. Their mission went south, that much was for certain. But how far south was a question she didn't know the answer to.

She didn't know what the impact of what happened could cause, but she did know there was still one underlying variable that she just couldn't ignore.

"I need to find Ozpin. He needs to know that Xera's still out there." Allix said, quickly standing from her chair in the waiting room of the large infirmary. She was unexpectedly stopped in her tracks though when the sound of a hardened cane tapped through the dullness of the room.

"That, Miss Stowe, can be arranged."

 _He always manages to freak me out a little when he 'conveniently' appears out of nowhere…_ thought Dante _._

"Y-You've been there the whole time?" Allix asked.

"We have." A second voice sounded through the doorway as Miss Goodwitch made her way in behind the headmaster, "We've already assembled a team to be prepped and sent out."

"In that case, I'd like to go as well." Dante said as he stood up from his own seat.

"Forgive me, but are you not injured yourself?" Glynda responded, eyeing his black sling warily.

"Not an issue. Besides, I can help track him down. So it'll speed up the process."

"I am able to go as well." Said Inuba.

 _As much as I would like that..._

"I need you to stay and help out here, Inuba. Your Cleansing Flame is extremely useful in the case of rapid response healing. Frankly, should anything go wrong, you'd be the right person for the."

Ozpin quirked a brow at that little fact, but he tapped his cane once more before taking a sip from his coffee.

"And you? Miss Echols?"

Destiny crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back, saying "I thought it was obvious that I'll be tagging along. Soarix has some of the best eyesight you could ask for when on a recovery mission. Plus, I'm not going to leave behind a friend like that…"

The young wolf-faunus leaned forward to accentuate her claim, "No matter what, even if survival is nearly impossible. Besides, I care for Blake almost like a sister, so if there's bad news to be delivered… I'll be the one to do it."

Dante had almost forgotten the fact that the Blake of this Reality was in a relationship with Xera.

"Understandable." The headmaster nodded before turning to Inuba, "If you truly are a healer, then I have a bit of a task for you. Would you be willing to help?"

"Of course." Inuba replied.

"Then, you two gather everything you need. You are to meet with team CFVY out on Beacon's docks." Glynda informed, causing two of the three in front of her to start moving.

"You will also be accompanied by Tai Blackthorne on this rescue mission."

The headmaster had been wanting to evaluate that man's skills further than what was displayed in the tournament. Now wasn't exactly an ideal time for that to take place… However, Blackthorne showed interest in lending his assistance.

Two birds with one stone, or so they say. Ozpin preferred to brew coffee for two, then drink it all himself.

"Any chance of support from RWBY or JNPR?" Dante asked as he stopped to address the only other white-haired man in the room.

"That, Mysterious Guy, wouldn't be a possibility at the moment. After all, they have classes." Ozpin quipped with a subtle smirk.

 _Of course that's the case… And don't call me that…_

To Dante's dismay, he heard Destiny and Inuba giggle behind his back, considering it was a rather amusing name he donned when he last visited and took part of the tournament here incognito.

With a silent growl but an emerging amused smile, Dante and Destiny jogged down the hall and headed for the docks again. Behind them, Ozpin silently took another sip from his coffee mug and watched them turn the next corner.

"Miss Stowe, you know it's rude to withhold information from friends." He commented knowingly, casting a glance back to the girl by her seat.

She seemed to shrink slightly under the momentary glance, making her eyes disappear behind the lip of a hat as she tilted her head down.

"Sir, what do you mean? She told us everything." Inuba asked, turning to the headmaster with an innocent but obedient look.

"Almost everything."

The man sighed, before nodding to Glynda.

"Gather a full report from Miss Stowe. As for you, miss…"

"Inuba Kitsukami, sir."

"Miss Kitsukami, I'd like you to walk with me. There's someplace I would like you to see."

A little put-off by the comment, Inuba cast a careful glance back to Allix. Despite her confusion though, the headmaster she knew of was only ever executing actions with good intentions.

"Where are we going?"

Ozpin stepped forward and started heading deeper into the infirmary wing's corridors.

"You'll see."

She stepped up in line with the man moments later, her eyes registering the subtle fact that the hallway seemed to be getting darker the further down they went.

That…and it was getting colder.

* * *

"You know...I'm starting to think he has the greatest emergency flare anyone can possibly hope for." Dante commented offhandedly as he stood by the opening of the bullhead.

The rushing winds tore through the chamber of teens, but his eyes were trained on the horizon, constantly scanning the desert scape for anything unordinary.

"What makes you say that?"

Perhaps the one with the longest hair of them all, Tai Blackthorne, asked as he leaned back in his seat lining the inner wall of the front side of the chamber.

"I keep sensing fluctuations of Aura coming somewhere from the west." Dante responded.

Coco tilted down her sunglasses for a moment, her current endeavor into loading her weapon with ammunition pausing.

"And how is it that a stranger like you can sense something like that?"

"Due to my Semblance, I developed a way to sense other people's Aura Signatures, or the presence of high concentrations of dense energy. If I know the exact nature of a person's Aura, I can practically track them down over extremely long distances."

"So basically, you're a talking scroll tower on legs…" Came Coco's response.

Dante glanced back at his temporary teammates and shrugged his shoulders.

"More or less."

It was actually less, but he didn't feel the need to correct her.

Fox and Yatsuhashi stood to the side by the other open door, holding onto the built in handles as they scanned the opposite horizon.

"I'd say he's more of an annoying sonar scanner." Destiny commented as she flew up to Dante's side. Her black hair tugged behind her by the rushing winds from her perch atop a giant eagle, Soarix.

"You're not wrong..." Dante shrugged, dismissing the rebuttal he thought about giving.

He wasn't one for snarky remarks towards friends anymore. But there were days he gave in to that side of himself simply to provide him with some sort of humor to relax himself.

"You see children," Dante started as he turned to his allies in the ship, "The wolf is most certainly considered hostile and possibly dangerous in some cases, but deep down beneath all that fluffiness and scariness is the desire to be lov-"

Before he could finish that sentence, he felt a gust of pressurized air hit him in the back of the head with enough force to rock it forward, the teen being able to only smile victoriously.

 _Ten points for me…_

"Well, in any case…" Tai spoke up, his tall and slim figure stretching out as he grabbed the nearest handle and leaned slightly outside the aircraft. "Ace says he's picking some commotion up on his equipment."

"Oh, so our pilot has equipment better than Dante?"

"I highly doubt that." Dante corrected, "When it comes to Sensing, a person with the actual ability, in most cases, is better than any machine. Besides, I've been picking up a spike for a few miles now."

"Yeah, yeah." Tai responded with a dismissing glance over his shoulder, "We're heading there now. So get ready."

Soarix screeched into the air at that, "We've been ready. But thanks for the heads up." Destiny spoke over the rushing winds, continuing her relative flight beside the bullhead.

Tai leaned back inside the bullhead and turned back to Coco, eyeing her as she rotated the barrels of her gattling gun and fed it the start of her bullet chain.

"Like what you see?"

The taller teen held up his hands defensively, "Sorry, didn't mean to stare. That's quite the gun you have there."

"Nice save." Coco responded with an invisible role of the eyes.

"No, seriously. I was looking at the gun."

Lies.

Coco smirked though, as she lifted her heavy weapon up a bit and placed the heavy drum-magazine onto the floor.

"It's flashy, destructive, and currently in the meta for color and mechanisms. So, feel free to look at it all you want. Just don't pretend you're not staring at me."

"Coco, I really do think he was staring at the gun."

The accented voice of Velvet spoke up from her seat at the end. Throughout the ride, she'd been holding her rabbit ears down due to the constant pull of the rushing wind, but recently she finally grew used to the uncomfortable variable.

"Whatever, I was just messing with him. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Tai." Coco said with a small smile, reaching across with a slimly gloved hand.

Tai took it with his own smirk.

"Nice to meet you too, Coco. And you, Velvet."

Introducing himself to the girls of the group last wasn't exactly his initial plan, but they were certainly the hardest to approach. He'd already introduced himself to the rest, at least.

"Listen, the reason why I was staring at your gun was because I might have something that can help. Especially in a situation like this." Tai said after letting Coco's hand go.

"Oh? And what makes you think I need help?"

"You don't. I know for certain that you don't need any, but this is just a fix to help with some accuracy differentiation. With how the bullhead moves, it'd be hard to stand up here and fire straight." He defended himself with ease as he crossed his arms.

Coco glanced out the side of the bullhead, and for a few moments, felt the harsh rocking of the entire ship due to turbulence in the desert winds.

"What did you have in mind?"

Tai nodded and extended his hand. The tails of his sleeveless black trench coat stilled in their fluttering for a moment as a disruption in the air in front of him tore open.

Out of his semblance rift fell a military grade highly modified M60D mounted machine gun. In short, it wasn't as big as Coco's own gun but it had the parts necessary for what he had in mind.

The heavy clunk of the weapon drew in the eyes of everyone else on the ship, but Tai paid them no mind. He knelt in front of his new arrival and disconnected the gun itself from its mount, then let that fall into a new portal he summoned at his side.

"Here we go, it'll take a few minutes but I can effectively modify this mount to be able to connect and support your own gattling gun. For now…"

He lifted the heavy stand and moved it over to the side Dante was on, he then held it close to the door's open frame and the floor.

With a push of a button, arms folded out from the stand and high powered magnets powered up. Then, with some satisfying but heavy thumps, he secured the mount to the door and floor and set up the swivel system.

"There we go, think you'd mind using this if we have to enter combat?"

Tai glanced back at Coco and her weapon, and she sent a shrug back.

"I guess, since you're already setting it up. I might as well."

"Way to be prepared there, Tai. From what I'm sensing, we'll definitely need the fire power." Dante said with a smile, glancing at the mount Coco was currently bringing her gattling gun to.

He watched for a few moments as they started tweaking the stand to become accustomed to Coco's larger weapon, then turned his attention back to the desert outside.

His entirely bandaged right arm and hand in the black sling began to twitch with a small burning pain, forcing a silent wince out of him, one that Destiny managed to catch a glimpse of.

 _"I'm seriously curious as to what caused that Destiny… Especially if he's still feeling it…"_ Fate's voice echoed through her sister's mind.

"Which is why it's weird Fate… He's immortal and his wounds regenerate at a near instant rate without the usage of Aura. What could have possibly caused him to damage his arm and still have it severely damaged? He can barely even move his own fingers…"

 _"No idea… Maybe he'll actually tell us the real reason if we ask again? He's always a sucker for the whole 'I actually care what happens to a friend' thing."_

"That wouldn't be right… Morally at least. If that's the case, then I guess we'll ask him again when we get back. Maybe he'll say something then…"

* * *

Cold.

The dim lights of the hallway flickered momentarily, before they clicked back into their light again.

"You inquired as to what miss Stowe left out." Ozpin started, the dull click of his cane echoing off the silent white walls as he walked.

"Yes. What exactly has she left out?" Inuba responded, her poise straight and her fluffy tail resisting the urge to curl around herself.

She was disciplined. The cold would not deter her.

Until she actually was deterred when a cold shiver ran down her spine, forcing her to take solace in the fluffy warmth of her fox tail that had wrapped itself softly around her waist.

 _This chill… Why does it feel so familiar? So… Dark? It's not an ordinary sensation of cold…_

"She left out, quite frankly, one of the more important factors of this predicament."

Ozpin sighed, and it wasn't until now that Inuba heard a glassy crunch beneath her feet.

 _Black Ice..? Wait a moment… Black Ice..!_

"You see, it was the very reason why Xera is out in the desert. Why his team took a mission so far out of the territory of Vale itself."

His cane's tapping was becoming distant, for some reason, and was starting to get lost in the thick atmosphere lingering in the darkening hallway.

"Have you ever heard of the story about a man with two souls? Both fighting for control?"

Inuba merely nodded as her eyes drifted over the black ice webbing across the walls and ceiling, their clawing reaches even running in veins along the tiles of the floor.

"I know the story all too well…" She began as she recalled the previous memories of what occurred to her Master before their coming to Remnant.

"Sir...does this entire situation happen to involve a Dark Entity?"

"Unfortunately, I believe that is the case." Ozpin said, coming to a slow stop in front of the furthest door of the hallway.

A dark frost dusted its handle, and the glass peering into the infirmary room was nothing more than a thick sheet of icy obsidian.

"Was this what you wanted to show me?"

Ozpin nodded his head, and gestured toward the handle with the top of his cane.

"Do mind the cold. The metal is quite cool to the touch, and the ice makes every attempt to engulf anything it comes in contact with."

"Right."

 _This confirms my suspicions from earlier…when I felt that presence deep within the academy. I wonder if Master felt it as well…_

Inuba quietly reached out with her pale hand, and covered it in a light sheen of white flame. She then hovered her hand over the handle, unsure whether or not to touch it yet, but taking in the fact that the black ice was refusing to melt.

So, she pushed more flame through her hand and opened the door with a quick push. She flinched lightly from the loud crunch of the door as it opened, but immediately turned her gaze onto what resided on the inside.

"Welcome to the infirmary room of Zerath Stark, miss Kitsukami. From what I have gathered, I believe that you may just be able to help him." Ozpin said passively, stepping into the room with a calm demeanor settling over his countenance. "I fear that, for now, you are all that we have to save his life. Or at the least, preserve it."

* * *

How long had it been since they were flying over the vast desert? An hour? Two? Dante last track of time as he stared out the open door side of the Bullhead he was riding in, focusing his Aura Sensing so that he could be able to detect Xera with ease. The Phoenix Faunus had a rather impressive amount of Aura. Detecting his Aura Signature wouldn't be difficult. As he thought this, he suddenly felt a strong spike towards the north-west, stronger than what he had been Sensing for the duration of their hunt.

"Found him." Dante muttered, sky blue eyes snapping open as he turned his gaze to the north-west.

In the distance was a bright shine of white and orange, almost blinding him the moment he looked at it.

"What's with the glare?" Coco asked, leaning outside the door and gazing through her sunglasses at the bright light in the distance. "Is it reflecting off of something?"

"I don't see how it could be. It's not likely that there's a giant mirror out there, right?" Tai asked, noticing the bright light shining into the open compartment of the bullhead.

He was making some final adjustments to Coco's temporary gattling gun door mount, so he only spared a glance outside the vessel's opening.

"Maybe it's scraps of metal from a bullhead or airship crash site?" Velvet offered, standing alongside Coco.

"Most crash sites get salvaged." Dante said, "There's a lot of valuable resources put into most airships, so whenever one crashes its scraps are cleaned up as soon as possible to be recycled into a new one."

Coco turned her eyes to the outwardly leaning Dante, then glanced back to the light.

"Then what do you think that is?"

Before any real answers could be figured out, the shadow of Soarix emerged from the blinding light as the large eagle flew around to the bullhead's side.

"It's glass!" Destiny called out, her hand holding her long raven hair behind her ear as she turned to the crew inside the bullhead's body.

"Glass?"

"Yeah, the ground's completely covered in it. That's what's reflecting the light." She further informed, though she didn't quite know what could've caused it.

"Fire..." Dante spoke up quickly, "It's how glass is made. If you expose sand to a high enough heat, you'll cause it to reach its melting point and then harden into an unpolished glass."

"Isn't it mostly filled with imperfections and colors at first?" Destiny asked.

"Not if you use a level of heat that far surpasses what's needed. That basically purifies it, creating a clean, lightly colored, and reflective surface." Dante responded.

"And how much heat is that, mister smart guy?" Coco asked.

Dante only smirked and turned back to the fashionista.

"At least more than 3,200 degrees Fahrenheit, Coco. But that's extremely hard to do in a non-focused area, let alone a few miles spanning across the desert region of Vacuo."

"Usually fire loses heat the further it's dispersed." Destiny added in.

"Which means, if that wasn't Xera, then we're up against something that has a huge aptitude for fire." Tai concluded, passively listening in as he finished up his fine-tuning on his setup.

"I have a summon that can help with that. He won't be able to do much damage, but he'll at least be able to shield us in case there's a large burst of fire." Destiny said as well, pulling a little on Soarix's feathers to keep her in a relative line to the bullhead.

"G-Good, we'll need everything we can get." Velvet was the one to respond, causing Destiny to send the bunny a quick flash of a sweet smile.

This is exactly why I've been keeping quiet! Velvet internally squealed.

She wasn't much for speaking up on her own, but when someone else cared enough to develop feelings for her? Then actually make the effort to get her to talk more openly with people? It was a little embarrassing…but she was glad Destiny wanted to help her social status as much as she did, and more.

She just wasn't sure yet about how she felt about the wolf-faunus.

"Alright kiddos, looks like we're nearing the edge of the glass. You ready?" Ace's voice clicked on over the speaker as the ship flew closer to the blinding light.

"It'll be over in no time…" Dante replied.

"Yeah, sure, says the guy with white hair." Coco laughed.

"Hey! White hair's not that bad."

"Just don't look directly at it when it's sunny out."

"Says the person with sunglasses on."

…

"Touché."

Dante smiled to himself as he let his hand fall to the handle of his blade. He needed to make quick work of this thing. If what he and possibly Inuba sensed was accurate, then they didn't have much time. And Xera was someone crucial they need to solve the issue waiting for them back at Beacon.

Xera was the greatest counter to what Soul-Slasher had. But above that, he's the only person out of everyone that could possibly navigate the depths of where they need to go.

"ETA forty seconds. Eyes up kids, we're going in." Ace's voice sounded out before the speaker system clicked off, and the bullhead tilted forward to gain a little extra speed. He then flicked a switch, and pressed a button. Starting the track to one of his favorite songs.

"Oh my god…" Said the white haired teen in disbelief.

"What?"

"He's playing the song! This man is brilliant!" He replied with enthusiasm, recognizing Ride of the Valkyries the second it started playing.

The blinding light had become overwhelming now, especially at the border of the glassy desert. But as the bullhead passed through the saturating wall of pure pale glows…it was as if they entered the realm of a frozen ocean. But beneath its surface…looked like rolling flames of hills and swirling lights.

That wasn't the most noticeable part.

Beneath the surface slithered a writhing mass of black. A massive body of darkness beneath the depths shot across the land beneath the glass, swirling in long, fluent movement, before coiling up in certain places and slamming out of the ground, shattering the glass there in sparkling clouds of shards.

"Somebody call for the cavalry?!" The pilot called out in a loud voice, before a storm of bullets rocketed out of her gun and slammed into the creature's head.

 _A Drakon Leviathan… Are you kidding me?!_ thought Dante.

The titanic, serpentine creature stood as tall as a massive office building in a city, layered with numerous black plates and spikes that armored entire body. It had numerous horns on its snake-like head, along with glowing red eyes that had slit pupils.

The stream of bullets continued in a countless line of destruction as the bullhead swung around the Leviathan's side, circling around it to keep Coco's sights on it as it approached the airspace over Xera.

"Take that you overgrown worm!"

The force of the high caliber bullets forced the Leviathan to dive back into the surface of the ground, fleeing from the continuous barrage of metal-plated non-explosive mini-missiles.

Xera then looked up in time to see three shadows fall from the sky, and turned behind him to watch as Dante, Velvet, and Tai land heavily onto the ground and stood up from varying forms of crouches.

"Hi, Xera." Velvet said with a small wave.

"You called?" Dante added with an amused smile.

"Yeah… But...you were supposed to help Zerath...not me..." The phoenix Faunus replied somewhat weakly as his black hair drifted in the desert breeze, his red irises glowing slightly.

"Yeah, well… I wasn't gonna let my friend get turned into KFC and leave me to take care of things. If anything, we're in this together." Came Dante's reply.

Tai gave them a smirk before he dragged a few fingers through the air and summoned another rift.

Out of it dropped a heavily armored octagonal box, painted completely black with dark purple highlights throughout its panels. Upon impact its corners made an unsealing pop before they expanded and jutted out about three feet before slamming down.

Then, the box rose as joint like knees in the middle of the appendages bent outward to support the heavy object. In the next few seconds, the entire body seemed to disassemble and shift as panels slid and overlapped to reveal two rising gattling barrels, each one pointed forward with red sensory lasers beaming to life to scan the surroundings.

"Impressive… Did you build this?" Xera asked, taking a moment to eye the impressive work of machinery.

"I did."

Dante stepped forward and scanned their surroundings quickly, before turning back to Tai.

"You showed me that in town a while back... Did you ever solve the targeting issue?"

Tai snapped his fingers and gave the white haired teen a thumbs up.

"You bet. It should work just fine now."

"Cool, so it should come in handy." Xera said, peering into some of the panels and checking out the internal wiring.

"It should, but we won't know for sure until it starts shooting."

Xera gave a small nod, then turned to the three of them.

"Well then, thanks for uh…coming. I guess. But, we need to kill this thing."

"Well, we can't exactly let it roam free…" Velvet added on.

Dante made his way over to Xera's side and pat him on the back.

"With all of us here, and air support from Coco, we should stand a pretty good chance against this thing."

"Yeah, well, just watch for any breath attacks. There's nothing you can do if you find yourself anywhere in front of this thing when that happens." Xera said.

"Will do."

Another shadow suddenly swooped over the surface, and a giant eagle swept just above the ground as Destiny leapt off its back.

"The Leviathan's swinging back around. Looks like it's coming back for us."

"Thanks for the heads up, and good to see you came along, Destiny. And Fate." Xera said, as he turned his own eyes to the new arrival.

"Good to see you too, but this grimm isn't going to wait for us to finish talking."

"It has so far." Xera offered.

"He has a point." Dante agreed.

"Guys…" Velvet muttered, her rabbit ears twitching slightly as she glanced around her.

"Yeah yeah, it's here." Tai commented, summoning out two heavy pistols.

One was a modified gleaming silver .357 calibrated pistol, and the other a twin ebony pistol of the same model. However, this one had a much larger barrel to it, and seemed to be fitted to fire .50 caliber rounds.

Both of which seemed to be modified to match a streamlined version of a desert eagle handgun.

The ground beneath them began to crack lightly, the sands beneath the glass starting to vibrate subtly as a shadow beneath the surface began approaching them from a distance.

"Guess we should get ready…" Xera sighed, then drew his black longsword.

"Coco's going to hate me for this…" Velvet's accented voice spoke out, as she reached behind her and detached her brown and gold box from her belt.

"Have you tested that yet?" Xera asked.

"A few times, but it's still in prototype form. So, no promises." She replied with a sheepish smile, before withdrawing a similarly designed camera from the box.

"Now, smile for the camera."

With that voice, it was hard not to.

She snagged pictures of almost everyone's weapons as they drew them, then she took one final photo of the mechanical sentry turret beside Tai.

"All set."

"Good, let's hope it works."

I've seen it in action, so I know it works. But…I wonder if her prototype will be as good as her finished version… Dante wondered as he glanced at her.

He was the only one who hadn't drawn his weapon yet, mainly due to its complexity.

Velvet simply didn't have the technology to actually copy his weapon. In fact, it's more likely that collecting the data would lead to her camera having a database overload and shutting down. Which would render her combat prowess as useless in this upcoming fight.

"Incinerate all pain and oppression, Kimura." Destiny spoke her usual words, and just as the ground began to superheat again and shatter in a small area to allow the reveal of her three headed Cerberus, the ground in front of them shattered and erupted in a much, much, larger fashion.

"You all keep your distance, and Dante, keep an eye out for its tail. Other than that, just keep dodging." Xera spoke quickly, then began sprinting forward.

Dante followed suit, drawing his frost white longsword as he ran and caught up to Xera's side.

Almost immediately afterward, they heard two concussive blasts shake the air, and as the two ran forward, Tai unloaded his hand cannon's into the creature's head as two separate streams of bullets impacted the Leviathan's neck.

One coming from the air, and the other coming from the dual gattling barrels hammered into the ground at Tai's side.

"Well, I guess it really does work." Tai commented with a small chuckle, reloading his pistols by dropping them both into their own respective rifts, then letting them fall back down through two new rifts above as he drew two clips from his belt.

Velvet stopped as she just started running forward, hands on her belt and near her box, as she turned her gaze back.

"Wait, you didn't actually know if it would work?"

"I had a vague idea, but never got the chance to test it."

…

"What if it didn't work?"

"Then I would've deactivated it."

…

"Right." Velvet nodded slowly, before shaking her head and taking off again.

Her run was followed by the clawed charge of a fiery three headed hound, and she let out a small yelp as Destiny reached down and pulled her up onto the back of her Cerberus.

"Sorry honey-buns, but you'll be riding with me. Hold on tight, yeah?" Destiny gave the girl a moment to settle in, then as soon as Velvet tentatively reached around her waist, she willed Kimura to surge forward again and catch up to the others.

* * *

"Considering you've been out here fighting this thing, you have to have some vague idea on how to kill it, right?" Dante asked Xera as the two up front cleared the distance between their starting point and the grimm.

His question was met with an awkward chuckle.

"Please tell me you have some sort of plan…"

"Hit it it until it dies? I guess..."

Dante laughed a bit at that.

"Come on man, seriously?!"

With a cheeky smile, Xera shrugged his shoulders and flexed his hand gripping his sword.

"I don't really have one for this thing, not yet anyway. But everyone needs to keep their distance whenever possible."

"Why's that?"

"This thing gives off heat like a forest fire. Get too close, and you'll burn. Get struck by this thing, and you'll get the same treatment. Just don't get hit, and don't get too close, and you'll be fine."

Xera turned his gaze to Dante for a moment before concluding something.

"Actually, you'll be fine. The others though…"

"They aren't exactly heat retardant like we are…"

"Yeah…which means they all have to keep some amount of distance."

"Alright, then you and I can just finish this thing off up close while they all stay back and bombard it."

"Easier said than done. This thing's hide is like a suit of scaly-armor. But if I can heat it up enough…"

"You might just be able to crack it."

"Exactly. Revealing some of its unprotected inner flesh. Once I do that."

"We can deal some serious damage."

"Yup." Xera nodded, then dug into the glass with the tip of his sword to quickly change direction.

"I guess that's the plan. Until I can figure out a way to generate that much heat, we'll just have to entertain it with bright lights and flashy maneuvers."

"Sounds easy enough!" Dante called back as he split the other way, dashing the opposite direction Xera went.

Xera ran off, digging his sneakers into the glass as he felt the surface closest to the Leviathan crack and shatter. This thing's tough, he knew that. But for only two people to engage it up close, while the rest are forced to keep their distance?

That brings down the damage per second by a large margin…

Despite those two being himself and Dante, it still might not be enough.

The colossal grimm soon let out a screeching wail, shaking the shards of glass all around it and across the land as twin streams of hyper-accelerated dust imbued bullets stormed through the air.

And the music that followed.

"Ha! Can't handle the cold?!" Coco called out with a snarky smirk, Ace taking her around the Leviathan's front as Tai's sentry gun did the same.

His own bullets shined a very similar blue hue.

Black masses started lashing and thrashing, eviscerating the immediate area in a burst of heat and fire from its throat. Its piercing red eyes glared through the quickly rising cloud of evaporating fog, snarling with a heated snout.

"Damn... Looks like frost isn't doing so much anymore…" Tai muttered, but he kept up his sentry gun's stream of bullets for now as he opened up a new portal.

His twin pistols dropped solidly into its ripple, before a larger one tore open above his hands.

"Time for a little power."

"Alright Velvs, stay close to Kimura. If this grimm lets out any bursts of fire, he'll be our shield." Destiny called out as she dismounted her Cerberus.

"What are you going to do? You heard Xera, we can't get close to this thing."

"Who said anything about getting close?" Destiny said, before pulling out Albus again and calling out for her next summon, "Wash away the taint and sins from the world, Nagga!"

A swirling vortex of water soon emerged and spread over the glass in front of her, echoing out screams of forgotten and lost souls as one- no, two- five serpent heads emerged, followed by a large dragon-like body to support them.

Sharp scaly fins swept through the air as the hydra glided up and out of its watery confinement, using the air as its new domain just above the ground.

"Let's see what water can do to this thing. Nagga." Destiny said, causing Nagga to screech into the air and glide forward.

Four of its heads reared back before surging forward with a twisting torrent of rushing water, all twirling beams of liquid merging before slamming into the Leviathan's hide.

Another screech swept out through the air as steam quickly filled the area. The veil of white was quickly whisked away as Dante charged through the cloud before him, making a leaping strike for the Leviathan's head.

He tore his sword through the air and lashed out, his massive leap giving him all the leverage he needed to put a deep gash through the creature's left eye before landing with a tumble.

"To think the Leviathan's hottest part of its body would be its head…" Dante said, clutching his left hand around his blade a little tighter and ignoring his smoldering bandages wrapping his right arm.

The unique metal in his blade shimmered in the light for a moment, that and his skin being the only things to withstand the Grimm's extra heat.

"I guess it can't swim through land without a hothead..."

A mass of black tried to slam into him from below, but he quickly leapt forward and slashed at the passing hide, slicing deeply into the scales.

If this thing melted the land first with its head, it made it easier for the rest of its body to swim as well once the initial resistance was gone.

"If this thing wasn't so large and annoying, that'd be really nice!" Dante said, before spinning around and holding the flat side of his longsword solidly at his front, right in time to block a line of rapidly surging spines from one of this thing's backs.

To his right, he saw another shadow dash through the thick steam caused by Nagga's continuous burst.

A black streak tore through the air, splitting the steam in a solid trail, before orange flames kicked up and raged upward around the form in the veil of white.

Black bangs lightly lifted into the air as red eyes streaked their very color inside of Xera's movements, then the fire swirling around him burst outward and sent the phoenix into the air. Flames trailed up tightly beneath him before dying off halfway as he reached his mark, and drove the edge of his longsword into the neck beneath the grimm's head.

The heated steel tore through the beast's hide and left a scorched fleshy gash right beneath the serpent's jaw.

The moment though was short lived, as the mass in front of the teen slammed forward and threw him down toward the ground.

"Gotcha!" Dante called out as he dashed and jumped again, throwing his sword into the air and reaching out his left hand.

Xera noticed the glimpse of white and reached out, catching the other teen's hand mid-air and causing the two of them to whip around from the sudden loss of momentum. Though, the glassy ground met the two of them much more softly than what Xera would've felt.

"Thanks. And lemme guess, two more seconds?" Xera asked, casting his gaze upward after finding his footing and balance.

"You know it." Dante said with a smirk.

Approximately two seconds passed before he reached out and snatched his falling blade by its handle.

"Do you always show off?"

"Only when necessary. Or if I feel like it."

"Thanks for the opening, Xera!"

Tai pulled the trigger, a sudden concussive blast following it from his prone position as he skidded back just a few inches. The sound from the sudden explosion rang through the air as smoke and bullet filled the space in front of him.

A twenty-nine inch barrel, forty pounds of Barrett M82, and a whole lot of force… Tai's anti-material sniper rifle kicked back as his .50 caliber BMG ammunition snapped through the distance between him and his target.

Sand and glass shards were pushed aside as the bullet sailed into the newly revealed flesh that Xera caused and straight into the Leviathan's throat, tearing into the soft material within.

The ripping of flesh was soon followed by a muffled explosion, rocketing black bits of flesh and metallically whining fragments of a bullet out of the beast's wound.

The rifle's recoil operated rotating bolt slammed backward, sending out a smoking golden shell before slamming in a new round.

"Nine shots left."

* * *

"Heads up, this thing's angry!" Xera called out.

"No?! Really?! I had no idea!" Dante replied.

Both teens dove off to the side together as the creature's head lashed around wildly, screeching in agony as it clenched down on the grievous wound inflicted by Tai's rifle.

"We need to keep it still, and keep marking new targets for Tai to hit!" Said Xera as he ran forward, Dante following suit and keeping to his side.

"Right, but we can't let this thing see where Tai's position is either!"

"Good point." Xera turned and caught a glimpse of Destiny and Velvet in the distance.

"Destiny! Nagga needs to keep up that steam cloud!"

Destiny's eyes seemed to switch over to lock with his for a moment, before she nodded and swiped her hand through the air. The land beneath Nagga suddenly swirled and bubbled, before boiling water churned beneath it.

Then the hydra started a lengthy barrage of columns and blasts of water, causing the area around them to kick up in steam once more.

Several more deep gashes had been inflicted into the hide of the Drakon Leviathan. Six more dug deeply into its battered neck, while the last three stung thoroughly right beneath the grimm's right eye and across its face.

The two swordsmen below circled around again for another combo attack, but it wouldn't have it.

Every portion of sand and glass around the Leviathan melted and swirled, black masses of spines and scales lashed dangerously around in a painful cluster of rage.

Dante blocked as much as he could as Xera dipped and dodged beneath each surging blur of darkness, before the Leviathan's tail slipped out of the ground and blindsided him.

Moments later, Dante was sent skidding backward by the Leviathan's neck. The creature swung around and threw its entire mass into him, knocking him back with Xera as the two teens tumbled across the rough ground.

They both then planted their shoes into the ground and grinded themselves to a stop, sliding to a halt just in front of Kimura and the two girls behind him.

"You good?" Dante asked.

Xera took his black sleeve and wiped it across his mouth, cleaning away a small trickle of blood streaming down the corner of it.

"Yeah, but we can't let this thing escape. We have to keep attacking it."

"Then we keep attacking it." Dante said, leaning forward before falling into a quick dash.

Xera took off as well, catching up to the running teen in front of him.

"We can't just keep attacking it blindly."

"We don't really have much of a choice right now. We're too far separated to make any plans, not unless the two of us think of something." Dante replied quickly.

"We'll have to, but right now, we can't get hit again either. Once this thing disengages from us, it'll go after the rest."

"They won't be able to survive being close to it…"

One thing the two of them noticed, that should have been obvious before, was the lack of oxygen. This creature burned so hot that it created a strong updraft of heated air, sucking away the majority of the oxygen in the area that's necessary for breathing.

It's the main reason why the two of them weren't able to keep up with this thing.

If the heat didn't bring down their friends…then the lack of breathable air definitely would…

Xera was used to high atmospheres and low oxygen levels, and Dante had his instant healing and superior bodily functions to survive on his own without the need to breath as well, but no one else could say the same as these two.

The two teens dashed in again, sliding and leaping over the first emerging arc of spines before regrouping and slashing through both sides of a towering body structure.

All around them, surges of more and more parts of the creature's body slammed outward and inward, trying to catch the teens with a heavy crushing blow.

But before any of them could make contact, Xera noticed something beneath the depths of glass at their feet. The Leviathan was corralling them into a tighter and tighter area… but…

Where was its head?

"Get out, now!" Xera shouted as whirled around.

He didn't care how immortal Dante was. He didn't care how quickly he was going to heal. Out of pure instinct alone, Xera slid himself low to the ground as his green sweatshirt tore slightly between his shoulder blades.

Before Dante could say a word, twin blurs of sleek black shot out from Xera's back. Two ebony wings rapidly unfolded at a blinding speed as the curled up structures shot straight for Dante's chest.

Without warning, the white-haired teen was sent skyward at an angle, straight over the spines of the encroaching walls, and just before the ground beneath Xera tore itself apart.

A fuming column of molten fire spewed upward in a combustive explosion, bursting out of the ground and straight into the air. Searing heat scorched the glass as it towered upward like a geyser of flames, and within it, Xera's form was sent hurtling into the air and straight through the clouds above.

"Xera!" Dante yelled, watching as Xera disappeared behind the dry wisps in the sky.

He didn't have time to watch any further, as the ground beneath him crushed his legs into a tumble, and was forced to grind to another halt off to the side from all the rest.

 _What was he thinking?! That fool..! Something like that wouldn't even be remotely close to being able to kill me! It might have tickled a bit, but he didn't have to do that..!_

An ear-shattering wail shook the ground as the Drakon Leviathan's seething head emerged from the ground. Its left eye was slashed out, only leaving its right eye's angry red glow. Its form easily towered higher and higher into the sky as it moved backward…

Before its gaze snapped to Nagga and surged forward, taking the hydra into its maw before completely chomping down on the summon.

 _What is it..? Oh no…_

A breath of hot air streamed out of its nostrils as it cleared out the blanket of steam in front of it, and then glared at what it saw behind the wall of white.

Dante had already started sprinting as the creature reared its entire head back. A snarling gargle escaping its throat before all blockage was cleared away in a long, loud, suspenseful intake of air.

A dull orange glow began to fester in the back of its throat as the cracks in its underbelly began to glow brightly as well.

 _Not good, not good, not good!_

Dante managed to make it over to Kimura and leapt over the Cerberus as it planted its paws down to form a wall, landing behind it to the girls crouching on the ground.

"Get behind me!" he shouted.

 _I only managed that while in that form…_

His mind reproduced images of that...grotesque form he took on when in the church that night with Jonathan Friede. Despite the nightmare given actual shape that night...he had actually learned something that he never knew he could do. It was time to see if it would work again.

Dante quickly positioned himself in front of them and focused a substantial amount of his white Aura outlined in black in front of himself to form a crystal-clear barrier of large, hexagonal shapes that were tightly compacted together to form a forward-barrier. The barrier was large enough to completely shield the front of the three, a few of the crystal-like clear hexagons floating around the edges of the forward-barrier, giving off tiny streams of Aura.

Right now, Dante had hoped for one thing.

Whatever Kimura didn't take, he'd have to deflect. Or take himself.

* * *

A massive jet of flame crashed into the Cerberus-like summon, completely disintegrating it within a few seconds as the burst of flame hit Dante's barrier, forcing the tightly compacted formation of crystalline hexagons to flex towards Dante.

 _Come on..! Keep it together..!_

A crack began forming in the barrier as the burst of jet-like fire continued to crash against the barrier like a focused tsunami, the crack splitting off into numerous cracks as the fire continued.

He couldn't help but think for a moment one thing.

Where was Xera?

The fire pressed on, putting more cracks into Dante's crystalline barrier as the young immortal continued pouring his Aura into it, fending off the encroaching flames. It wouldn't hold much longer.

As if his plea had been heard, a cracking sound erupted through the air as a blur of black plummeted from the sky like an orbital bombardment, cracking and shattering the glass across the ground in a widely spanning rippling implosion of sand.

The wall of fire then crashed into what kneeled in the center of the crater, then completely blew upward as if it had crashed into an unbreakable wall. The massive torrent of flames shot outward and into the sky, before every whipping light began to swirl and bend inward.

Trails of yellow and orange wrapped around Xera's form, storming around him like a supernova gathering before combustion.

Dante watched behind the barrier as Xera split his weapon in two as the fires raged, quickly seeping into his body as he felt his energy rise. The broken legs from impact, the wounds, the bruises, the gashes and cuts that covered his body…

They all completely healed and vanished.

An even brighter shade of red glowed from his irises as his black wings fanned outward behind his crouching form.

The flames kept growing and feeding into him as the sea of fire began to slow and drain. An overwhelming amount of heat passed over everyone behind his silhouette within the flames, but nothing more was allowed to pass.

Annivia's Talons, Xera's weapon, shifted and folded as he held his twin blades out to his sides, the inferno before him crawling to a stop as the last of its power was fed straight into his Aura.

"I'll never make the same mistake again…" The phoenix muttered as the glow faded from his eyes.

He slowly stood up from his low position, his wings flexing with his movements as he stepped forward.

"I couldn't forgive myself it I let that happen." He continued to speak in a lightly echoing voice, walking a few steps closer to the Drakon Leviathan before him.

"Xera!"

His name was called, but all he did was cast a sideways gaze over his shoulder, his right wing dipping slightly to reveal the safety of his friends across the desert behind him.

One red eye then locked with a set of sky blue, and Dante knew what Xera was about to do. What he had to do.

This was their one chance.

Xera turned his gaze back to the colossal serpent in front of him and poured his aura into his blades.

"Confused?" He asked, looking up into the wide red eye of his adversary. "I would be too… if my most powerful attack did absolutely nothing…" Xera said with a slight smirk, before taking his ebony blades at his sides and bathing them in a golden fire.

"If only you could hope for the same."

Two blades were hurled out through the air, streaking in solid golden lights before embedding themselves behind the Leviathan's right and left flanks. Their bright glows shined beneath the rising sun as Xera took a deep, slow breath, causing the flames to glow a little brighter.

The black pupils of Xera's eyes suddenly sparked with golden flame, then those fires spread to emblazon his entire body as his energy, and those of his weapons, surged and flashed.

"Burn in hell..."

Blazing lines of gold caught fire and streaked out from Xera and the two embedded blades positioned in a large triangle surrounding the creature of grimm. Their golden shines burning brightly as they connected to each other and amplified the aura link between swordsman and his weapons.

And just like that, a shine as bright as the evening sun split the air in silence before the crystalline roar of a celestial column of fire erupted from deep beneath the Drakon Leviathan.

What followed was a blood curdling wail that screeched and screamed from within the golden light.

Xera's fire instantly chipped at the monster's hide, searing it completely as its entire body became engulfed by the surging tower of energy.

Every morsel of energy Xera pulled from the Leviathan's attack was poured right back into this counter move, and as Xera's aura decreased, the golden shine of his flames dimmed back into the burning color of orange.

The crystalline hum fell dully back into the roar of Xera's column of fire, then even that seemed to thin out and become smaller.

Before long, Xera collapsed back onto his knees. His wings pushed downward to curl up and press against the ground in an attempt to support him as he let out a shaky breath. The light in his eyes died as his flames dwindled then dispersed.

What was left behind was a severely scorched and cracked Drakon Leviathan. Once solid hide was now brittle and crumbling away, revealing more and more inner flesh as its entire body shook in bouts of pain.

Smoke tumbled from the spanning cracks across its entire form as it bent and arched its body in excruciation.

Dante's tightly compacted hexagonal barrier crumbled to pieces like glass, drifting in the air for but a few seconds before they dissolved.

 _Even now… It still isn't enough… What will it take to kill this thing?!_

His mind produced images of the form he took on in the church two days prior. The layers of black bone-like armor plating. The grey muscles fibers covering his entire body from neck to toe that was covered by the same black bone-like plating. That maw of teeth that formed a sort of twisted smile on that black, skull-like head without eye sockets or a ethmoid. The long black horns on the side of the head that bent inwards before slightly curving outwards.

He knew why his mind was producing those images. It subconsciously told him that form was an answer, possibly his best answer. It was as if his own mind was tempting him to use it again. It was powerful...overwhelmingly so. He knew that. It allowed him to effortlessly tear apart those men before he proceeded to do the same to Jonathan Friede.

If he used it again...he'd be able to tear apart the beast before him.

 _No… I can't… I can't ever do that again… I was aware and fully conscious of what I was doing, not like the other time in Vale. What's to say I'll be conscious of what I'm doing if I use it again..? Is there...no other option..?_

Everything around him went grey, as time seemingly came to halt. Something within him seemed to click off, then another seemed to click on, as if something switched inside of him.

He looked around him weakly, turning to look over his shoulder as he saw everyone and everything still and motionless. All matter and energy frozen in a timeless slumber.

Xera Stark was the only other person besides Dante that wasn't frozen in this...space. It was in that now frozen expanse of time, Xera saw Dante staring at the ground in front of him.

Something Dark soon faded into view.

Dante felt a clawed hand grasp his shoulder. His mind was flooding as it was, but he looked behind him to make sure it was who he thought it was.

In the time-warped space he suddenly found himself, he could see a figure that took on the form of his Shadow Skin, glowing white, perfectly round eyes and lines on the blackened body that was layered from neck to toe in vicious segmented armor, his ever demonic long horns present on his head that bent inwards before curving outwards.

His Proxy had shown itself once more, sporting his normal Shadow Skin, not that abomination in the church.

Then in a cold, chilling voice, the Proxy Dante spoke.

"What are you doing?"

Dante glanced back a moment at his specter-like Proxy that took on the form of his Shadow Skin, his gaze drifting to the clawed hand on the teens shoulder before looking forwards at the frozen Leviathan in the distance.

"What's it look like..? We're taking a beating and I... I don't know what to do..."

"Why are you taking a beating when you should be the one beating it?"

"Because...that thing's been a bit of a pest, that's why. If I don't mind everyone else around me…they could die…"

"You're afraid...aren't you? Afraid that you might take on that form again… It doesn't surprise me that that would be the reason why you have been reluctant to use your Shadow Skin to destroy this creature…"

Dante let out a frustrated sigh, closing his eyes to attempt to think more clearly. There had to be something. Anything.

"Use it." The Proxy suddenly said.

"Use what..?"

"Have you so easily forgotten it? It calls to you... It sings your name… Can you not feel it reaching out to you?"

"It…calls to me..."

"Call upon it! Unbury the technique you've forgotten! Bringit back! Take up your sword, and use it to strike down this pest before you! It's time, Dante…"

The Shadow Skinned Proxy placed both hands on Dante's shoulders, as if it were helping keeping the young immortal propped up.

"Reach out, Dante, and you will sense it... Call upon its name… Envision it, for it's the other that will carry you through annihilation and decimation…"

"The other…"

"Just like you and I, there are twins to everything under creation..."

"Twins..."

He felt a power welling up inside him, waiting to be released.

"Go… Call upon its power! Do it now, Dante! Bring back the power your past has left behind! Take it back into your hands, and deliver overwhelming destruction to your foes!"

Time had resumed flow, and Xera watched as the specter dissolved into black Aura and merged with Dante's white Aura outlined in black.

That same Aura suddenly blazed around Dante's body in obscene amounts, the young immortal soon opening his eyes to reveal the whites of his eyes had turned black and his irises a glowing white.

The Leviathan took note of Dante and immediately slithered backwards, as if it were expecting a force similar greater than the one it had just endured.

Xera recognized what was about to occur, and remembered back to the last time he had spoken to Dante. In the forge room. They had done something. Dante had shared his memories with him…and it was starting to become very clear as to what was about to happen.

What would happen should he and everyone else remain in the area would be devastating.

He could only chuckle quietly at that, saying "Looks like… he really doesn't want to be outdone…doesn't he…"

Out of the corner of his eye, he felt and saw a set of clawed and scorched claws skid to a stop beside him. And when he looked up, he quickly took notice of both Destiny and Velvet staring down at him.

"Xera?! What wa-"

"We...need to get out of here..." he said weakly.

"What..?"

"We have to…get out…as fast as we can…"

Xera suddenly blinked hard, and wondered why his vision was starting to become blurry. Blotches of white started to speckle his sight before it started to become harder and harder to keep them open and active.

"-era?"

Before he could collapse to the ground, Velvet hopped off Kimura's back and caught the phoenix.

"What do you think he-"

"No time!"

Taking heed of his warning, Destiny reached down and pulled both Velvet and Xera up onto her Cerberus's back, then turned the creature around to sprint the other way.

She too once had Dante's memories shared with her. And when she looked back momentarily, she too began to understand what was about to occur. Xera sat limply between them, but his wings seemed to still have a small sense of protection in them, seeing as they lightly curled forward and wove tightly into Kimura's fur for support.

The girls then did as asked, and bounded past Tai, Destiny sweeping a hand down and pulling him up onto her three headed wolf as well as they created as much distance as they could between them and the Leviathan.

In the distance, Dante removed his right arm from the sling he sported, the same right arm that was now covered in his Shadow Skin.

"Inuba's going to be upset about this…but…right now…there's no other choice..."

The teen soon moved his sword from his left hand to his right as the last of his wrappings fell in tattered remains on the ground, his extreme amount of Aura beginning to condense and gather around his blade, forming a massive torrent of continuous energy that tore through the sand behind him until he grasped his blade with both hands and raised it high over his head, the massive torrent of condensed Aura flowing wildly like fire high into the sky.

"Devouring…"

The creatures realized its fate, then made a rapid move in to try and finish off the teen before he could possibly unleash anything at all. It was about to make contact with him when everyone turned back and looked in worry, but not Xera, and certainly not Dante.

"LIGHT!"

As he swung down, Dante had discharged a massive, crescent shaped tidal wave of white Aura outlined in black as colossal as the titanic, lunging creature itself. The energy discharge roared like the crystalline hum of a thousand shards of glass breaking at once, vibrating through the air as the light itself seemed to engulf the entire area in front of Dante's now shadowed form.

The large, roaring wave of Aura crashed into the beast as it resulted in a blinding explosive blast of Aura, sending out powerful shockwaves for miles throughout the vast desert of glass. Violent quakes followed the devastation, forcing Kimura to nearly stumble as almost everyone shielded their eyes while the Leviathan let out its last screams.

As the explosive quakes came to a halt, they opened their eyes to see the remains of the massive Grimm dissolve into the desert air, black wisps dissipating into nothingness as it all drifted away into the faint breeze.

In the distance, Dante dropped his sword into the ground as it planted itself point first, allowing him to use his left hand to support himself to stand.

He was breathing heavily as he leaned on his planted sword, his right hand still in its Shadow Skin form, hanging limply as it now gave off a loud sizzling noise. Then, the Shadows surrounding his arm began to slowly dissolve away.

"Serves you right…you big mouthed moron…"

* * *

 **(Omake: "Counseling with an Immortal, Part 4", by OS Worldmakers)**

Bone muttered to himself "Time to sculpt the flowers... add some decorations and frosting..."

The tower slowly built upwards. First, a large layer of milk bread/cake filled with black sesame filling and some cream. A light layer of sweet (not too sweet) vanilla and some more sesame filling acted as frosting.

"This just keeps getting better and better!" Ruby cheered on the sideline, somehow waving a flag with a dessert printed on it.

Then, green tea. He opted to frost it in a light green frosting made up of some herbs that went well with green tea. Sprigs of mint decorated the top as he placed it onto the pedestal above the first layer.

"Nice touch! I'm sure he'll like it!"

Another cake. This time, it was brown- graham cracker. Fumetsu had covered the top with crumbs of Dante's favorite snake and racked it into a tree trunk's pattern, taking care to make sure it fully complemented the chocolate filling and frosting.

"Last one..." Bone muttered.

"He definitely like both of them... I'm glad..."

The final one! He had crafted it with red bean, reminiscent of the forests of Forever Fall. Elegant lines of the paste drew out leaves that, when looked from another angle, became a rose. The cake was actually red velvet cake without the dieing stuff Fumetsu hated, instead recreated with the gentleness of milk bread and the sophistication of lava chocolate cake. It sure tasted like the luxurious stuff.

From there, a bit of the paste was on the side, as if dripping like the sap from Forever Falls. And on top... were two figurines. Ruby couldn't see them.

"What are those?" Ruby curiously asked, trying to look at them on her tippy-toes.

A smirk. "I'm glad you asked."

Fumetsu pulls Dante out from the hallways.

"You two, hold hands in front of the cake. Make it look lovey-dovey," he ordered.

"R-Ruby..?" asked Dante.

The immortal dropped the bomb. "It's a wedding cake."

Fumetsu pushed the two close before stepping back far enough and whipping out a scroll.

"W-W-W-What?!" Dante said.

"Just pose. I'll take off the figurine and you two can keep them." Fumetsu explained. "You can eat the cake with your teams and friends. Maybe Ozpin and Goodwitch will be here to give you their blessings."

"I-I can't believe this guy..." Dante muttered.

Time to sell it to the couple. "You don't have to. Besides, I'm giving you a chance! A memory! This cake ain't going to be back, you know! What if tomorrow you or Ruby die! Treat this moment like it's the last you'll ever have. It's embarrassing, sure, but it's giving you happiness. Better to go out smiling than crying depressed."

Defeat. "H-He's not wrong..."

"Ruby..."

Patiently, he waited, discreetly inviting JNPR and the rest of RWBY, along with SSSN and CFVY.

"J-Just take the picture already, White..."

A snap of the shutter, and viola. A perfect image. A perfect memory ready for the future.

"The only thing left now is to share it with everyone else..." Bone started, smirking-

Dante appeared behind White in a flash of white Aura outlined in black, quickly grabbing the scroll from his hands before vanishing next to Ruby's side in the next second. After bringing up his HoloScroll, he quickly downloaded the picture from White's scroll before deleting it and tossed it back to him.

"Not a chance," Dante ordered.

Bone smiled as he removed another scroll from his pocket, opening it up.

"I have backups~" the older immortal teaased.

That scroll soon crackled with electricity before giving off a small puff of smoke.

"I forgot to mention I'm a top notch hacker. Anything with your name and face, be it alias' as well, is going to be disabled and suffer a short in the system, automatically restoring you scroll to factory settings. I've dealt with plenty of people like you in the past. After all, I used to be a high schooler who had a few stalkers now and then," the white haired immortal warned sternly.

"Oh, you want to play like that?" Fumetsu replied. "Don't worry. I sent it to Ozpin. You don't want to hack the headmaster, eh? And even then, there's more backups. You're playing this game now. But don't worry. Even now I still have 'em. And if I wanted, I can just nudge your Scroll a bit, and done."

"You really don't understand how many lines I'm willing to cross, do you? I've only hacked Ozpin once and once only because of a top secret mission, and will do it again if he dares try to spread this photo. As for you...you shouldn't test me so willingly..." said the teen summoning an Aura Sword.

"Go ahead. Hack everything, then. And besides, you should realize one of the software makers for Scrolls is a fellow by the name of Bone Gray..."

"You bast- Ahem... I mean, you dirtbag! That was you?! I knew your name sounded familiar!"

"Um...what is-?" Ruby said.

A grin of success.

"I'm ending the omake here... author."

"WHO'S THIS AUTHOR YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT?! ALSO, HAND OVER THE PHOTOS! NOW!"

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 3)**

"Hmmmm... What outfit should she wear next..? School girl?"

"Ciel."

"Nah, too cliche... Maid outfit?"

"Ciel!"

"No, save that for another time... Oh! Miss Goodwitch's outfit! That's pretty sexy!"

"CIEL!" shouted Leo.

"What?! What do you want?! Can't you see I'm busy picking out another outfit for Inuba?!"

"I see that, but before you can do that, we have a job to do first, remember?"

"Wha..? Oh yeah... Ahem..." started the younger sibling as she cleared her throat, "Ladies and gentleman, welcome back to another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia! We're your hosts Ciel and Leo, and we're back another week to teach you a thing or two about currently known Semblances!"

"Our topic of discussion this week is Inuba Kitsukami's Semblance. It's quite an interesting one if I do say so myself."

"Right he is! First things first, her most commonly known ability, which is known as Cleansing Flame. Using the power of her FoxFire, Inuba uses Cleansing Flame to heal nearly all manners of injuries and cure almost any disease, poison or blight. The only thing it can't do is regenerate limbs, but, she can re-attach severed limbs and restore full functionality."

"If it weren't for our brother's extremely high resistance to all types of magic, Miss Kistukami would have healed his arm a long time ago. Other than healing, what else can she do, Ciel?"

"She's got some really nice offense/defense abilities that work real nice in almost any situation. For instance, any patches of fire she lays down, she can teleport to them to avoid attacks. But she's fast enough as is that she rarely uses that ability and uses it only to completely throw off an enemy."

"Miss Kitsukami can also absorb any source of flame in order to recharge or overcharge her Aura. What's nice about this ability is that she can absorb the flames that she produces in order to recharge her Aura."

"So basically she's like her own rechargeable battery by using her own fire to recharge her Aura, which actually gives back three times more Aura than what she originally expended."

"A fairly useful ability if I do say so myself. Another ability that's really useful is her flame shields that can block blades and projectiles of all varieties. Given that she has excellent control of how hot her fires burn, she make them burn hotter than the sun to melt weaponry. Or in the extreme case, people or enemies."

"When you've got something burning hotter than the sun coming after you, you'd best run if you can't fight or defend against it. Even then you'd have some trouble running. Offense wise, Inuba uses technically three special abilities that are derived from her Semblance. The first one is her longest reaching attack, FoxFire Burst. Inuba can shoot forth precise bolts of flame or widespread bursts that consume and obliterate targets."

"For upclose and personal attacks, Miss Kitsukami has two main attacks that she uses. The first attack is FoxFire Nova, where Inuba channels and condenses her destructive white flames around her sword to create a massive torrent of that same destructive white flame that's unleashes as an arcing wave of fire that burns through nearly any enemy."

"And how sweet of her to model this technique after own brothers signature attack, eh? Speaking of which, he can do energy wave attacks again! How freaking awesome is that?!"

"Very."

"Next up is Nine Tailed Inferno. It works almost exactly like FoxFire Nova, only instead of one massive torrent, it splits apart into nine smaller torrents of white flame. And what makes this attack even better is that each of those nine waves that were split apart have the same attack power as one! Its like getting hit by nine FoxFire Nova's at once! What makes this attack not only awesome, but really scary overall, is that its meant to cover an extremely wide radius to provide the enemy no chance of escape."

"Truly a fearsome technique... Ciel, you mentioned that Miss Kitsukami practically has three main offensive attacks, suggesting that she may have another. What would that be?"

"I'm glad you asked Leo. It's actually a combined attack she does with big brother."

"Ah, I remember now. Allow me then. Our last ability worth mentioning is Ashen Annihilation, an extremely destructive technique used by our brother and miss Kitsukami when they combine their powers into one. Originally, the attack was simply a combination of Howling Dark, our brothers previous energy wave attack, and Miss Kitsukami's FoxFire Nova. The force of the attack alone was enough to completely sink a large island after turning everything on said island to ash. I can only assume that should the area have been larger, the massive amounts of destruction would have had a wider spread."

"Woah... So you're saying...it's actually more destructive than what saw at first?"

"That's correct."

"The more you know... Think we'll ever see it again in the future now that brother has Devouring Light?"

"It's a possibility. Well then everyone, that's all that we have for you today."

"Yup, we'll see you all next time for Christmas! Happy holidays everyone!"

* * *

 **And done... Man was this semester rough. I can only hope I did well enough on my final to pass pre-calc. Really don't want to take that class again. If you all didn't know by now, I'm terrible at math. And pre-calc was like living in hell every single day. Pray for my success everyone. Pray for my success...**

 **Well then, bet you all weren't expecting that were you? Dante has officially regained the ability to use energy wave attacks again. Howling Dark was the first, Devouring Light the second. Now that he's got the ability to unleash hell again in the form of Aura Waves, I wonder what fancy new things it can do. Besides utterly obliterate the enemy. Well...wait and see folks. There's more to come as we delve deeper into our collab. Speaking of which...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope to see you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	8. Chapter 8: Veil of Memories

**Merry Christmas everyone! My gift under the tree for you! That's that. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Veil of Memories

Dante staggered towards the bullheads that had landed in the desert sand, boarding the group of allies that were both exhausted, and in the case of one, fairly injured. He didn't consider himself to be in either category, despite his right arm going numb and currently feeling as though it were lit ablaze. The young immortal turned his head around once more to see the last of the Drakon Leviathan dissolve into the cool winds that swept through the desert. Feeling no more threats present in the vicinity, Dante sheathed his weapon on the visibly attached sheath on his back and continued staggering towards the open bullhead. He was disoriented slightly, given that he could barely hear the engines of the airship and the voice of Destiny calling out to him as she was waving him down, possibly to tell him to hurry it up.

Dante grasped his right arm and flopped onto the edge of the air vehicle, dragging himself in with some help from the wolf Faunus.

"Les's go!" He shouted smacking the cockpit door.

Seconds after, the side doors closed and the ship took off heading back towards Beacon now that everyone was aboard safe and sound. A nurse came to attend to him, but he waved her off.

"He takes priority. There's not much you'd be able to do with this anyway." He said nodding towards Xera before using his left arm to lift up his right slightly.

The nurse nodded before moving towards the back of the bay, leaving Destiny and Dante by themselves. The young immortals grasp on his arm grew tighter as the burning feeling slowly began to die down.

"Let me take a look." Said Destiny reaching out towards him.

"It'd be pointless to."

"But-"

"If you really want to help, make sure Xera's okay."

"He'll be fine for now. If you'd stop being a moronic idiot for a second, I could actually do something for you."

"And trust me, you won't be able to do a thing for me right now. Inuba will be able to take care of this. For the most part anyway...

"Most part?"

"Her healing magic is the best of the best. And in my opinion, the best kind of healing magic I've ever seen. Not even that healed me. Back in my Reality, it's been six months since I've gotten this injury. And every day for the past six months, she's been working on my arm."

Destiny could now see the blackened skin of his hand that had slowly began healing, spots of his actual skin revealed underneath. These spots were fairly large, showing that progress had been made. But what truly provided confirmation of healing was how much he could move his right arm and hand, which at the moment, was minimal at best.

"Six moths..? It's been that long in your reality?"

"Yup. We've been traveling around on a...secret mission of sorts."

"Secret mission?"

"That's something of no importance to you." Said Dante as he reminisced about the attack on Beacon and Vale half a year ago. "You were wondering what happened to my arm, right? The real reason this time and not some...poor excuse?"

She nodded silently, looking behind her to make sure no one else was watching as she scooted closer to him to listen carefully.

"Six months ago, I found out that something was hidden in Vale. Don't worry, you won't find it here if you looked. It...doesn't exist in your Reality. I found it and tried destroying it, but it backfired and ended up overcharging my current powers, triggering a state that happens to Higher Beings known as EndStage. As the name suggests, your power is increased exponentially from the time you're afflicted. But as time passes...your own power slowly begins to consume you. This almost happened to me and fighting only made it happen quicker. Turns out, ever since I stepped foot on Remnant, something managed to hide within my soul and gathered Grimm Essence from all the Grimm I killed. After a simple walk into my soul, I pushed out whatever it was that was hiding in me, but the Grimm Essence it gathered allowed it to form a body of its own. After pushing it out, I fought a long and lengthy battle against a basic carbon-copy of myself. I finally managed to kill it after...discharging practically all of my Aura through a punch. I was dead for ten minutes at most since my heart stopped. That's basically what happened in a Nutshell."

"You idiot!" Destiny said in an angry whisper. "You discharged all of your Aura through a punch?! Seriously?!"

"No other option at the time. Plus it worked."

"Whether it worked or not, that was still really stupid! What if that's the only way to actually kill you?!"

"Well, I'm alive, so I have to say that theory of yours is flawed."

"Did you ever consider how others would feel if they think you were dead? They'd be...mortified! Especially... Especially those really close to you. Could you imagine how'd they feel?"

"Not really..."

"Are you that much of an idiot?!"

"I won't be dying anytime. So I don't really need to think of such things."

She didn't have anything else to say. Whether she was shocked or too angry to say anything was unknown. She wanted to say more, but Dante cut in before she did.

"I'm not that insensitive, Destiny... For the most part, I actually do care about other people's thoughts and feelings and try not to hurt people as best as possible. In fact...I completely avoid it altogether if I see it coming... My point is that I'm fine and there's nothing to worry about. So if possible, let's just forget about it already and focus on the actual injured person, yes?" He said motioning to Xera.

The wolf Faunus looked back at the Phoenix Faunus a moment before looking back at the immortal.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help you? Nothing at all?"

"I'm sure. Now stop wasting your time with me and go help someone who needs it more."

Destiny was reluctant at first, but soon stood up and walked over to Xera, conversing with the nurse about areas Xera Stark was still injured in. Knowing his friend was in good hands, the young immortal leaned his head back against the cushioned padding of the headrest and closed his eyes to rest them for a moment, opening them moments later to find his Proxy Specter sitting directly next to him, still maintaining the form of his Shadow Skin.

"How long?"

"Pardon?" Asked the Proxy.

"How long have you been with me exactly?"

"Hmmmmmm... A fairly vague question... But I will answer you no less. I've been with you...since the beginning."

"Hmmmmmm... A fairly vague answer..."

"Were you expecting something else?"

"From you? Not really... But still... In a way, we made it out of there because of you. So thanks."

"My pleasure."

"I do have one more question... You said Devouring Light is a sister-technique. Is it the twin of Howling Dark?"

"Yes, it is indeed. But there are two slight differences between them. The first is fairly simple. Due to it being of a Light nature, Devouring Light does retain the same destructive power of Howling Dark, but it moves far faster than it. The other difference is that Devouring Light is extremely effective against creatures of Darkness and Evil, whilst Howling Dark is effective against all matter of living beings and undead, as well as people who use abilities and powers belonging to the Light. Either way, both techniques are powerful and highly destructive. Wield this technique wisely as you once did, and you can make short work of any enemy."

"I'm probably not going to be able to use all the fancy tricks I learned until I use Devouring Light a bit more, huh?"

"That is correct."

The young immortal sighed with disappointment.

"Did you really think it'd be that easy?"

"Sort of since I learned those tricks ages ago."

"Then you would be a fool to believe such a thing."

"Apparently so..."

Dante looked towards Xera, the nurse. Destiny once more, overhearing they had just managed to stabilize him. The rest would have to be taken care of when they got back to Beacon.

"It appears he is out of danger. For the time being at least." Said the specter.

"But we still have a lot more to do before we can continue our journey back in our reality. You've felt it too, right?"

"I have. An evil once widely know and feared. An evil long forgotten. An evil that once again rises in order to destroy and enslave. I know not his name, but the the Darkness he exudes... One can only assume him to be a powerful being from long ago that was felled. Even so, his spirit was not destroyed. He survived and endured. And now with his return, he will attempt to rule over all."

"Not while we have something to say about it."

"Don't get so cocky, Dante. A technique similar in nature to the one you once had may be in your possession now, but it does not give you room to make errors. You must be cautious."

"I know. But for now, we rest until everyone else can get back on their feet. Then, we find it and take it down. Once and for all."

"If only it were so easy..."

"It won't be. But with everyone else helping, it'll definitely help make things go smoother."

"Well then, I suggest you work diligently then. This foe will be the greatest you've faced so far in your time on Remnant. Be cautious at every turn."

"Got it..." said the teen as he leaned back and closed his eyes once more.

The specter chuckled before it evaporated into the air, leaving Dante with the others in the bullhead without their extra unseen "passenger". His greatest fight so far during his time on Remnant... Would such a thing be true? Or was the sepcter simply over exaggerating to make him take it as seriously as possible? He could never tell his Proxy's intentions unless they were clear and concise. For now though, he would rest until Xera could get back up on his feet. And then...they would burn away this menace that has been plaguing the Phoenix Faunus' mind for a time now.

* * *

The young immortal made it to the infirmary room after they took Xera away to treat him, and after once again convincing Destiny there was nothing she could do to treat him. In fact, he was in the infirmary for that very reason. He last felt Inuba's presence in here. Given that he longer felt it, it either meant she was hiding or she was busy enough that she did not need disruptions. It was most likely the second given that the Opzin of this Reality required her assistance. But for what exactly?

"Maybe I should call her and see what's up..."

The young immortal brought up his holographic scroll display, his HoloScroll for short, to attempt to call his partner, unaware of the figure creeping up on him, preparing to lay hands on him.

"HAHA!"

Someone did indeed pounce on him, wrapping their legs around his waist and arms around his neck. And then...teeth digging into his coat along with some form of cute growling?

Before Dante could turn to see who it was trying to devour him, he found his sides being tickled with such speed and ferocity that he had no time to counter, only laugh as the figure continued tickling his sides mercilessly without pause.

"S-Stop..! Hahahahahahahahaha! Please! Hahahahahaha! God, no! Bwahahahahaha!"

"Suffer my tickling wrath!"

Finding enough strength for one attack, Dane reached behind him with his left hand, grabbed the collar of his attacker, and removed her from his back and tossed her into the air spinning, the same girl giggling cheerfully as she vertically spun around until she landed softly atop the bed in front of Dante.

"Good lord... Skyla, you little munchkin..."

"Hey! I'm not exactly a kid. Sorta. You gotta admit though, I got you good."

"Well... Yeah, I guess you did. You should be resting." said the young immortal poiting to her own bandaged hands and slightly bandaged head.

"This half mummy needs no rest! Ow..."

"Yeah, right."

A second later, he felt a small sensation in his right arm, looking to see Skyla examining it.

"What happened..?"

"Oh, don't worry about this all too much. Just a small injury."

"Aren't you, like, immortal or something?"

"I am. But even I get consequences for doing dumb things. Let me give you the short version. I kinda sorta had a mishap with Aura. It severely overloaded the nerves in my right arm, making it not usable. But thanks to my partners healing, it's gotten better. I can move my arm and fingers a lot more than I did, so it's working."

"Healing, huh?" said Skyla raising her eyebrows once or twice.

"N-Nothing like that! She just has the best healing magic there is. Well, her and her family to be more precise."

"I was just messing. Of course I know what you meant. I hope you get better though."

"I will. Thanks."

"Did-?"

"Yeah, he's back. Took some time due to an...unwanted guest. But we got him out. They're working on him now in fact."

"That's good..."

"He'll be fine. Trust me. Get some rest now. If you're going to help with what's coming next, we need you at full strength. Get me?" said the young immortal raising up his fist.

"I got it."

"Great. Rest now you little munchkin."

"I'm not a kid you know. Sometimes at least."

"I know."

"Then why-?"

"Because the Phantom of the Cape towers over you. That's why." he said leaving a wide grin on the girls face as he left.

* * *

It didn't take Dante long to find Inuba after he left the infirmary. Her Aura Signature popped up immediately after, likely due to her sensing his return and giving off a pulse to allow him to find her. Black iced filled the hallway he walked through, a cold chill settling over him with each step he took closer to the room. Opening the door to the he was lead to, he found Inuba sitting down in a seat, keeping close watch of the problem at hand, Zerath Stark, the older brother of Xera.

Zerath wasn't so much the problem. It was what was inside him that was the issue. The Dark Entity Soul-Slasher resided within. And now...Dante and Inuba needed to figure out a means to tear him from his soul.

"How is he?" Dante asked, stepping around the icy room as while he kept his eyes trained on the center bed.

"He's stable, Master. However, the fading of his consciousness has not completely stopped. It's nearly deteriorated." Inuba responded quietly.

"He won't be Zerath anymore if this keeps up." Destiny concluded.

 _From what she told me last time, she's only just begun researching Dark Entities this year. And she's learned quite a lot about them…_

"I didn't know Dark Entities could do this…"

"No ordinary Dark Entity can." Dante clarified, "This is definitely the work of a Dark Entity...Lord Class last time I checked. It's the level right beneath King Class, the strongest and oldest of the bunch."

"It's strange though..." Inuba began, "By now, I can easily restrain a Lord with ease. However, I've been having trouble keeping Zerath's darkness at bay."

"That that might be an issue for us then..."

 _He's not your average Lord Class from what I know so far... Obani is the only Lord Class Dark Entity I know of that can rival a King Class due to his ability of drawing power from moons... Soul-Slasher might be a Dark Entity like Obani that can transcend it's Lord Class limitations through some sort of special ability. If that's the case..._

"From the first moment you sensed him to now, has there been an increase in the Darkness Essence?"

Inuba closed her eyes for a few moments, before they slowly opened and turned directly to Dante by Zerath's bedside.

"His presence has become more apparent. At first, I associated that increase with the power Soul-Slasher was gaining over Zerath's mind…but it's far too much of an increase for that to simply be the case."

"Which means he's drawing power from something we don't know of right now... And if I'm right, it's not anything good."

"Master, do you think..?"

"It's a possibility. I never found out what happened to the one I found at Beacon, but... If it is what I think it is, and if Soul-Slasher is using it, then we have a big problem on our hands."

"Master... If he has it...how will we be able to help?" Inuba asked, turning her crimson eyes back to Zerath, "How can we save him if he's this far along?"

Dante stopped to think while Destiny had been kept quiet, listening and observing what was taking place before her and taking in everything she could. Could she be able to use her chains again? It was a longshot at best, but if it came down to it…she could try to pull Soul-Slasher from Zerath again. She would need to sacrifice a lot of energy to do that again, though…and so soon after just using so much of it in her fight against him in the tournament...

Silence fell upon the room. Dante hated to admit it, but Zerath's life had a chance become unsalvageable if things continued as they did.

"I believe I can help you with that." A new voice spoke up.

For a brief shining moment, there was a flash of white light. A fourth figure appeared, standing at the same height as Inuba, a head shorter than Dante, who stood at six feet now. She was a female cloaked in white and with a soft effeminate and young voice. The very fabric of her attire glimmered in the dim light of the dreary infirmary, reflecting even that of the smallest of shines. Entangled into the white cloak swirled the elegant designs of black motif, branching away from a trim of equal color.

"I can help you save him."

* * *

"What do you mean, you can help? Just, who are you?" Destiny asked, internally questioning the sudden presence of the girl that stood before them.

"Who or what I am is of no importance. What I can do for you all...is." The cloaked girl responded, gesturing a pale hand to the infirmary room's bed.

"That wasn't an answer I was looking for." Destiny quipped.

This was Xera's brother, who suffered long enough and was in need of being liberated. If that girl meant him harm in any way…

"Cool it, she's a friend. And as of now, she's our only way of keeping Zerath from descending into Darkness. Permanently." Dante said

"You know her, then?" Destiny asked, looking toward Dante now.

"Yeah, she's my stalker."

Destiny and, surprisingly, the girl in white both shot him their glances. One was riddled with confusion and curiosity, the other was about to bore a hole into Dante's head through eye contact alone.

"H-He's not entirely wrong…" Inuba said, coughing into her fist to establish innocence and presence in all of this.

"Calm yourself you two. I've merely been following you about for reasons I can't quite tell either of you yet." The girl sighed in exasperation with pauses in her words, turning down her hood as she approached the teen on the bed.

"Now then, we must hurry before he is lost forever."

She then turned to Inuba and dipped the tip of her hood slightly, almost as if it were the starting of a very subtle but elegant bow.

"Thank you for binding him. It will make this easier now."

Inuba looked more shocked than anything else, but she quickly smiled in response before speaking, "You're welcome. I was simply buying us more time."

"Your efforts have preserved his consciousness." The girl started, "They were not in vain."

The kitsune nodded her head, this time looking more humble by the words spoken. Despite all this, though. A realization seemed to come into fruition with the cloaked girl as she rested a hand on Zerath's cold head.

"Only two will be able."

"Two?" asked the young immortal.

The girl closed her eyes and held her response, only opening them moments later to verify her first assumption.

"I can only send two people in."

"In where?" asked Destiny.

Dante then stepped forward and waved his non bandaged hand slightly.

"Hold on now, you can't just send anybody in there. You do realize what that can do to someone do you?"

"I do. But for this task, having two going in is better than one. This way, one cannot lose the other." The girl spoke back, responding in the same vagueness she's been using.

"I'm sorta lost at this point. I have a general idea as to what you two are talking about. But… Well... It seems impossible…" Destiny said.

Inuba moved over to her master's side and looked down at the darkened soul before them, "It's been done before. In fact, master has achieved such a task on his own several times before."

"What, seriously?!"

"Yeah, but it wasn't exactly a fun time." Dante retorted quickly.

"Nonetheless, you have done it before. You most certainly will be able to do so again." Inuba said, her tone trailing off into a more supportive and almost affectionate one.

"So… It really is possible…" Destiny commented.

"Two souls are all that I am willing to send into the depths of Zerath's mind." The girl said, before turning her attention to Dante, "You are one of them. I can already trust that you'll be more than capable of keeping your sense of self within Zerath's consciousness. Your soul is incorruptible and vigilant. You will always find a way to succeed, no matter the odds. That is why you must be one of the two to go in there."

Dante looked away momentarily, knowing she made good points that were hard to ignore.

"Alright then, but that doesn't make it easy to pick someone else to go in with me."

"What about me?" Destiny asked, crossing her arms as she shifted her weight to another foot, "I can go with him. I've spent countless years with a shared mind, so it'll be a piece of cake to keep my own bearings in there with Dante. Besides, this way his waifu won't be worried about his safety." She continued with a smirk, "He'd be in safe hands."

"If that is the case, then I'll go." Inuba suddenly spoke up, "I am more than capable of keeping Master safe and I am the only other person here who has experience in vanquishing Dark Entities."

"Well, I have knowledge of countless dark beings and can sense dark presences on my own thanks to my research and abilities."

Destiny piped in. Inuba turned a sharp gaze to the wolf, "As do I. Regardless, I think I'm more qualified for the job. My abilities match that of my Master's own, and we already have the synchronization to work together as partners. W-We've known one another for far longer than you have after all."

Inuba's moment of stutter was quickly made up for, but that didn't stop the very slight blush from dusting her cheeks. Soon after, purple and crimson sets of eyes turned to Dante and asked the same silent question. Who would he take?

"I, uh... I can't... Well...you two both have good points and-"

"It doesn't matter." The cloaked girl spoke up from between the two who wished to be Dante's partner in this, "Neither of you are Sympathetic Souls, souls that could easily resonate with this man."

Her statement brought bewilderment and denial to the two girls' faces.

"She's right." Dante said, drawing their attention back to him.

"But..." Inuba started, only for her question to be finished by Destiny, "Why?"

"Going into another person's mind isn't something so simple like traveling to another world. There are laws that define the inside of ones mind, laws they make of their own accord. It will test you. And it can affect you in so many different ways that insanity is a possibility, no matter how determined you are." He explained.

Inuba looked down and grasped tightly at her skirt, "Master, I can't let you go alone into such a dangerous place."

"And I relude to take you into a place that'll be that dangerous for you." Dante replied, "Sorry. Places like Zerath's mind, as it is now, will do everything in its power to change you as a person. It doesn't just affect your soul and will."

"It doesn't?"

"No, your memories will be affected as well."

The unnamed girl spoke up again, "When you are in the presence of someone else's subconscious, it will try to push thoughts and memories into your own mind. You have to be resilient enough to keep them out… or you'll lose your sense of self altogether. And," She paused for a moment, "It is very difficult to flush those images out once they take hold of you."

"That's why I'm not going to take someone I care about so much into a place like that. Inuba, you are my partner. But this isn't a place I'm willing to take you. Not if there's a chance of you not coming back out with me." Dante said.

Inuba's eyes weakened in their resolve substantially, and as Dante looked at her, she couldn't stop them from glistening with the starting of watery tears.

"I if you say so, Master. Then I will remain here."

"Thank you, Inuba." Dante said, a look of relief crossing his face before he turned his gaze to Destiny.

"I'll relent as well. But still... Who will go into Zerath's mind with you?" Asked the wolf faunus sighed as her ears folded against her head slightly in submission.

"You will need someone who is already familiar with Zerath's. A Sympathetic Soul strong and resilient enough in mind and soul that wI'll allow them to linger in such a draining realm."

Turning to look toward Dante, the hooded girl hoped that he knew of someone who fit those conditions.

"I have just the pigeon in mind..." said Dante as the three stared at him in confusion.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want me to go in with you? Despite what she said, if we worked quickly, we could surely finish in no time."

"Possibly... But I'd rather play it safe this time around. I don't know the ins and outs fully this time. I never do at times really. This time though, it's completely different. And I'm not taking chances."

"I...understand then..."

"Right, wait here a moment, be back in a jiffy."

Dante entered inside the corridor leading to Xera's infirmary room. People were inside talking. Something about them helping out. It was a nice idea, but Xera seemed not too keen on allowing it to happen. Luckily, the others needn't be involved now. Xera was the only other he needed for this task.

"Luckily, you have friends that can go places others can't."

All had turned their heads to see that Dante had entered the room.

"Throughout my extensive history so far, I've been told countless times in the past that your bonds with friends strengthen you. Relying on someone else, rather than doing everything on your own, or simply relying on yourself, is better than going at it alone. So, helpful hint, take a tip from your elder. I was one who hated the aspect of friends stepping. I'd rather suffer alone than have them suffer alongside me. Turns out my way of thinking wasn't ideal. I found out it was a lot easier to have people help alongside me. Made things go by quicker and less painfully. Even though I was still scared to death of them getting hurt, I just made sure not to let them get hurt. Simple as that."

 _That sounds… just like her…_ thought Xera as his eyes widened slightly, Dante's words striking a familiarity from his past.

"It's better for you to have faith in those that care about you. Above everything else, just trust them. You can't go wrong and no one will blame you if you mess up." Dante finished.

 _He's right._

Xera once again glanced over the peers before him, finally finding those words he couldn't call upon beforehand.

"Thank you… All of you. I'm…really grateful for each of you, and the fact that you've stuck around for as long as you have. If I can find a way for any of you to help, then I will. I'll be counting on you." Xera said as he turned toward the door once again, "It means a lot."

With that last comment, he made his way out into the hallway and turned in the direction his Aura screamed at him not to go. He felt the very air of the direction he was going with Dante and Inuba grow colder, and he knew in his heart that if he went further, he'd find the demon that stood between him and his brother.

As the two took the next corner and followed the shadows of the encroaching darkness, Dante asked him one, simple question.

Dante turned his head toward Xera, "Are you ready?"

"For the most part." Xera said, nodding his head slightly.

"Alright then Xera. This might sound weird, and will most likely be very hard to understand, but you and I will be entering Zerath's Mind and Soul."

Xera glanced toward Dante, taking in his words after a moment of silence, "As in, the general terms for mind and soul or…?"

"The real deal. The Mind and Soul are highly important in all of what we'll be doing."

"I understand."

"You do?" asked Dante a bit surprised.

"No, I just wanted to say that because you thought otherwise. But," He paused, "I do see where you're going."

"Sense of humor is great and all. I enjoy it. But you have to prepared for anything and everything you see in there."

"I'm...trying not to think about it." Xera replied softly before glancing toward Dante slightly, "How are we even going to enter?"

"The way Soul-Slasher did it, only we'll be coming back out and with him gone. What we'll be doing is much more painless. Luckily we have someone who can project our own Mind and Souls into Zerath's."

"There's no real way to explain this…is there? At least, not scientifically..."

"It's pretty much magic."

"Figured."

"Anyway, in order to prepare you for doing something like that, and trust me you'll need it for where we're going, I need to take you through a bit of a Crash Course to help you out."

"Wouldn't that be wasting time?"

"Not all that much. Time in the Mind moves a _lot_ faster than in reality. So, we can be in there for hours and only thirty minutes would've gone by in the real world."

"Okay… Well what's this Crash Course going to include?"

The tiled floor of the hallway soon started to transition into blackened frost and patches of ice, causing Dante to quicken his pace a little to take them to the furthest door.

"You'll see."

* * *

The cracking of ice drenched the biting air with a cold, chilling thickness inside the room. Dark shadows of solid crystals swirled with a dense blackness only a bottomless abyss could achieve, encompassing even the lights and rendering the room in a blanket of darkness.

Muffled, the iced door opened with a series of cracks, the result of the spanning ice re-encasing it every time it closed. Xera and Dante made their way into the room before closing the door behind them, Xera's own gaze immediately turned to look at Zerath upon his bed while Dante tossed the black journal onto the nearest table.

"There they are." the hooded girl spoke as she turned her gaze to Xera.

Inuba immediately moved to Zerath bedside and placed a hand on his arm as white flames engulfed him.

"Inuba will keep the darkness exuding from the Dark Entity within him at bay. For now, I must turn my own focus to the two of you. Is he ready?" The girl stood up and turned to Dante.

The white haired teen soon grabbed the nearest chair and pulled it out from the nearby desk.

"Pretty much. Since we're working to save time, I'll inform him about everything once we're inside."

"That will work."

Xera glanced toward the other person in the room and locked eyes with Destiny for a moment, only to watch her make her way to the door and open it once again.

"I'll get him another chair."

She disappeared into the hallway a moment later as Xera then turned to the person he didn't recognize standing before him.

"Are you the friend Dante mentioned?"

"I'm…glad he did not use any other term to describe me."

"She's my stalker." Dante said with a smirk, only to receive a punch to the shoulder from the girl cloaked in white.

"Yes, I am the friend he has most likely mentioned. I'll be the one to project the two of your Souls, along with the consciousness of your Minds, into Zerath's. I believe Dante informed you of the Crash Course before that, correct?"

"More or less." Xera replied honestly.

"Good. Let us begin then." The girl responded with a hidden, but kind, smile.

Just then, Destiny made her way back into the room with a neighboring chair. She set that one near Dante's before sitting herself up onto the table, interested to see where this was being taken.

Before long, Xera found himself sitting in the seat next to Dante's own chair and glancing up at the young girl expectantly.

"Be careful, Xera. When entering another's mind, you can easily lose your sense of self. You'll not only experience the memories and dreams of that person, you will also feel them in your own soul. You have to be ready for that."

"I guess that's why I'm the best candidate for Zerath's mind." Xera concluded.

"Precisely. You two already share a bond from the past and countless precious memories. It will be easy for you to traverse the realms with little drawbacks."

"Okay... Well I'm ready. What's this Crash Course Dante mentioned?"

"It is exactly that." The girl spoke, before approaching the two teens sitting in front of her and placing a gentle hand on each of their foreheads, "Close your eyes now. And, Dante?"

"Yes?"

"Don't do anything too drastic."

With that final safety warning in place, Xera found his eyes closing as a bright light began shining from the girl's hands. Its colors blended into his darkened vision, blinding him entirely before he felt his body go limp and his consciousness suddenly drift elsewhere.

* * *

Xera's feet touched the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he saw he was elsewhere. It was a city, that had ancient, yet modern look to it, but more so ancient. There were numerous skyscrapers that reached high up into the sky. Normal buildings and stores lined the sides of the extensively long streets. Cars were parked alongside the sidewalks of the streets. It was like a modern metropolis withe ancient designs and aesthetics stacked with numerous skyscrapers and lush areas.

Oddly enough, there was no sunlight. It was dark. With a city as large as this, not even people were out and about. It was dead silent.

Xera looked beyond and noticed something...odd. He saw traffic circles leading to somewhere...a place that was blurred out almost... It looked like it was a-

"Been here many times... And still I have no idea what that is... Or where we are in general really."

"This isn't New Wellington... Or Vale..."

"Nope. It's a city that even I don't know. But...it feels...homey. Like it's my kind of city. Anyway, welcome to my Mind and Soul, Xera."

"So... This is the Crash Course you were talking about…"

"Yep."

"This is going to suck in every way… isn't it…?"

"Ehh, not really."

Xera let out a quiet sigh before turning to face his friend.

"Alright then. Teach me… I guess."

Dante's hand reached for a door handle nearby as he pulled it open, revealing a bright light inside of the doorway.

"Cool. So then, let's begin. First stop, the Hall of Memories!" said Dante with excitement as he moved his hand across his face.

"Couldn't it have a cooler name?"

"Shut it pigeon, I'm not that great with overly cool and sophisticated names. Besides, it fits well with what it is."

"Fair enough." Xera shrugged as he stepped inside the white expanse of nothingness, only to be pulled inward with a distant door coming into view.

It stood on its own, a white frame encompassing it while the door itself looked to be made out of a lightly colored wood. It warped even closer, as if the distance it had once been was completely reduced and nonexistent, not too far away to start with in the first place.

With an ominous silence to it, the door came to a stop, standing completely on its own. It remained still and tall before the two teens, the black metal handle glimmering slightly in the nonexistent light.

"Shall we?" Dante asked, approaching the door and gesturing Xera to follow.

Xera silently nodded his head, unsure of really what to think at the moment as he approached the door himself.

"Open it. And we shall begin."

Then, with a pale but cautious hand, Xera reached forward and grasped the golden handle before him, "I guess there's only one way to find out what's behind door number one."

With that, he turned the handle and pushed it open.

* * *

A blinding white light engulfed Xera as he pushed the door open. The ancient yet modern metropolis behind him blurred out of existence as Dante stepped past him and entered the frame. He followed behind him, watching closely as the world within melted away into a new light.

Xera watched with such curiosity as doors zipped past him, a sight that brought a smile to Dante's face. He always enjoyed peoples reactions each time he showed them such a mystical thing such as wandering within the depths of the mind and soul.

Countless black wooden doors rushed by as Xera's black hair flew back by a small push of wind, watching as Dante held up his hand to stop the rushing hallway of doors within an instant.

All of this was simply...profound to the phoenix Faunus.

"Our first stop of our short tour is the Hall of Memories." Dante explained, gesturing behind Xera then in front of them.

"How precise is all this? It...well...it looks like you have a lot of memories in here…"

"Every memory you've ever experienced is stored within these halls. Some short, some extensive, but each are able to be recalled for viewing if necesarry. Unfortunately, for most people, almost all of their doors are harder to open than fresh ones." Dante said as he began walking, Xera following, "In addition, if someone forcefully put blocks in your mind, like really strong blocks, trying to access a door would be impossible. In fact, the door doesn't even exist unless the block is removed.

"Makes sense... I guess..." Xera commented as he let his gaze wander.

The inside of a mind, especially Dante's was an oddity of its own. But even more curiously, the phoenix had taken note that some of the doors seemed damaged, while there were also missing gaps in between rows .

"So, you mentioned the Mind and Soul. What exactly were you talking about?"

"Right, well in order to do that I have to tell you about Memory and Dream Reels." Dante said, the two falling into pace with each other as they walked.

"Memory and Dream Reels. I think I can probably guess what those mean."

"Possibly..." Dante admitted with a smile, "When traveling inside the Mind and Soul, Memories and Dreams can most certainly have powerful impacts on a person's state of mind. As well as how their Internal World works. For instance, that city out there, it's almost always dark outside without anybody in there. Though sometimes...the suns out. And people are out and about walking."

"Depending on what kind of person you are, or how your life has been afflicted, It'll ultimately determine what the Mind and Soul will look and feel like?"

"In a way. If you've got bad memories and dreams, the Inner World's going to look like one huge mess and pretty much turn into a Nightmare Realm. You can pretty much guess what that entails."

"And it's vice versa with good memories and dreams, I assume."

"Considering a Dark Entity forcefully invaded your brother's body, the inside is definitely not going to look so good. Think of it as like a miniature version of Hell, but both colder and smaller."

"It'll be infested by Darkness." Xera said, eyes glancing at each black door he passed.

"All of these doors are Access Points. Gaining access to them can be tricky, but it all depends on what kind of door each one is. Some can be fabricated too, depending on how extensively you dream. Some can be real, like memories you make throughout your life." Dante explained as the two soon came to a stop in front of one of the doors, "But in the end...everything is gathered in the Hall of Memories."

"So they're the access you need to the Memory and Dream Reels in case there's a need to personally view them or review them. It's like data storage for scrolls, in a way." Xera responded.

"Pretty much." Dante said as he moved up to one door and grasped its handle.

"For example..." He said as he pushed the door open, "Something like this."

All it took was one glance. And immediately...Xera wanted to look away. But he couldn't. His eyes wouldn't allow him to avert his gaze. He was beyond shocked, completely frozen in place.

"What? What is it?" Asked Dante confused.

Xera only lifted up a finger and pointed forwards, trying to find words for what he was currently seeing, but completely unable to, slapping his hands over his eyes, but peeking through his fingers slightly. It was then Dante himself joined his friends side and saw what he saw.

Inside was a rather large bedroom with an unnaturally large bed. Under its covers was the young immortal himself, gazing at the beautiful and glorious view in front of him. The women present currently included Inuba, Ruby, Destiny/Fate, Coco, and...Ms. Goodwitch. All of sat on the bed before him, each sitting in a different, alluring pose in their marvelous, bouncy glory, for they all wore nothing but lingerie of the colors each respectively wore day to day that left extremely little to the imagination, as well as thigh high socks of said respective colors. It was impossible to look away.

"U-Um... I'm... I'm not experienced or anything like the others might be...b-but...if it's for you...I'll do anything you want me to..." Said Ruby approaching him first before she was moved to the side by Inuba.

"Master..." Began the Kitsune as she straddled her Master, her bounciness more noticable and more imposing than the rest, "You need not worry yourself with these other women... You need me and only me to service you in any way you wish... Besides, I highly doubt any of them are capable of lasting a night or more with you as I am..." Said Inuba as her hand trailed down his chest gently before she too was moved aside by Destiny/Fate, who took her place.

"Oh little fox..." Said Destiny at first, "Don't you know that the two for one specials are always the best kind?" Finished Fate as she licked her lips before she too was pushed aside as Coco hovered over him.

"Back off girls. I know MY man prefers style and experience over anything and anyone else." She too was soon pulled away as both ms. Goodwitch, who climbed atop him, giggling slightly.

"If that's the case little girl...then I think that mr. Dante would more than approve and prefer an ACTUAL woman that is ready to service him to his hearts content...at any given moment...and for how long he wishes..." Finished ms. Goodwitch.

Immediately afterwords, Inuba and Ruby dug their way in between the others to claim their man, soon after the rest of them following suite by pushing each other away, trying to capture him for themselves individually. As the strife and struggle continued onwards between them as to "who would be first", Xera could only stare on in shock, eyes peeking through his hands which failed to "shield" him. His head slowly turned towards the Dante next to him, who only stood with a blank expression while Xera heard what seemed to be a silent scream coming from the closed mouth of his friend.

"Whoops."

The young immortal's single word was soon followed by an extremely fast shutting of the door, continuing to stare at it.

After a minute of silence, Xera finally summed up the courage to speak, his slightly puzzled face burning hotter than his own fire, dusting in a hue of red that could only be achieved through certain fantasies of life and dreams.

Just before he could say a word, Dante began repeatedly bashing his head against the black wooden surface, muttering to himself with an equally red face.

"Okay then... I think I have a pretty good idea what Memory and Dream Reels are all about." Xera said as he looked away from the face of the door, then he switched his gaze to Dante. "You sir…have an unchecked libido under your control. I don't know how or why yet, but...but that's one hell of a fantasy."

It wasn't stated lightly either, it was seriously one hell of a fantasy, one that Dante now finally remembered from the last time he "slept".

"I-I…I can explain." Dante said as his hand soon slapped over his face with a blank stare in his eyes.

"Okay." started Xera as he clapped his hands together, Inuba and Ruby and I can understand. Fate, Destiny, and Coco I can understand. But dude… Ms. Goodwitch? Your fantasies go pretty far…" Xera said with an amused smile.

"It's not my fault. And besides...you can't deny Ms. Goodwitch is an incredibly beautiful woman. I mean really, she is very, very, very hard to ignore." Dante was quick to say.

"Fair point. But still, lets backtrack a moment. Whose fault is it?"

Dante glanced toward Xera for a moment, then back to the door.

"I blame natural selection."

"Holy mother of pancakes, I knew it!"

All Xera got was a look of confusion.

"You can explain yourself now." The phoenix then said with a small laugh and another amused smirk.

"Okay... So, uh...you… You weren't entirely wrong about the, uh…libido thing…" He said rather softly.

Xera waited for him to continue, only to watch the white haired teen slap another hand over his face as he let out another silent scream, then proceeded to slap his face numerous times to prepare himself for what he said next.

"Due to part of my heritage being Dark Entity," Dante paused, letting out a reluctant breath as he did so, "I… God… I have a heightened...no, an extremely heightened libido."

Dante saw Xera was trying to contain himself, trying to destroy any semblance of a smile as best as possible.

"And because of that... Anything from a simple bounce of… uh, well… you know...the uh, chest area, to happy 'accidents' is enough to send me over the edge if I'm not careful."

Xera managed out a small chuckle, much to the young immortals embarrassment.

"No, you don't understand how bad it can be. I gouged out my eyes one time because of an extreme situation like that once. But because my stupid brain likes to take in every sight an detail perfectly, not even that helped."

"Well," Xera quickly coughed into his fist as he hid his smile, "Clearly you've mastered the art of holding back then since you haven't...pounced on anyone yet. At least, from what I know." Xera said, relating back to the moment the two performed that memory transfusion.

"No kidding..." Dante replied as he rubbed his neck.

"Hey, you attend Beacon after all. It honestly has the largest population of beautiful women, which is saying something." Xera continued, "I can only imagine what you go through every time Inuba when either she vaguely offers you her services or you two have another one of your recurring accidents involving clothes. Or, lack thereof…"

Xera's amusement was still strong, though less noticeable now, with the exception of his humorous silver eyes.

"All I have to say is stay loyal. I'm starting to think you don't even care about your actual girlfriend if you keep this up, but you're holding strong nonetheless."

"I care about her more than you know." Dante stated, "I...may not show it at times... And because of that, it may like me being apathetic or not caring...but...it's how I deal with things. I...try not to focus on worrying and focus more on believing her being alright."

Xera knew enough by now through memories and witnessing interactions between Dante and Inuba that she feelings, no, intense feelings for her Master. And just like all the others who knew and watched events unfold, the phoenix Faunus was hoping as well that she too would eventually come clean with her feelings. But if there was a chance Dante knew himself already, Xera imagined Dante would want to stay loyal to Ruby. Even if he was dreaming about stuff like they just saw. Loyalty was a big thing to Dante, in both the sense of being loyal to others and others being loyal to him. He treated loyalty with care as best he could.

Now that Xera thought what he saw once more, it actually explained why he doesn't sleep much like he said.

"Should we move on?" Xera asked.

"Yeah, but one last thing. No one- Hey!" Dante snapped, catching Xera's wandering attention, "Look at me! No one. Can ever know. About…" He said as he pointed towards the door they had opened, "That!"

"I shall take this secret to my grave," Xera said, crossing his arms. "Or, for the right price." He tacked on with a smile.

"I swear to you now, that if you tell, I will know that you did. And I will cook you into a Christmas turkey. But besides that, I really don't need those two hearing about this." Dante said lowly.

"Then don't teach Ruby how to make French toast. My one and only weakness." Xera retorted.

"No, not her! Them!" Dante stated clearly, though his clarification was abysmal.

"Them who?"

"The dynamic duo! That's who!" Dante explained like Xera knew exactly who he was talking about.

"Them from your reality, or mine, or…?"

"Destiny and Fate!" Dante finally clarified.

"Ah…" Xera suddenly realized what the teen was so scared of, "Aren't they in a thing with Velvet, though?"

"I think that was just them flirting. But seriously, if they find out, they'll either try to tease me more or try to kill me. I really don't know which, to be honest." Dante shuddered at the thought.

"You may or may not receive both, depending on who's taking control at the time." Xera said with a shake of the head, "If anything, one would likely tease you…as she kills you. Well, at least try to"

"I have your word, right?"

"You have it."

"Good, then let's move on." Dante said, "Let's just take you to one of my more recent memories. You need a bit of combat practice inside this realm."

"Is there a difference?"

"Yes. You don't have the ability to bring physical objects along for the ride as you can see by the fact you're missing your weapon." Dante pointed out.

"I noticed it when we first entered, but it doesn't matter."

"No?" Dante asked.

"I need to train more with my Fire Affinity anyway. It'll do me good to focus on using it for now." Xera replied.

"If that's what'll help you the most, do that then. Well then, chop chop."

* * *

Inuba let out a soft breath as her tail gently swayed back and forth. Her hands then came carefully back to her sides as she glanced back to the mysterious girl behind her, as well as the two teens resting in the light-induced stasis in front of her.

"They'll be fine. But, aren't you supposed to keep monitoring Zerath?" Destiny asked, catching the fox yōkai's attention.

"I know they will. And I no longer need to be here personally to keep an eye on Zerath. I have done everything in my power. All either of us can do now…is wait." Inuba explained quietly.

"You don't have to stick around then. If you want to take a walk, I can keep an eye on things here. Just clear your head a bit. You've been doing a lot today."

"I'll be fine." Inuba sighed, "My magic can be independent once cast. I do not need to be in the direct vicinity for it to work. However, I can still sense when it is disturbed. So, thank you for the offer."

"Then you have an even greater reason to take a walk then. Seriously now, get some rest. Those two won't be coming out for a little while longer."

Inuba cast a quiet crimson gaze back and met with Destiny's own lilac one before she took a slow and silent breath.

"I suppose I do have one other matter to attend do."

"Another matter?" Destiny asked.

"Yes, I was able to have an approximate sense as to when the young one would likely wake up." Inuba replied without clarifying, causing a twinge of annoyance to pass over Destiny, "I will be back. Keep an eye on things, yes?"

Destiny's eyes followed Inuba's form as she made her way to the icy door, then pulled it open with a muffled crack.

"Fine. Do what you need to, I'll be here…being useless…as it seems to be lately."

Inuba shook her head softly with a smile.

"I know what it is you did in the tournament. You are not useless. If it were not for you, that Dark Entity might have had enough power to take Zerath over on the spot."

A light hum came from Destiny's pressed lips, but she didn't refute the compliment.

"Thanks."

Inuba left the room soon after and closed the door behind her, beginning to make her way to a new room on the other side of the infirmary wing.

The young girl from the desert was placed in the furthest room away from the Dark menace behind her. Inuba wasn't entirely sure what was done to that poor girl, but as a whole, she seemed physically fine. On a mental standpoint, though, she wasn't sure yet.

It was better not to assume, for now.

After a few minutes, Inuba entered the room of the young kitsune girl she only had a moment to try and heal earlier. It was a singular infirmary room this time, much like when Pyrrha was recovering after her fight with Zerath in this Reality.

Inuba made her way inside and closed the door behind her with a soft click, the sound being enough for one of the smaller girl's white fox ears to twitch, but not enough to wake her just yet. The elder Kitsune walked over to a nearby chair, making sure she was careful about the level of noise she was making. She glanced once more at the girl before moving the seat to the littler Kitsune's side and positioning herself there.

It made sense for her to be there. Inuba was a fox yōkai herself, so she was likely the best candidate to really be present when the girl first woke up. There was one other, though. Inuba had noticed a small trace of Xera's own aura signature lingering within the small girl in front of her.

It was strange. Somehow, the phoenix either used his Aura to heal her, and in doing so, he managed to unlock her Aura at the same time, giving the girl a very small piece of his own. That small trace of Aura was enough for those two to naturally have a bond between one another.

Inuba's thoughts soon came to a close though as the small girl before her rolled over. It was the first signs of consciousness that she's seen from the over the last two times she's been in her presence.

The small girl's blanket fell down for a moment, revealing the slim black covering pulled against her shoulder. The material seemed to be thin and form-fitting, something someone would wear to protect them from extensive exposure to water. It was almost like the form fitting material she wore underneath her clothes currently.

Her suit reached up to cover a majority of her throat, but Inuba soon noticed that the front of it was unzipped slightly. Likely to help her regulate her breathing, but it revealed a small portion of the front of her pale neck. The zipper stopped at her breastbone.

A lightly balled, pale hand worked its way out of the blanket as it fell against the bed in front of her softly, cheek cuddling into the fluffy confines of her pillow as her legs followed the actions of her hand. They soon curled up slightly as well. What followed nearly had Inuba fawning over the display before her as she smiled warmly at the sight before her. The girl's bunched up fox tails curled up and poked out of the front of her blanket, all three of them seemingly clustered together into one larger tail, the younger Kitsune soon using it as a softer pillow as it pushed into the front of her form. Spanning completely in front of her now and slightly beneath her, she nestled comfortably into the silken frost fur of her tails, her furry ears folded partially in contentment as her emotionless face finally scrunched up slightly, then relaxed into a small state of bliss. A couple strands of her white hair fell before her face for a moment, but it only added to the thought Inuba was currently having.

 _How adorable…_

* * *

A small crumble of black stones slipped over the cliff ledge before them. Small fragments sifting downward as they bounced and cracked, then fell into nothingness as they softly impacted the ground below. The stones disappeared soon after as a sweeping fog swept over the land before them. Eerily, the fog rolled quietly and slowly over the vast expanse of a grim battlefield below. Embedded in the ground rested countless weapons. Thousands of swords, axes, guns, blades of every kind, a limitless variety of weaponry lay littered across the surface beneath them. A dreary curse clung to the very air they breathed, stinging their lungs as the memory's Access Point closed behind them.

"Well, this place seems morbid." Xera commented, gazing over the edge.

"I had the same thought the first time I saw this place." Dante admitted, "I was only a kid at the time."

"Really?"

"Well, technically yes. Anyway... Xera, welcome to the Graveyard of Sins."

"A graveyard huh? I can only imagine what that entails..." Xera responded.

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" Dante returned, before stepping closer to the edge and leaning over it, "I don't suppose you're still reluctant about hiding your wings?"

"Unfortunately, once they've been seen, they're kind of hard to forget."

With that said, he ran up to the ledge and leaped off of its slight overhang. Two sleek black wings slipped out of Xera's sweatshirt as he made a dive for the ground. The fog beneath him forcefully dispersed as he came to a soft landing, touching down at the base of the cliff as he turned his gaze, watching Dante soon impact the ground to his right.

"I pegged you as the kind of to still feel a bit reluctant about showing his wings." Dante said as he stepped out of his small crater.

"You're not wrong." Xera responded, "I'm still reluctant about it. The situation in the desert just kind of called for it, in a way. If I didn't step in-"

"Someone might have gotten hurt." Dante finished for him, "But still, you seem pretty okay with it right now."

Xera's wings unfurled slightly before spanning outward, stretching once more as they uncurled themselves. His entire outfit was black, which meant his wings only complimented that look even further.

"For lack of a better reason right now…" Xera paused as he cast his gaze over his right wing, "The situation calls for it."

"You can be irritatingly vague sometimes, you know that?" Dante said with a sigh as he met the phoenix's eyes.

"Only when I don't want to provide you with an insightful answer." Xera replied with a cheeky smile.

The ground beneath them suddenly quaked, forcing the two to struggle for a moment before gaining their balance. Directly ahead of them the fog suddenly thickened, sweeping over the dark lands as countless shadowy graves soon opened.

Spectral figures of black emerged forth, clawing out of the stone and dirt as they ominously rose from the clutches of the dead. Ten became twenty, twenty became two hundred, and before they knew it, there became too many dark figures to count. The menacing force soon took up arms, grabbing the weapons from the ground as an army now stood before the two teens.

An army of ten thousand entities of shadow.

Humanoid creatures weren't the only ones present. There were numerous, larger beings that also rose out of the ground. Each standing fifteen feet to twenty feet in height, there simply wasn't an end to them.

Then in the distance, a colossal creature of darkness slowly stood. Trails of darkened dirt and ash sifted over its figure as it rose, taking up a monstrous sword in the process as it unleashed a distorted roar across the drifting lands of the graveyard.

"I don't suppose you had help fighting these things back then?" Xera asked, unsure of whether to feel confident or apprehensive about fighting this many adversaries.

"Last time I was here? Yeah. But the other few times? Never..."

"And what happens if we take damage in here?" Xera asked.

"You'd still take damage in the real world. Your Mind and Soul got projected into mine, right? That means your soul is still in danger while it's in here."

"Great... I die here, I die in real life." Xera concluded. Now wasn't that just a morbid thought.

"Pretty much."

Xera's wings tensed slightly as he shifted one foot back and leaned forward, hands falling to stretch out at his sides as they ignited in blazes of orange flame.

"So we're fighting for our lives. Good to know. You just always know where to take people to fun places, huh?"

"You know it."

Before either of them could make a move, a flood of clattering weapons suddenly striking the ground sounded out. The front line of figures before them began taking shaky steps backward as they ominously moved in unison.

 _Where are they going..?_ thought Dante.

The sound of their footfalls grew quieter up until the point all of the ground units at their front suddenly stopped moving altogether.

Silence.

A soft, echoing footfall pushed itself into the tense atmosphere. A new twinge of pain suddenly wracked Dante's mind, forcing his vision to blur for merely a moment before the sensation passed. Another footfall sounded out, one that softly drifted through the stilled air as the fog around them grew to a chilling stop. The third caused the ground to unnaturally quake again, subtly at first, before violently shattering itself as its entire surface crumbled and ruptured. Ten thousand figures of black were engulfed back into the ground, falling helplessly into its clutches once more… before a new fog swept over the entire battlefield. Black mist poured over the edge of the cliff up above them, flooding into the area at their front as it engulfed the entire graveyard. Stone turned into glimmering black obsidian, dirt hardened into crystals of ebony…

A chilling wind swept the frostbitten black fog into the far distance.

"Pitiful…" A new voice tore through the air with an icy tinge of condescending deepness, "I'd hardly call that an army."

As the black mist cleared and dispersed, the ground before them was revealed to be completely frozen over. What was once the Graveyard of Sins… was now a wasteland of cold, heartless, regret and sorrow.

Not a soul stirred as a new wind befell the lands.

A colder breeze brushed against the two teens, their eyes looking everywhere at once for this new voice. An unnatural presence now seemed to linger in the air, weighing down on them as it corrupted everything it touched into a cold accursed embrace.

"To think that they even stood a chance…"

A wave of black mist suddenly flicked upward from the cold ground and whipped across the air, dispersing a moment later to reveal a new blackened humanoid figure in the distance.

He seemed…familiar. A foreboding eeriness carried itself thickly in his voice as a twisted smile pulled at the shadowy skin of his face. Blood red eyes shined in the dim light of the battlefield, twin pools of redness that glowed subtly in a smoldering haze.

A black detail-less coat covered his body. Its thin tails drifted as they trailed down the back of the figure's legs, reaching halfway down his calves. Similar black pants covered his legs as they led down to pristine dark boots of similar color.

 _This...isn't possible..._

The young immortal's eyes hurriedly moved about, scanning the terrain as quickly as possible, finding the source of the voice soon after.

Long black hair drifted across the figures deadly gaze, faint streaks of white prominently displayed in its reaches. The figure then drew back a hand and pulled at a handle residing over its shoulder, withdrawing a pitch black claymore with a shining edge.

 _How is he here?!_

Six feet long, one foot wide, the weapon dug into the ground as it was swept against the ice in a momentary swing. Dante looked over at Xera to see him take a deep breath, very likely clear his thoughts for the time being before opening them soon after.

It was him.

A dark chuckle resonated from the creature's throat as its bloody eyes stared at the two teens before it.

"You came in here looking for a fight... And a fight you shall have... Entertain me with your efforts."

"How did you get in here? Actually, it doesn't really matter. One way or another, you're going down." Dante called out.

"Your mind, Dante, is quite the Dark place. It practically pulled me inside with little resistance." The figure replied with another dark chuckle.

"Why are you even here, though? How did you… how are you…" Xera trailed off as he took a step forward, the flames dying from his grasp as his own eyes bled into shining ruby irises.

"Alive? Awake and breathing?" The figure's grin grew wider, "Zerath forfeited his life to bring me back into the world. All I need to do now… is walk out of here. And I'll be _free_."

It was Zerath. Everything about him remained the same only every detail was tainted with evil and darkness.

"Stop lying and you die quicker. We know you're nothing more than a mere presence right now. There's no chance of you having a physical manifestation yet." Dante spoke up.

Those blood red eyes refused to leave Xera's own.

"Tsk. You're more naïve than I thought you were." Zerath spoke coldly.

In less than an instant, a spear of black ice rapidly appeared before Dante. He barely had time to react, only managing to save his chest from impalement but failing to save his arm. The razor sharp tip of the darkened ice plunged itself into the cliff wall behind them, cutting straight through Dante's flesh as if it wasn't even there.

 _Fast ice generation... He's almost like Freya...only..._

Dante tore his arm free, letting his fresh wound close itself up and heal.

 _She's far better than you..._

"What happened to Zerath?" Xera asked, walking over and grasping the rooted ice spear with his hand, eyes never leaving the figure before them.

"In terms that you mortals would understand, I killed him. He no longer exists. What you are looking at is nothing more than my new form…but with _all_ the perks of its previous owner." Zerath's smirk widened even further.

Xera's heated grasp crushed the spear into shards with a blast of fire, incinerating its remains as he began walking forward.

 _Dark Entity magic, or at least, mainly Dark Entity magic in that Ice Affinity if they've merged. Simple fire shouldn't been able to melt it so easily… Or at all really..._

Dante's eyes caught the lingering flickers of light from the falling shards of ice before moving forward as well.

 _Now then...what kind of fire does Xera possess?_

"If that's the case," Xera said lowly, "Then you've taken the life of the last remaining family I have left in this world."

A blaze followed his every step now, an inferno blindingly searing the icy ground as his wings became bathed in a sheen of shining flames, "That gives me the right to end you."

Zerath chuckled at the threat.

"You have the right to end me? To kill me? I did your brother a favor and ended his insignificant existence once and for all. Trust me, his suffering-"

Dante suddenly lunged past Xera's side and tore a sharp aura blade through Zerath's torso, ripping through flesh and bone as black blood poured out onto the ground.

"Don't get so cocky, scum." Dante said, fed up with the condescending presence Zerath was exuding.

"Oh? Words from the Creator's chew toy? How amusing..."

Zerath rebuked with a streak of black, freezing the air around him solid before even a moment had gone by, only for that ice to shatter an instant later as Xera's inferno burst out around him, freeing the two once more.

"Well, aren't you annoying."

Blood eyes now fell on Xera, before a flurry of thin ice shards were lunged forward, crystalizing in the air into razor sharp lethal arrows.

Xera's wings deflected the flurry of projectiles while his fire dulled their points before they even impacted, getting rid of their piercing power altogether.

"You exist. That's all I need to know in order to kill you." Xera said, dropping his wing and dashing forward in a haze of orange and an added surge of speed from his wings.

Zerath raised his blade and swung, only for his swing to clash heavily with Dante's own solidified Aura Sword as the teen kept it from so much as blocking anything in front of the entity. Xera's attack connected as quickly as the interruption occurred, molten flames crashed into Zerath's chest as Xera planted both feet into it in a powerful diving kick. The impact was only increased by an eruption of flame, spiraling outward and through Zerath's figure as it engulfed his form before sending him skidding backward.

Dante then followed up, summoning a rapid cluster of Aura Swords before sending them forward in a flurry of projectiles, all of which Zerath managed to slash out of the air before dashing in himself and delivering a powerful upward swing, which Dante blocked. The two clashed again as Xera dashed his way around and swept a kick beneath Zerath's legs, only to slam his leg against a cluster of ice that blocked his movement. The cluster then burrowed out of the ground and crashed into his body, black wings absorbing most of the blow as he was hit with the sudden force of a truck. In the same moment that Xera was hit, another column of black ice erupted from beneath Dante and threw his form into the air, only for a new culmination of ice to appear above him as the column fell and that new cluster slammed the teen down into the hard ice of the ground.

"How arrogant... I think that's the term that best describes the two of you." Zerath said, wiping a hand across his healing wounds before he snapped his fingers, shattering the ice crushing Dante.

The teen, however, was no longer there, and Zerath had to quickly raise his blade to deflect a swing from above.

"Slow as well."

Dante let go of his blade and landed on the ground, rapidly summoning a new one just as he plunged it forward into Zerath's abdomen, leaving it there as twelve other swords appeared in the air behind him and skewered Zerath from all directions.

"You're fairly slow yourself... You couldn't even dodge a few blades." Dante said as he stepped back for a moment.

"Did I give off any interest in dodging?" Zerath asked.

The light of Dante's Aura Swords suddenly dulled as they seemingly froze over, then shattered instantly. The only one left being his solidified Aura Sword plunged deep inside the front of the entity's body.

"They're hardly of any effect anyway. Not as strong as they could potentially be."

He began to pull the blade out of his abdomen, only for a blur of lime green wisps of light to shoot past Dante and another burst of fire engulfed Zerath. Xera planted another kick, this time, though, it was directed onto the point of Dante's aura blade as he drove it straight through Zerath's body and sent it rocketing through his back and spine. A splatter of black blood erupted out of Zerath as he grabbed Xera by the ankle and slammed him into the ground, following up with a plunge of the blade toward his heart only for his claymore to be bashed aside by Dante, giving Xera the moment he needed to rise back up and slash upward in a streak of blinding fire. The color then flashed and combusted, blowing outward in another explosion that forced Zerath to dodge backward and slash through another flurry of aura swords.

"Let me try something." Dante suddenly said, standing in front of Xera now as he summoned a new Aura Sword and plunged the tip of it into the ground. His eyes glowed for a moment as countless aura swords suddenly spawned around them in a quickly rotating shield of blades. His blade then sunk further into the ground as he channeled his aura into the air above Zerath.

"I don't think he's just going to stand still…" Xera said.

Zerath only scoffed, "Now what could you possibly have in mind?"

He held his blade out at his side and remained in place, watching as Dante's white Aura outlined in black pulsed outward and around him. What he didn't notice was a massive culmination of Dante's aura directly above his head in the form of a colossal aura blade. It shined brilliantly in the air as it rotated slowly and built itself upward. Solidifying further and further as it glowed brighter and brighter, becoming more physical and dense by the second. Its shining tip pointed downward as it suspended itself in the air. Xera then added a swirling inferno to the mix, manipulating the flames to double up their shield as he focused on forming them into a domelike protective barrier.

Zerath then looked up and chuckled confidently.

"A meaningless display of power…how thoughtless."

He didn't so much as move when the sword in the sky fell. The tip of its blade split the very air it tore through as the heavy cluster of super-densified aura plummeted from its suspended perch in the atmosphere. Its terminal velocity was reached in an instant, and even then, it blew past the limits of its own weight and plummeted even faster. Its speed only increasing.

Zerath welcomed it with open arms and a twisted smile.

The sword's tip struck Zerath's head just as his entire body became engulfed in an encasement of ice. The blinding light that followed could only be described as a supernova of white and black imploding in on itself before rupturing. The very battlefield cracked and quaked, falling in on itself as the sword's sheer density crushed the structure of the ground beneath it in a single moment. A crater soon sunk into the land as the sword surged and shattered, releasing an explosive wave of white Aura outlined in black in all directions. The ring of energy blew all debris outward and tore into the very ground that spanned around it, rupturing that as well as it ripped onward and roared in a devastating aftershock of blazing Aura. Blades then rained from the sky. Sword after sword plunged into the ground, scattering like a blanket of needles covering every foot of ice that spanned outward from around the impact zone. Xera's wavering fire shield was pierced in numerous places, though Dante's own shield of crystal-clear hexagons tightly knit together into a barrier redirected the falling blades to pierce the ground at their sides instead.

After a few moments, the hail of weaponry came to a slow stop and the two dropped their defenses, watching and waiting.

"I doubt that was enough to kill him." Xera said as his flames dispersed.

"I think so too…" Dante agreed.

Before them, Zerath swept his blade to the side as he stood at the center of the carnage. Countless aura swords littered the ground around him as he smiled at the deepest point of the crater. His coat was scorched and trails of smoke flickered off his clothing, but otherwise, he was completely unscathed.

"A cute party trick," Zerath said, looking up into the sky, "but unfortunately, you always encounter that one person who's already seen it before."

Dante drew an Aura Sword from the ground and took a new stance.

"I wouldn't have expected no less from a Dark Entity of your level."

Xera then drew his own white Aura Sword outlined in black out of the ground, temporarily borrowing one of Dante's weapons as he took his own stance. He didn't need a moment to attune himself to the weight and feel of the sword, his body would do that on its own.

"My level?"

Zerath couldn't help but laugh at that.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of."

The demon then entered his own stance, brandishing his sword in front of him before drawing it back and bringing it past his left side, pointing it slightly back.

"I think it's about time I show you...why I'm stronger than the both of you in every way."

Xera accelerated his awareness as Dante's gaze narrowed, the two sharpening their attention.

 _Of course he was holding back..._

Zerath's smirk grew.

"Are you ready?"

He didn't wait for an answer. An instant hadn't even gone by yet when he entered Dante's range. A slash had already torn through his entire chest before a trigger was pulled, and the claymore was surged even deeper into his flesh as it ripped itself free. Xera's wing lifted out of harm's way as he raised his own sword to block, only for Zerath's blade to phase through it.

 _Not good! If I remember correctly, o_ _ne of Zerath's greatest weapons…was the ability to negate the effects of Aura!_

Xera's eyes widened as Dante's blood suspended itself in the air, trailing from the bone-deep wound that opened his chest. Millimeters away, he watched as Zerath's blade nearly made contact with his own chest. There was no escape. He didn't have indestructible bones like Dante and the blade was too large to hope for just a flesh wound either. He was going to die in less than a fraction of a second.

The entire world suddenly froze. The suspended blood remained in the air, unmoving as Xera and Dante stumbled backward. Dante coughed up a bit blood, but his wounds had already healed as he pushed himself to his feet.

"That speed... That was beyond his usual..." Dante said as he wiped the back of his hand over his mouth.

"Something we can only try to counter if we knew when it was going to happen. I don't think it was speed, though…" Xera said, shakily standing back up as well as he stared in mild awe at the motionless Zerath and the rest of the world in suspended animation. "I think he managed to find a way to freeze the world around him. Or at least slow it to the point where he moved faster than time moved forward."

"That is exactly right."

A new, younger voice spoke up from behind them. And the two teens turned to see the girl from the infirmary room, cloaked in white and face still shrouded beneath her hood.

"Your adversary has capabilities that far surpass many of your past encounters." Her gaze then turned to Dante, "He is no longer what he once was. He is gaining in power."

"Wait…" Dante suddenly said, "He's still gaining more? That means…" He paused as he looked back to the suspended Zerath, "What was that then?"

"That is what would happen, should you fail to stop Soul-Slasher's ascension." The girl explained.

"If we don't stop him now… then he'll only continue to increase in power," Xera said, "Won't he…?"

"Yes. This is simply a simulation of what I sensed from him while trying to contain him. This version of Zerath would be what would happen should he be merged with Soul-Slasher and wake up in the infirmary room we still reside in." The girl continued.

"So…this was just a simulation of his earliest stages of consciousness." Dante cut in, "He'll only become even more unstoppable if we let him escape."

"That is correct." The girl responded.

"That means…even if we flush him out of Zerath's body and mind, we'll still have to hunt him down and kill him before he gets a chance to manifest his power." Xera concluded.

"Precisely." The girl said with a small nod of the head, "There is no simple way around it."

"Well, Xera." Dante slammed his hands together as he rolled his shoulders, "I guess you'll get to see what it's like to have been in my line of work. After all, it's only right that you help me take it down."

"Fair enough, I guess. But still…this was just a simulation of his earliest stages… How are we going to fight him if he enters his later power stages?" Xera wondered.

"We'll find a way." Dante said reassuringly, "There's always a way."

"I agree with that statement." The girl added.

"So you say..."

Xera let out a drawn out breath, running a hand through his hair as he let all of this sink in.

"Let's just… get out of here then. I think it's time we take on the real thing and get this done."

"I will take us back momentarily. Firstly, I do need to warn the two of you about a pressing matter." The girl prompted, earning a quick nod from the two teens, "What you experienced in here was only what I was able to gather through my senses of his power. It was in no way a fully accurate projection of what he may have actually been capable of."

"Great. So this was only a part of what he's supposed to become." Dante said, before shrugging his shoulders, "Nothing changes. Let's go in there, beat him down, and save Xera's brother."

"There's no way around it." Xera reiterated the girl's words from earlier, "We have to try. That's all that matters. We've at least been exposed to some of his potential abilities… We'll be ready for next time."

The girl's lips curled into a small, almost unnoticeable smile, yet her face remained hidden and obscured.

"Then the real test...shall begin."

The icy graveyard around them melted and warped away as Xera and Dante felt their consciousness leave the current space they inhabited, ending in a weightless suspension that soon dropped them back into the seats their physical bodies rested on.

Now...it was time to take on the real deal. Only, it would be much more different than either of them could've ever known.

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated Guide, Christmas Sepcial)**

"Am I the only one here?" said Dante as he stood on the set, looking around.

He sighed as he readjusted the black fur cuffs of his white Santa suit with black trimming fur. At least he has one now in his color scheme. He still wore his sling, and grabbed hold of the white Santa hat with black fur trim.

"Well, I guess I'll get us started then. Welcome back everyone, I'm your host Dante, and currently the other hostess is not here. I wonder why... Anyway, its Christmas! Ho ho ho! And all that. Considering it's Christmas, we'll talk about Santa's weapon. What? You thought he didn't have one because he's Santa? Hahahahahahahahahaha! Nope."

Dante pressed a button and brought up the holographic monitor.

"Candied Cane. Yeah, I know, simple, but do not underestimate its power. I saw it for myself once and..."

Dante shuddered slightly, recalling a memory from ages ago.

"Anyway, despite the name, the Candied Cane is actually a fearsome weapon. From a normal glance, it looks just like cane. That will immediately be your downfall in the most sour way possible. The Candied Cane transforms...into an actual candy cane as tall as Santa. Which is seven feet tall. By now, you're probably smirking and thinking, 'Naw! No way that can hurt me!', to which I say in the most brilliant Excalibur voice ever...FOOL!" screamed Dante as he pointed towards the audience before clearing his throat.

"Ahem. It transforms into a super densified version of a candy cane that's tougher than steel and as light as a feather. Like with the play-dough commercials, 'Fun to play with, not to eat.' Though in Santa's case, 'Fun to stab with, not to eat.' Don't worry, Santa's not a violent guy. Unless you make him really mad, to which he then proceeds to embarrass you by beating you to death with a candy cane. Or stabbing. Either or."

Dante then opened up a case and pulled out a massive, seven foot tall candy cane compared to the six foot tall teen.

"It's times like these that Ciel's Semblance is pretty useful. The fact that Candied Cane can actually kill you isn't the scariest part about this weapon."

Dante then crushed the candy cane in half, only for something odd to happen. It split apart and regrew to its normal proportions. Both of the pieces.

"The scary part about this weapon is that it can quickly clone itself after breaking it to make more of them an infinite amount of times. You can even have them prepared in advance. Since they're so light, they can be tossed as spears, which is Santa's favorite tool of destruction. And with his magic, tossing one of these thing and it making impact with something, makes more candy cane spikes shoot out from the contact zone. A sort of candy cane nuke of spears in short. That's not even the worst part about it."

The young immortal leaned in closer, his eyes darting side to side as he whispered.

"One time... I heard Santa slaughtered a group of a thousand evil yeti's back in the old times using this weapon. Any of you see 300? With Leonidas and the Spartans and whatnot? Remember the final scene with the hundreds of thousands of arrows? Great. Picture that for a moment and imagine they're coming for you. Now, replace those arrows with freaking long spears. Done that? Great. Now, imagine those spears were super sharp candy cane spears of immediate, minty, sweet death. No yeti lived that day..."

Dante put both Candied Cane spears inside the case and turned to face the audience.

"In short everyone, don't mess with Santa. Don't get me wrong, he's a really really really nice guy. That could kill you. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this weeks episode of Weapons Illustrated, and we hope to see you all next time!"

"Dante!"

"Well aren't you late. Where'd you go Ruby?"

"Um...that's a secret..." said the young Santa-themed reaper, who wore a Santa hat and a coat that her red cape draped over.

She was trying to keep the Christmas party awaiting him a secret, despite already celebrating his birthday yesterday on Christmas Eve.

"Ok then... Well, I finished up for us, so we're free to go."

"T-That's great... Um... N-Notice anything..?"

Despite the very cute Santa outfit she wore, he didn't notice anything. Until he looked at her Santa hat and saw a mistletoe tied to the puffy snowball on the point of the hat, where it slightly draped over right shoulder. With a red face, Ruby jumped up as high as she could so that she could almost reach Dante's face, just enough for the hat tip to move high enough to momentarily dangle over the two.

"T-There... I-It counts...so..." she said pressing her fingertips together as her face grew hotter and redder by the second.

"S-Such cleverness Ms. Rose..." replied the young immortal.

"I... Um... Came up with it last minute...so..."

She remained still and expectant until she worked up the courage to make the first move, standing up on her tippy toes as she tried to reach up towards his face to kiss him. Unfortunately, she was still a few inches short of him. It was then she felt his hand touch the side of her cheek as his own face was only mere centimeters away.

"If that is your wish Ruby..." he began as he slowly ran a thumb over her soft, lips "then I will make your sweet, soft lips my gift..."

Her heart was pounding even more wildly than before as her face was now a crimson read. She was muttering incoherently. Until she suddenly fainted seconds later.

Dante caught her immediately and slung her over his shoulder quickly, looking at the exit.

"I can't believe I just said that... No... I can't believe something like that worked!"

* * *

 **(Luxurious Christmas Gift, by me)**

Dante, Inuba, Ciel, Leonard, Raum and Irene all sat together around the white campfire in their camping chairs, each wearing Santa hats while enjoying all sorts of Christmas treats ranging from Christmas Turkey, gingerbread men cookies, warm apple pie, milk, and so forth. The three siblings and Inuba each wore white Santa hats with black fur trim, while Irene wore dark green Santa hats with red fur.

"That man is legendary... To think you could someone with a candy cane... Truly deserving of his forgotten reputation as a fearsome warrior..." said Raum.

"Yeah, don't mess with Santa man. Ever hear that story with the yetis?" asked Dante.

"Are you kidding me? That story is number three in the Hall of Terrors."

"Nice."

"So wait, you met Santa?!' asked Ciel with excitement in her tone.

"More than once."

"Yes! Knew he existed! Suck it middle schoolers that made fun of me for that!"

"This may not be an ideal way to celebrate your birthday Master, but-"

"Nonsense Inuba. Just being here with you guys is more than enough for me. As far as I'm concerned, best birthday yet. I get to spend with you two munchkins..." he said nodding towards Ciel and Leonard, "the totally awesome partner..." he said looking towards Inuba, "and hey, a new friend. For the most part anyway." he said looking towards Raum as Irene gave her usual affirmative hmph.

"M-Master..." said Inuba.

 _I know my gift to you was my the charm...but...if only I could give you another gift..._

Just as she thought this, her face went red as she slapped her hands on the sides of her face, silently muttering to herself.

It was then, in that moment, Ciel's kinkiness detection meter had gone through the roof. All it took her was one glance at the kitsune to tell what she was having another "fantasy" before sporting a wide, devilish grin, an idea forming in her mind. Ciel would make Inuba's "gift" become a reality.

"Time be still..." whispered the young sibling as everything around her went grayscale.

"Time to go to work..."

She then plucked the now frozen kitsune from her chair and took her inside the tent that Inuba and Dante slept in whenever the group would camp out. Ciel snapped her fingers instead of allowing the last ten seconds of the full thirty seconds she had to resume the flow of time.

"W-What..? Ciel?"

"Wait here. Be back in a jiffy."

The young sibling snapped her fingers once more as a portal of black Aura opened up underneath her feet, allowing her to fall through. She appeared in a shopping store and quickly moved to the decorating aisle. She hummed Christmas tunes to herself as she slowly walked through the aisle, finding her object of interest, but not in the color she wished until she found it at the end of the aisle.

After sprinting to the counter and purchasing her item, she yet again opened up another portal and stepped off into it as if she were walking a plank, appearing in front of Inuba once again.

"Right... So you have two options now my fluffy tailed friend. One, you let it happen because it'll happen either way. Or two, we do it my way, which is the fun way." said Ciel as she showed the kitsune the item she purchased.

"C-Ciel, no! That's-!"

"There is no such thing as too lewd. And judging by your response, I guess we're going with option B then. Time be still!"

"Ci-!"

Inuba was frozen yet again as the world became greyscale once more. She'd have to do this three times in row. Truthfully, she had never done such a thing before, but she's seen enough pictures to have a vague idea as to how to go about it.

 _Five minutes later..._

"Where'd you go?" asked Dante.

"Nowhere. Just stuff."

"Right... Have you seen Inuba? She just kinda disappeared all of a sudden..."

"She's reading in the tent. Actually, she said she had another gift for you, so you should probably go in and see what it is."

"Really? Alright..."

Dante approached the tent, unzipping the front cover of the tent and entering inside. What he saw next left him completely stunned.

Inuba sat inside, lying on the ground. She would have been completely naked...were it not for the white ribbons with black trim covering her entirely bare body. The wrapping was minimal at best, and very little managed to cover the more...important places. But they were covered no less. Her hands and feet were bound by the same ribbons. Even her fox tail was slightly wrapped with black ribbons and a bow. Seemingly enough, it looked as though her body was wrapped by one and one long ribbon only, another bow being found near the center of her back. One pull was all that was needed to completely unwrap this most luxurious gift.

Inuba only now saw the awestruck Dante as he stood motionless. Her face grew red before a loud squeal was heard from within the tent. Ciel looked back a moment at the tent then smiled as she sat down in one of the camping chairs, pouring herself a cup of hot chocolate. After taking a sip, she let out a pleased sigh and fully leaned back into the chair. The young sibling looks towards you, giving another smile.

"Merry Christmas everyone~" she said with a wink.

* * *

 **Exciting events exciting events. Dreamscape battles? Dark Entities? Memory Reels that should be hidden from public view? It gets even better than that. This is only the premise. There's much much more to come to this collab arc. This is a mere taste. The main dish has yet to come.**

 **So yeah, no Christmas themed chapter this time, but hey, Christmas themed omakes at least. Seriously, don't screw with Santa. He'll mess you up.**

 **That's pretty much it for now. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope you have a happy holiday season! See you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	9. Chapter 9: Stryder

**Heya folks! Back another week! Got a little sick over the past week, and I was in recovery for a bit after getting some procedures to fix the bad back injury I got when I was a kid. I mean really, it was bad. But luckily, it didn't affect me too much until as of late, so we finally decided to get the problem fixed now. Considering that and the fact I underwent 2 procedures in one week, I've been getting really really really tired, so it was hard to get to writing when you slept for the night, woke up the next morning, and still feel like you haven't slept enough. Not only that, but I have been hanging out with a lot of my friends from High School, which is always nice. But anyway, doing better and all that, so let's just dive right in! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9: Stryder

Inuba stayed for a while now, keeping close watch over the small Kitsune resting in the infirmary. Of course, she did not simply stay there and watch. She brought a book along to read, but couldn't help staring at her small and lithe form now and then, something the littler one an air of adorableness that could not be ignored. This cuteness effect was only enhanced further when the young girl curled her bunched tails up a little more, legs wrapped into its fluffiness beneath the covers as she let out a slow and steady breath.

All was silent, save for the occasional shifting of bedsheets. But something was odd. She had noticed it earlier, but she swore she couldn't make out any vocal noises coming from the kitsune before her.

 _I see… That is why I sensed damage to her vocal cords… Smoke from the explosion within the facility? No… She would have to inhale vast amounts for damage that extensive…which can only mean…_

Inuba winced slightly as she touched the front of her throat and grasped it slightly.

 _such a thing was done to her beforehand… How cruel..._

Inuba soon heard a short breath and looked to the side to see eyes softly open, blinking a few times before shying away from the nearest light source. Bright reflective golden-orange irises shining and open gaze at the tails coiled beneath her legs, then looked up to meet Inuba's.

They were all subtle displays of emotion. Inuba nearly missed the slight details of her face scrunching up, almost looking like an emotionless soft stare. But she noticed the tiniest of motions, and that was enough to read into the feelings rushing through the girl before her.

"H-How are you feeling?" Inuba asked softly, hands clasped in her lap as she watched the girl before her sit back onto her heels.

Confliction crossed the younger girl's face for a moment, fox ears folding back atop her head, more confusion passing over her eyes.

"Please, say what you need to. You are in safe hands here. Everyone here, especially myself, will cater to your needs, whatever they may be."

With those words now in the air, two white fox ears perked up slightly before the girl started looking around. She took in her surroundings and layout of the room, noticing the white walls and the lone window, the few chairs that rested at the edges of the floor, before finally clutching at the blanket bundled around her knees and pulling it over her legs and tails.

 _She can't speak as is… How else can we communicate..?_

Inuba quickly thought of something and reached out in front of herself slightly before bringing up both her hand and a glowing white square. When she tapped the square, it expanded into a large, white holographic rectangle. Her fingers quickly tapped on the holographic screen in order to open up a notetaking application, which she soon spun the screen around to the younger kitsune as another screen appeared in front of Inuba.

The smaller kitsune didn't touch it right away, but instead girl stared at it cautiously, a small twinge of fear running through her ears along with a look of distrust crossing her features.

"It is all right, this is just my HoloScroll. Holographic Scroll for short. It will allow us to communicate considerint you can't speak... Please, there really is no reason to feel afraid. I have no intention of hurting you." Inuba said pushing the screen further out towards the girl, giving her a kind smile.

A small nod dipped the girl's chin, who was now willing to reach out. Her pale hand was a stark contrast against the black suit she wore, cautiously accepting the holographic screen and pulling it back towards herself.

Her eyes stared at it for a few seconds, very likely confused as to how it opperated for a moment or two until her delicate fingers tapped slowly along the holographic keyboard, wording together something that Inuba couldn't see until the words appeared on her separate screen.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"Right now, you are currently in the infirmary wing of Beacon Academy. My name is Inuba Kitsukami and I am here to help you as much as I can. Can you give me your name?"

The girl looked down, her cheeks dusting slightly in a red hue as she typed out an embarrassed, "I...don't know…"

Inuba gave a small sad smile before reaching forward and patting the girl's head, a strange urge to do so coming over her.

"If that is the case, do not worry then. You will remember in time. Memories are a tricky concept to understand, so do not feel embarrassed about not being able to remember at the moment. The question remain… How much do you remember?"

Her gaze only became more downcast.

"That's… That's a hard question to answer. I… I don't remember anything..."

Inuba's eyes widened for a moment, concluding something that only caused her to want to help the small girl even more so than she already did.

 _She must feel so lost and helpless right now…_

"You may not be able to recall very much right now. But, you managed to recognize how to write on my screen. Which in turn means your memories have only been blocked, not erased. You will remember. It just might take a while until then."

She spoke those words with the best smile she could. She knew of one other like the young girl currently. It was always...painful to watch, for her moreso than him. But she kept her heart strong, hoping that one day soon...he would remember.

"How much time?" The girl asked, unsure of how to react or what to feel as she snapped Inuba out of her current train of thought.

"It is hard to say… Regaining one's memories is a fickle and...somewhat difficult matter at times. The safest way would be for you to let your memories return to you, rather than try and remember them yourself. That might only bring you pain."

"Pain?"

Inuba nodded solemnly before brushing that look away with a smile.

"It will return to you eventually. Some objects and actions might loosen a few memories from time to time, but the best advice I can give is to just be patient."

The girl nodded slowly, fingers loosely grasping at the screen before her hands as her mind grasped at something that just felt so out of reach… so far away…

Darkness swept into her vision as a dull ache throbbed in her head. The girl collapsed forward, the screen disappearing as Inuba reached out and caught her. She rested the small kitsune down softly atop her own fox tail as she stroked the girl's long frost white hair.

White flames danced around her fingertips as she did so, sending soothing warmth through the girl as she tried to heal away the pain.

"Rest..." Inuba spoke quietly, "You have all the time in the world to remember. Pushing yourself can only get you so far before your mind starts pushing back."

Inuba laid the girl to rest, tucking her into the bed once again before softly climbing off of it herself. The girl was going to be out for the rest of the day, so she decided to let her sleep.

With a silent step, Inuba slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her.

She had another task to attend to at the moment.

* * *

"Alright, so is this going to be more or less the same process?" Xera asked, eyeing the still unknown girl in the cloak then glancing to Zerath in his bed.

"In a way. But it'll be much more difficult for starters." Dante said as he brought his own chair over next to Xera.

"There will be some resistance upon entering his mind, which is why you must prepare yourselves for rather...difficult welcoming committee. The second you enter, he will know you are present."

"Well, that's comforting," Xera said, letting out a short sigh as he took a seat.

"Destiny..." the girl then said, ushering the girl over.

Destiny's eyes widened for a moment as if asking silently whether or not she was actually being addressed.

"Am I needed?"

"Yes. We are also in need of-" she explained, before glancing toward the door, "Has Inuba not returned yet?"

"Give her a second... And..."

Immediately after Dante said this, Inuba stepped through the icy door and entered the chilling room.

"I am sorry for making you all wait. Our patient woke up earlier than expected, so I was tending to her." She apologized with a bow.

"She's awake?" Xera asked.

"Was. Right now she is resting. She's still fairly exhausted." Inuba replied.

"Very well then... Now, Inuba, Destiny, please take hold of my hand." The girl requested, reaching a pale hand out of her cloak as she stood at Zerath's side.

"Does the connection need to be physical?" Destiny asked, doing as she was told and laying her hand atop the younger girl's as Inuba did the same, only from beneath.

"Physical contact is always stronger than a simple mental connection, especially in a situation like this. In short, it creates a bond with less disruption." the girl explained, "For this to work, we must make sure that the connection does not falter or is disrupted. Or we run the risk of losing all tethers to their minds and trapping you inside."

"That…wouldn't be good," Xera spoke up.

"If only you knew. I had that happen to me once a long time ago. Getting out wasn't fun." Dante added.

"Great..." The phoenix returned before his dark green eyes cast a serious gaze back to the girls standing before them.

"Inuba, Destiny, please rest your hands against the foreheads of Dante and Xera. And whatever you do, do not let go of either point of contact." The girl continued, glancing back to the four.

With two nods, the girls did as they were told. Inuba took Dante's side while Destiny tended to Xera's. Before anyone could see the light tinges of red in either of the two guys' faces, the girl reached forward with her free hand and rested it against Zerath's cold forehead.

A spark of white emitted from her hand before traveling through the body and souls of Inuba and Destiny, before running down their arms in a glimmer of fading white starlight.

That was the last thing Xera and Dante saw before the world went dark.

* * *

Ash filled the world before them now, swimming about in the air gently like powdery snow. Hard, jagged stone, spanned sharply beneath the flat reaches of scorched dust for miles on end, each step sounding like a foot crushing ancient bones underneath their feet.

The sky far above was simply a swirling vortex of agonizing red hues, and at the center of it, was a crimson sun that burned above them, its center nothing more than a wavering, black abyss.

Xera's eyes roamed over the sea of ash and stone, shining in the reflection of the encroaching red sky as they approached a door frame in the distance.

"This place… Was this was supposed to be his inner world? Like the city I saw in your mind?" Asked Xera.

"That place acts as an entrance and a space to roam about freely as you wish. There's ruins everywhere...so I'm asusimg that has to be the case.. " Dante replied, stepping forward through the layers of ash dusting the ground.

It reeked of death, an all too familiar smell to the young immortal. A vile stench lingered in the air, thick with soot and smoke and blood. The only places he's ever smelled such a horrible stench was in warzones, both human and non-human.

"Let's not sit around. Through there." Pointed Dante towards a door.

The two approached a door of shattered wood where it's frame was blackened and and dented with numerous jagged scratches and gashes that ran through it. The door, in a way, looked as though it were rotting away.

As Dante opened the door, it creaked open slowly, stopping until it hit the wall of a hallway in ruins.

Xera shared a glance with Dante before making his way inside, the door closing behind them after Dante followed.

"The Hall of Memories… What's left of it anyway..." Dante muttered.

Everything was crumbling away at a slow pace. Doors remained cracked and marred, pieces missing in shattered fragments on the floor. Some doors didn't remain standing, they simply lay flat and broken across the ash ridden hallway as the duo moved at a cautious but hurried pace.

"It's as if something wrecked this place entirely, clawing into each of Zerath's memories and devouring them." Xera spoke lowly, steps as careful and quiet as the dead of night as he walked onward.

"That's likely what's happened..." Dante said, "Soul-Slasher is a Dark Entity. He grows stronger as his presence overtakes the soul residing within until it's nothing but an empty husk."

 _Strangely enough...he's specifically gone after his memories… Dark Entities don't even need to bother with the Hall of Memories when possessing people, they just have to overtake the soul residing within. He was here. He was searching for something… But why?_

"Zerath's memories and dreams… The more he loses the more he forgets himself… It's all...being erased..."

"Don't worry so much. Once Soul-Slasher is gone, it'll all build back within time"

"How do you know?" Xera asked, "Zerath's human. He's not like you."

"You don't have to be me to get away from something like this, Xera. Don't lose hope just yet. Even though he is a human, he's stayed longer than any average soul or human could possibly hope to. His resilience is what will allow him to survive and come back from this once we get this thing out of him. So again, don't worry so much."

Xera remained silent, ash sweeping beneath his feet as he walked through it.

A cold groaning wind swept through the open hallway, brushing waves through the surface of the ash as it sent shudders through the creaking doors all around them. An unnatural wind containing eerie whispers passed by with a chill as cold as death.

When the two slowed their pace, the gust of air stopped suddenly and let the drifting ash settle beneath their feet. What followed the groaning noise, though… was the guttural dripping growl of a creature drenched in the stench of blood.

The duo took a step back as this creature seemed to claw its way out of the ash a few feet in front of them, blackened and dry skin slipping out of the ground as the ash sifted over its matted fur.

"Is that...a Beowolf?" Xera asked.

"Nope. " Dante said, taking a step forward and summoning an Aura Longsword, "A Lykinak, minor Dark Entities resembling wolfmen, but in this case, Beowolves."

Black blood dripped form the creatures gnawing maw, teeth biting into the flesh of its lips. Tendons of stretched skin connected the very corner of its mouth, leaving openings and holes for its guttural breath to seep out of. Its form took the shape of what a lycanthrope might look like, a humanoid carnivorous wolf, only if it were starved for years and dipped in a vat of acidic blood. It left the flesh and fur on its body thin and stretched, torn and opened in several areas revealing black gunk and bone within. The lykinak's stature was crooked and hunched. As if half its body weighed more than the other. Its long arms were scrawny and bony, knuckles scraping into the ash below as its head snapped and cocked. Glowing red orbs took residence as its eyes, shining in a wide open gaze as it stared hungrily at the two teens before it.

"These things are pretty vicious, so watch yourself." Dante informed, brandishing his blade and lowering into an offensive stance.

"As much as I'm grateful for the warning," Xera flexed his hands as flames burst forth from his palms, burning brightly in melting orbs of light between his fingers, "It basically tells me nothing of what this thing can do."

Dante rolled his eyes slightly as the lykinak let out a distorted cackle as it stumbled forward, taking sudden and rapid steps as it staggered and brushed against the wall, its eyes remaining fixed on the two before it.

"Learn quickly then." Dante replied, raising his sword for a moment before he leaned forward and entered a dash.

Xera acted as well, hurling a blazing ball of flame that expanded into a burning vortex of swirling fire that crashed into the creature, melting its form as Dante swept by and cleaved through the creature's side.

His blade severed the lykinak's torso from its legs, its upper body falling in a scrawny heap to the ground. It's jagged claws sunk into the stones beneath the ash and crawled at an alarmingly fast speed like a legless zombie, trying its best to feast upon the two before it.

It dragged itself in a blur of speeding black, slamming into the opposite wall and digging its claws further into it, thenmade a biting leap for Dante, only for another impact of blazing fire crashing into it and sending it on its merry way down the hallway in a smoking heap of charred flesh and bone.

"Shoot… Forget that I should've taken its head rather than go for the body..."

Dante sighed as he lashed out at his side, the Aura Longsword shattering glass as it's fragments vanished into midair while Xera stepped up to his other side.

"It's been too long for me…"

"Is that the only way to kill it?" Xera asked, his gaze watching the creature growl and hack up blood.

But its eyes returned to them a moment later, dusty and cracked claws scraping the ground as it began crawling back to them.

"You could destroy the entire body. But taking its head would be much quicker." Dante stated.

"Too long, huh?" Xera questioned, his flames growing brighter as he stepped forward, "Mind if you give an example?"

Dante brought his sword across his body and lashed out, unleashing a small wave of white Aura outlined in black that took the head of the creature immediately upon contact.

"That quick enough for you?" Dante asked as his Aura Longsword shattered like glass, the pieces fading away.

"Yeah, pretty much." responded the Phoenix Faunus.

* * *

After a few minutes, the two came across a door that still stood. Its wood was dull, its frame was cracked, and its handle was crushed and rusted. But it remained closed. It was the only door that was closed in fact.

"Locked..." Dante stated as he twisted the handle, the door not opening for him. "Looks as though this was the only door Soul-Slasher couldn't break into…"

 _It's likely an important memory then… A very important memory if he couldn't get in. Even so, it wouldn't be this secure without… I see… It's not just the memory inside that's important. But 'what' else is inside. How do we get in then if Soul-Slasher couldn't?_

Xera soon pressed his ear to the door, closing his eyes as he let his senses narrow in on his hearing. It was faint, almost impossible to pick up, but it was something he couldn't miss. Something too hard…not to hear. It was something even Dante could hear. It was the sound of a baby crying, muffled by thick wood and sullen ash; scorched wall and thick air, it was there.

"I think I know why..." Xera said as he reached down and took a hold of the handle, turning it with no resistance.

The door unlocked, allowing Xera to push forward and open it into a fading glow of diminishing white light. The pale light dwindled away in streaks of bleary color as the streets of Vale rendered in. The yellow sun was low, casting its gaze down into the busy sidewalks of Vale's market district. Xera walked in, followed by Dante, as the door shut and locked behind them. People phased through them, going about their business as they would've on this day of Zerath's past. The crying got louder.

 _I'm already uncomfortable being here..._ thought Dante.

A baby's shrill cry came muffled and piercing at the same time, echoing out of a dark alleyway as the people of Vale strolled by it. No one so much as glanced within, just going about their day with smiles on their faces and varying futures ahead of them. The baby's cry softened, and then got a little louder. A few people acknowledged it now, but none made a move to investigate it. Whether it was fear or lack of care, it was enough to leave the child to cry in the darkness of the stone alley.

 _It never surprises me how cruel people can be… It's always children in situations like this that suffer the most… If only more people were thoughtful and cared more..._

Dante followed close by, letting the people pass through him as well as they made their way into the dark entrance of the alleyway. The two made their way further in, passing a couple pieces of debris and scattered broken crates, before walking up to a cluster of cloth and boxes. Nestled in one of those boxes was a small child, an infant. Wrapped in a white blanket, it lied there, eyes wide and bloodshot. Its sky blue irises stared aimlessly, still drying from the tears that must have stung them. It cried out again, a cry that had hoped that its mother might come back...but as he watched, even Dante sadly knew she would not return for the child.

The young immortal was a generally positive person, and did his best to remain positive and hopeful at all times. And for the most part, that's how people saw him mostly. Truthfully, what most people never knew was that secretly, he was a bit more bitter than positive with his thoughts and feelings at times, especially whenever he saw situations like this. And usually, the bitter thoughts got the best of him first before the positive ones set in.

It confounded him. How could humans be so courageous, so intelligent, so brilliant...and yet, when it came down to the most important things at times, so stupid? So ridiculous? So cruel? Even for one such as himself...it grew harder and harder to watch...

A silhouette of a woman soon settled upon the walls of the alleyway as the cries grew louder, no doubt sensing the presence of this woman. Dante watched closely, studying the woman as she looked off to the side, sifting her eyes through her surroundings and trying to pick out anyone who might be the parents of the child she heard. Nothing. The woman made her way inside, the light falling from her pale skin as she strolled through the shadows cast from above. A grocery bag lay clutched in her grasp, though, she abandoned it at one of the walls as she approached the noise carefully. The woman passing the two of them. Long black hair drifted slightly behind her in the stilled silence of the alley. Nestled atop the woman's head rested a black bullhide leather cowboy hat, a bit of wear was easily depicted in the material. As if it's been worn for years. She wore an open brown leather jacket, unclasped and revealing a white shirt beneath it. A pair of worn pale dark-gray jeans adorned her legs before leading into black combat boots to complete her ensemble.

 _So… That must be Leona Stark..._

"Are you alone, little one?" The woman asked, voice light and soothing. Her eyes gleamed with a sky blue, but like Xera's eyes, they kept shifting colors.

The child's little voice hitched and his crying toned down completely, eyes opening again to gaze up into two shining blue irises that had settled back in. Its feet kicked as it pulled and grasped at its blanket, gnawing at the cloth with his small mouth as he, for a moment, smiled.

The woman chuckled softly, reaching her hands down and lifting the little baby up onto its feet.

"Are you hungry? You must've been crying here for quite a while."

She brushed his wet cheek with her thumb and supported his weight. A resounding giggle left the baby's lips as it reached out and pressed its fingers against the woman's cheeks.

"Hmm," The woman's eyes glistened for a moment, before flashing a noticeable shade of pink and gold, "I don't suppose you'd mind me taking you home?"

In a way, the baby responded with another laugh and a wide toothless smile. She stood, holding the child caringly in her arms now, and made her way out of the alley, her bag of groceries having been picked up on her way back into the streets of Vale. And for a moment...she looked back into the alleyway of shadows. And just like that...she was gone, vanishing from the duos sight.

"Well…" started Dante in a tone softer than usual, "I...think I know now why this place was locked up so tightly…"

"It was the first time Zerath smiled..." Xera said, his voice almost failing him, "It was the first moment he experienced happiness and…it was the first time he saw our mother… This was the moment when Zerath's life took a turn for the better. This was the moment he became who he will eventually be. This is his last memory of his true self. The starting point,"

Xera blinked, pausing before turning his gaze downward, "To think he'll lose everything he once held dear… All of it…"

A white light suddenly glowed at their side, shining like an ethereal crystal against the alleyway walls from the box Zerath was found in. The two turned to look toward the pale rays of light, only to watch it fade and disappear back into the crate. Xera and Dante stepped over and peered inside, only to stare in mild confusion at what now lied within its containing walls.

A sphere of light.

 _This is why he was desperately searching… This would be that which would force him out… His undoing… Now that I know what it is...it's time to pass it on._

The young immortal reached out and had his hand hover over the sphere of light, closing his eyes soon after as he began speaking.

"May this soul be given form and shape...so that strength may be granted upon one who would bring him back from ruination… O' soul that has been torn and rended endlessly...shine bright once more…"

The spehere of light eminated a brighter light that blinded the duo for a few moments until it died down. When it did, in place of the spehere was a shimmering, white longsword, its pommel and hilt were polished silver, shining like ivory in the setting sun. The blade had a handle wrapped in black cloth, tightly wound around a thin frame. The pommel resembled that of a crescent moon, carved thick and smoothly angular. Glowing white characters of text were engraved into its inner depressions. The hilt of the sword was an elegantly curved set of detailed wings, arcing in unfurled states to have their ends curving forward toward the tip of the blade. Lastly, was the blade itself. It was long, thin, almost simple in shape, yet elegantly pristine and sharp. A depression ran down its center, engraved with an expanse of ancient characters that not even Dante could recognize with a single glance. The material of the blade seemed to reflect the light around them, appearing white in both color and glow. It glistened, despite being in the shadow of the high walls around them.

Dante reached in and withdrew the sword, a streak of white light trailing softly in its wake as it hummed and lightly vibrated with energy in his grasp.

 _A Soul Weapon… The only other thing besides us that can force the Darkness out…_

Dante turned around, bowing slightly as he handed Xera the newly formed sword, the Phoenix Faunus taking it within his grasp as he stared it.

"The last sliver of Zerath's fading soul..." Xera muttered, turning the longsword in his hands as a name was pushed into his mind.

The power suddenly felt familiar, it felt warm, inviting, and accepting. He felt it run through his arm and into his heart, rushing through the rest of his body from there. He knew its name.

"Aether."

"You can read that?" asked Dante.

"No, I just…felt its name." Xera admitted, letting the sword fall softly to his side as he held it firmly in his grasp.

"Hmm…"

 _It's resonating with him far better than I expected… Of course, they may not be blood related brothers...but they are brothers through bonds. And that is more than enough._

"That's good then. It means you're resonating with it to the point it'd work really with you." Dante as he made his way back toward the door that led them in here.

"We have what we need. Now...we take the fight to him…"

* * *

Two sets of shoes landed on hard ground, ice crushing beneath their feet as they stepped through the frame of the door. The Access Point slammed shut behind them, then crumbled into ash, leaving them in the middle of what seemed like the base of an icy realm.

"That door's been locked ever since I set foot in here five years ago."

A voice came from above, drifting down from the peak of some sort of mountainous structure before them as the icy pathway led forward and up, entering into a dark cavern that the two couldn't see into at the moment. All around them stood countless black pillars and spikes of ice, crashing out of the ground in a wide enclosing half circle that left them no room to turn back.

"Only a bond bound by blood or something just as strong could've opened that door… And yet, here you are. Neither of you his actual kin. And yet...you've entered into my realm and accessed the one place I couldn't reach."

"Show's over scumbag." Dante called out, "You have two options as of now. Stay in here and hide until we find you and kill you, or you can come out and face your death with what,little honor you have left."

A deep resounding chuckle flooded through the area before it came to a stop.

"Over you say..? Hmph… This is my realm now. I exist here, and nowhere else. I've grownattached to this soul. Its purposes suit my needs."

"Sadly, it doesn't belong to you. Besides, there are plenty of other ways for scum like you to get your original bodies back. Why go through such an effort?" Dante asked.

Again, the voice chuckled and rumbled the area.

"Fool, you're naïve. This soul is the only one who possesses the secret I stumbled across so long ago. It seems fate has given me a new weapon to play with. I will not be giving that weapon up to the likes of you."

"Then we'll stop you." Xera spoke up, "We'll end you before you get too far."

"Too far? Too far you say... Oh, how hopeless you've grown." The voice drawled in a condescending arrogance, "You have no idea just how powerful I've become. How powerful I will become."

"How about we put that to the test?" Dante said, summoning an Aura longsword of that shined in white outlined in black, pulsing with energy like glass containing a glowing beam of light, "Let's see if you're as tough as you say you are."

The entity chuckled, ice crumbling all around them before the icy spines receded back into the ground slightly.

"If you make it past the minions I've created and push your way to me… Then...I shall give you a fight. But if you fall prey to my creatures of darkness, then you truly were never a threat worthy of my attention."

"We'll see about that..." Xera muttered, brandishing his gleaming Aether in front of him, a bright ruby glow shined across its surface from the red sun above.

The vast structure in front of them shook as the entity laughed a thunderous cry of shrill guttural screeches tore out of the cavern's entrance before them, countless creatures roaring from within.

"Well Dante… Interested in slaying the king of this realm?"

Dante only smiled and walked forward alongside the phoenix, "You bet."

The red sun shined into the icy cavern before them, its crimson rays dancing in shimmering lights across the jagged surface of its walls, coloring the icy domain the color of blood.

* * *

"I'm certainly not going to hire him as my decorator anytime soon..." Dante commented, casting his gaze up to the high roof of the expansive cavern.

"Right? That Cerberus just a while back was pretty vicious..."

"It wasn't too bad… Besides, you and I make a pretty good team. Aura Manipulation plus a powerful Fire Affinity? I don't see us getting into too much trouble in the future."

"We do." Xera responded, "But if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's testing us..."

"He might very well be doing just that. In that the case, we're going to have to do this old school then and keep our special attacks saved for later. We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for him."

"I already figured that much out. If he's able to see us from where he is in this realm, he'll be able to strategize for when we reach him. Which is why I wasn't showing off anything too strong or situationally strong." Xera replied as they treaded down the slope, now entering an angle as they rounded the rough edges of the cavern.

"Which is why we try to save our neat tricks for the main event. Again, surprise and all that."

"Because if we show our hand before, they'll know how to counter it." Xera finished. The two disappeared into a cave entrance above and continued onward.

Emerging from the end of it, they dashed through a smaller entrance that led into a dimly lit corridor. It jaggedly reached upward for quite a while, reaching toward a tall icy ceiling with the ominous presence only a dark ravine held. They couldn't make out the details above. A thick black shadow was cast over it, completely masking it from any light or gaze as the two kept walking.

"A creepy long hallway, a door at the other end of it… Looks like an equation for an ambush." Xera commented offhandedly, casting a gaze up into the dark abyss above.

His rushed steps lightly bouncing off the walls as he felt it reverberate into the dark space above.

"I'd be slightly surprised if that wasn't the case..." Dante replied.

They were just about to pass the halfway point when something dripped from the ceiling above, forcing Xera to come to a skidding halt and barely avoid getting hit by it.

"Black blood..." Xera noted, recognizing the stench of it as it crystallized on the icy ground.

More began to ooze out of the shadows, dripping down from the high reaches above as the two took a cautious step back.

Lines and showers of the staunch thick liquid collapsed on all sides of them, dripping and collecting between them and the walls as it pooled inward and covered the ground behind them. Dante followed in Xera's wake, minding the heat as he kept within the small bubble of fire that was created to stall the falling blood.

Xera's mini-inferno grew up to even larger extents as he sprinted forward and speared his sword forward, driving it into the slit of the double door as they slammed into the end of the hallway. He took his hand off the pommel as Dante's momentum carried him into a leaping kick, planting his sole into the embedded blade to fire a burst of heat into the reaches of the black entrance.

"Damn it!" Xera planted his foot into the door and yanked his sword out, brandishing it to the side as he turned around.

"It won't open until the enemies in the room are dealt with." Dante informed, narrowing his gaze as the two teens turned around.

"Then let's deal with them."

Accompanying the hail of blood came the cracking of spines and the twisting of bones. The tearing of flesh masking the sickening sound of dripping blood as the two looked up to see countless entities of similar appearance pulling themselves from the murky shadows above. They pulled and twisted their way out, skin taught against their hollow faces as they stretched their aching limbs. Lean humanoid figures with mouths gaping and jawless, their eyes were simply dark holes in their skulls as the rest of their forms seemed to be nearly skeletal and black. Skinny and dry fingers took up broken and chipped blades, running their hands across rust and black steel as they all turned their eyes to the two teens below. One by one, the creatures fell from the ceiling. Each one landing with a sickening crunch and pop of the bones as their seemingly fragile legs took the impact. Their thin bony frames were almost crushed from the drop, only to stand back up and cock their heads in silent stares, as if they didn't even feel the fall.

"Great… Skyn…"

"Good? Bad? Meh?"

"Meh for the most part. But they are among the nastier types of undead." Dante informed.

In that next instant, numerous Aura Longswords of Dante's white Aura outlined in black appeared before them in rows, hovering ominously in the air whilst aimed at these skeletal creatures.

"What makes them deadly?" Xera asked, needing at least a little information to go by as the Skyn creatures cackled and clicked.

The lack of a jaw and tongue only made it sound like gurgled breathing.

"See that blood on the ground?" Dante pointed downward, getting a nod from Xera, "All of that seeps out of their body before they attack. It's why they appear as if they have no blood running through their bodies right now."

"L-Lovely..." Xera muttered evenly, trying to piece together where this was going, "Is there a reason?"

"Every time you damage or kill one, it collapses into the blood and lets the liquid seep slowly back into them. Once that happens, they essentially heal and stand back up." Dante said as hundred of Aura Swords now hovered in the air.

"Essentially, the only way to end them is to kill them enough times until the blood eventually recedes entirely."

"We don't have time for that. Are there any weaknesses?" Xera asked as he tilted his head, kicking up the heat a few notches and blurring their surroundings with quickly rising air.

"Yeah, but we don't have access to any Empyrean metal right now. If I had Anvil with me, this would be much easier. Unfortunately, that's not the case within this realm. My Aura Sword should probably do the trick since they have Light infused in them."

The creatures around them seemed to have stopped falling now, the entire group of Skyn beasts leaning in awkward stances and twitching their heads. Their weapons almost appearing heavy in their grasps, pulling and weighing their frail arms down as they dragged the tips of their arsenal through the pool of blood at their feet.

They began to advance on the duo.

Dark, sticky, and cold squelches sounded out into the air as the guttural remains below clung to their bony feet. Each one made a move forward now as they closed in on the end of the hallway.

"Got plenty of room over there?" Dante asked.

"Plenty." Xera replied, a burning blaze settling over Aether as he brought it around to his left side, entering a low forward leaned stance, "But there's something else I've been wanting to try."

"Is now really the time to try new things?" Dante asked with a sigh,

"It'll make this a lot easier if I do."

Xera lowered his gaze now, shadowing it in the darkness of his black bangs.

Dante paused for a moment.

"Fine. Go for it."

"I'll let you know when I'm ready…but for now..."

Xera's eyes snapped to something to his right, and he quickly brought his sword up to parry the brutal slash of a Skyn that got too close, scorching its flesh in a burning slash, "Let's kill as many as possible until I can figure out how to access it."

"Then let's make this the beta test for what you will be trying to do." Dante replied, willing his blades in the air to surge outward and plunge into the skulls of twenty-six Skyn creatures, causing them to topple their heads backward and go limp.

The creatures that Dante shot down with his swords fell into the bloody bath beneath them, shaking and seizing up in throes of twitchy seizures. The blood around them slowly pulled over their skin, quietly slipping into openings in their flesh as their movements began to settle. Xera bashed another swing to the side as he stepped forward, cleaving his longsword through the spine of a Skyn creature then moving to block another, delivering a swift heated kick into its stomach to send it sliding over the blood-soaked ground, Dante following suit as he attacked with his sword in hand and continued shooting sword into encroaching enemies.

They were slow, approaching them in methodically creepy and sporadically twitching ways.

"Time to clear the area?" asked Dante.

Xera gave him a nod as Aether ignited in a stronger flame, blazing as it columned fire out of its hilt as he spun and made a wide sweeping slash through the air. An arc of fire shot from Aether, crashing into several Skyn creatures before them and throwing them in burning heaps into the bloody ground. Xera and Dante were more than able to fend them off, blocking and overpowering their weak swings as more and more Skyn creatures fell into the blood below. Little by little, with each and every kill, the blood began to recede more and more. It was only halfway gone when Dante unleashed another mass flurry of swords, having built them up over the past few minutes to skewer the heads of all the adversaries around them. Shining swords rattled in their foreheads as the mass of bodies twitched and began rejuvenating on the ground.

Only this time seemed different than the last several times.

"Now that I think about it, I may have forgotten to mention something..." Dante realized, the two standing at each other's side again.

"There's more to them?!"

Dante nodded his head slowly, drawing back his sword as more and more creatures began to writhe in painful ways, arching and breaking their bodies unnaturally as they gathered more blood.

"They enter a more frantic and ruthless state at a certain point in their stages. I think we just reached that point."

"A berserker mode?!" Xera asked.

"Something like that. Only, with more speed than strength."

The violent spasms around them finally drew to a slow close. Then, one by one, the Skyn creatures seemed to gravitate upward onto their heels and slump forward in thinly standing humanoid forms. They hunched over, long fingers dangling slightly into the blood as they grasped their weapons loosely.

"Here they come. Get ready."

Dante entered a low defensive stance, pulling his blade back to his side and angling it away from himself as he waited.

Xera did the same, only taking his own stance in comparison to Dante's. The Phoenix Faunus' sword gleamed white as his pupils blazed a brilliant orange, flames flicking from his irises as his sharply angled wings became engulfed in a sheen of lambent fire. The surface of the ice around them simmered and sizzled, melting and smoothing over as his flames grew brighter in tense anticipation. Then just like that, the creatures all seemed to simultaneously lean forward before they all dropped into rapid, fast paced, aggressive sprints as they drew up their own weapons.

Instinctively, Xera and Dante raised their blades and clashed with the first few that lunged toward them. Blurs of black and sickening gray ran into their defense, forcing them to switch targets after every block in order to prevent a new slash from making contact.

The two dashed in and out of each other's guard, seamlessly swiping into and out of enemy opposition as they fought in moderate cooperation to push back the initial wave of Skyn. Their swings were stronger now, each clang sending a reverberating pang through their arms as they started putting more and more strength into parrying the incoming strikes. Brittle pieces of black metal chipped to the ground as they fought. Xera's own gleaming white blade bit deeply into the harsh metal of their blades, shattering several swords as the battle pushed on. Dante's own sword moved swiftly, easily slicing apart the foes in front of them as Xera's flaming sword hacked through the masses and turned their bodies to ash.

Their enemies weren't dwindling. Two fell, two stood back up. Three fell, three lurched back to their feet. It was endless, there was too much blood at their feet and they were beginning to feel fatigue pull at the muscles in their arms.

"Set up a shield real quick!" Xera called out, putting a lot of effort into a blazing swing as he cleaved through a Skyn beast for the umpteenth time.

"Yup!"

Dante dipped back, slipping beneath one of Xera's wings as he jammed his sword into the ground. All around, a quickly spanning barrier of tightly knit, crystal-clear hexagons formed a dome-like barrier around them, protecting them from the waves of filth attempting to kill them. The creatures threw themselves into the barrier, their bodies distengrating upon contact before they took a step back and began lashing out at the barrier with their weapons. Some cracks were starting to form.

"You better hurry! The barrier won't hold forever!"

The Phoenix Faunus' blazing eyes shot open, pupils smoldering as a deep purple glowed in his irises. Their color matched those of Skyla Xerious perfectly, shining in the dim light of the ravine as his flames transitioned into a blaze of light purple. The color of his Aura shifted, his eye color transitioned, and the color of his flames changed to adapt to the new Semblance settling over his soul.

He was a shining beacon of Skyla's Aura.

He crouched down low and placed his fingertips against the blood soaked ground at his feet, feeling the air crackle and sputter as the blood evaporated away. Not due to his fire, but something else entirely that greatly intrigued Dante as he watched. Cracks exploded outward in every direction, rocketing up the walls of the icy hallway and breaking them apart. Shards of black ice plummeted from above, crumbling to the ground and against Dante's shield, the cracks spreading all the way to the door.

The cracks slammed into it and the far walls before the entire floor seemed to sink and crumble, every single piece of ice shook violently before exploding. The blood that riddled the ground flaked into the air, bubbled, and completely vanished in drifting trails of red steam.

And with that now gone, Xera took a deep breath and removed his hand off the ground, letting it out in a slow exhale as his wings flexed and purple fire sputtered from their feathers.

Dante forced his shield to surge outward as numerous pieces of the barrier shattered and crashed into the masses, shredding them like shrapnel tearing through flesh.

Afterwards, the duo dashed outwards, quickly closing the distance between the remaining targets as they cleaved their way through the remains of the Dark Entities. The now brittle ground gave them an edge in movement, sprinting faster than their adversaries as they swept through separate sections of the ravine. And before long, every Skyn creature lay in pieces on the floor as the two made their way to the door again.

Wasting no time, Dante sprinted forward, leapt up as he spun in the air, and sidekicked the door open midair before landing, opening it immediately to allow the duo to run up the icy slopes before them.

"I think I just confirmed what Skyla's semblance is able to accomplish..." Xera said, a small amount of realization crossing through his tone.

"What, really? Well...cool! She'll finally be able to start using it extensively." Dante replied with a pat of Xera's shoulder, keeping pace with him yet again.

"She's already been using it." Xera replied, continuing their ascent of the mountain from the inside without delay, "She just didn't know it exactly."

"How so?"

"You've seen it in action before. Ever gone to an ice cream parlor with her?"

"I always wondered why those ice cream parlors randomly blew up..."

"Yeah, but have you seen what actually happens?"

"Firsthand."

"Okay, well, you know how microwaves work, right?"

"Of course. I discovered it wasn't by magic one day, so I decided to figure out just what went on inside the machine." Dante replied rather sarcasticly.

"Right, well, it's kind of like that." Xera said.

"So in a sense, she's a walking microwave?"

A light amused smile crossed Xera's lips, only for a moment.

"Technically. But it's a lot more than that. Skyla can hyper-accelerate the movement of molecules."

"That actually explains a lot. And is pretty scary… How fast are we talking?"

"She can accelerate an object to its flash point, which is the moment where it catches fire, then push it past that threshold in mere fractions of a second." Xera concluded.

"With how soft ice cream is, it's no surprise that she was accidentally making it explode..." Dante commented.

"Yeah..." Xera muttered with a small chuckle, "It's almost too easy to melt ice cream. So, whenever she accidentally accelerated the molecules in its structure, it grew so unstable that it just reacted in a violent way."

"Impressive… How come it took a while to do that? With your Semblance swapping, you're usually much faster than that."

"That's…a hard question to answer. When I experience a Semblance I've never used before, it takes a lot of effort to try and activate it into what I'm currently able to use. Which is just three, and I've taken to calling it my 'Active' Semblances."

"Do the rest just go into storage? Or something akin to that?"

"Pretty much… I'm still getting used to it."

"True enough… I'm still getting used to my own. Aura Manipulation is a strange thing…"

* * *

No light was emitted from anywhere within the room they were in, not a single source or glow. All they had was the flames flickering over Xera's skin, having been reverted back to his previous bright orange color.

"I don't like where this is leading..." Dante commented.

"I don't either..."

Xera couldn't help but reply with that as a cold chill ran down theirs spines while their voices carried through the room like a pin dropping in a silent metal chamber.

That cold chill only worsened as a distant, almost quiet sound of metal grinding against hard ice slowly drew nearer. Two dull thuds sent shudders through the walls, accompanying the sound of grating steel as the two teens fixed their piercing vision toward the approaching noise.

Those thuds only got louder as they struck the ground one by one. As if a figure were walking toward them from within the veil of darkness.

"Two children have come to face me..? How foolish..."

A voice, deep, masculine, and filled with echoes collapsed over them. Its tone carried through the silent room with a presence of chilling absolution, burying them in its air of confidence and emptiness. Xera and Dante skidded to twin halts, swords ready at their sides as the voice grated at their nerves.

The footsteps grew louder now, and as the seconds drew longer, the two made out a figure approaching them from the central shadows of their path.

It wasn't a Dark Entity. It was a human more or less.

"An abomination of Light and Dark feebly posing as a human... And an Angel befallen to flame... You expect passage to the peak of this mountain, yet I stand before you." He spoke, voice echoing once again. It sounded muffled slightly, with a metallic clasp over its syllables.

It was as if he was speaking through a helmet.

"Leave this place, for neither of you are worthy to step foot into the realm above. And you will never be."

"Oh really?" Dante asked, lifting and resting the flat side of his Aura Sword against his shoulder.

Xera's flames grew brighter, shining forward to reveal a figure clad in black armor. Its shoulder guards were spikes, drawn outward as if to impale something in a heavy shoulder bash. His helmet was angular and sleek, shaping down into a smooth visor that undoubtedly hid a face of dying flesh.

His broad shoulders led down into a sharp chest, covered in segmented armor in layers of metal that overlapped as they went down. Almost like scales. His waist was fairly slim, leading down and outward slightly to form his hips, legs, and spiked, segmented greaves. The armor itself was a dark pristine black in color in its entirety, glimmering dully in front of Xera's flames as he stood before the two teens.

"I am Eostryder." The man spoke calmly, lifting a claymore into view and sinking its heavy tip into the ice in front of him.

It had a curve to it, rather than maintaining a straight nature. The curve traveled down its sharpened double edges, shaping inward slightly at the middle before curving outward, then sharpening into a point at the end. The hilt was the shape of a thick diamond, and his gauntleted fingers clasped a large handle in his grasp, a weighted jeweled pommel resting at its base.

"I think I'll just call you Eo." Xera muttered, getting an amused smirk from Dante.

"You may deem me whatever name you wish, but take heed young man..."

Eo lifted his blade out of the ground as if it were weightless, hefting its size with ease as he brought it around and held it at his side in a tight grasp. Its length ran parallel to the ground.

"I will be the greatest adversary either of you has ever fought."

"You're awfully confident in your abilities if you're going that far to say something like that… I've fought all kinds of creatures during my time. Creatures like the current invader festering in this body. Believe me...worse than you have tried stopping me..." Dante said.

"I am among the few Black Knights to ever survive for so long... I am the first Dremoha slayer and the last Omega hunter. I am Eostryder, first knight of the Requiem of Black Inquisition."

Eo brandished his blade, an orange gleam running down its slick surface as he brought it around then swung it outward, a piercing wave of pressure split the air in the quiet room, digging into the ice pillars in the distance beyond his swing. What was astonishing about it was the fact that it moved faster than it could be visually tracked. In a dark room like this, it could very easily result in a swift and brutal end.

Calm down… Just now, that was an air wave attack similar in nature to that birdbrain crow Tengu, Ayame. Luckily, I know exactly how to counter this, especially now since I can use Aura wave attacks again.

"Leave the history lessons for professor Oobleck."

Dante twirled his sword around four times rapidly, and on the fourth twirl, he lashed it out to his side as the Aura Sword...took a slightly different shape now.

It was now an Aura Greatsword, blade length five feet long with a handle length of a foot long. The width of the blade was six inches. The guard was simply two, three inch prongs, where underneath the guard were two, one inch blade-like prongs on each side that pointed upwards towards the underside of the guard.

In addition, there were the two, small triangular outcrops on the sharp side of the weapon in the middle of the blade. The most noticeable feature of the blade were the numerous black lines and wavy patterns etched into the base of the glowing white Aura Greatsword with the black outline.

His weapon had now been readied.

"I'll ask once and only once. Let us through."

"Something tells me he isn't up for a high five and a 'go get em'." Xera commented lowly, his orange fire blazing brighter as he placed the tips of his fingers to the icy floor.

"I am afraid I cannot do that. I serve him now. His will is my command."

* * *

The ice beneath Dante's shoes cracked as he surged forward, gliding past the knight before him and slashing his Aura Greatsword at his armored leg with a speed similar as to how he swung his Longsword usually.

Xera followed up, leaping into the space before Eo and digging the point of Aether into where his heart should be, super heating the blade to temperatures hot enough to melt steel in an instant.

But with all the force behind the strikes, neither Dante's weapon nor Xera's sword so much as scratched the non-budged knight in any minute way. His armor remained pristine and untouched, even as a surge of fire blasted over him.

Xera kicked away from the knight just in time to spin away from a retaliation slash, the knight's blade grazing his wing only slightly, tip scratching his feathers and severing small pieces of black softness to the floor. Dante's slide led him behind Eo after his own strike.

The two teens dashed in again and again, sweeping over the ice as they slashed at the knight's armor. Occasionally, the man would block their attack in full, but the rest slipped into his guard. It wasn't due to slowness or unpredictability. He could very well take all the damage they threw at him, even as the ice cracked beneath his boots and the pillars shook around him with every clang.

Xera and Dante soon skidded back to one another's sides at a slight distance, eyeing their target as they changed their strategy.

"See it yet?" Xera asked.

Dante nodded in response, "Yup, got it..."

The two disappeared in blurs of white outlined in black and a flurry of lime green lights, the light in the room quickly diminishing as it followed the two moving teens. Eo sunk the tip of his claymore into the ground, grasping it tightly with his armored hand as he tracked the two teens before him.

His eyes followed one while it crossed paths with the other, switching targets to that one before they did it again. He watched carefully as the two circled him in different intervals then dashed behind the pillars.

Dead eyes narrowed within his helmet as the light faded from the pillars on either side of him. Their presence left him, leaving him in the dark once again.

"Pitiful..." Eo muttered, seeing it as a sign of retreat as he took up his blade and turned around.

He took two steps back toward where he came from, only to sense the presence of the duo for a split second.

It was immediately followed by both teens dashing in from behind him and delivering simultaneous strikes to his unguarded back. An erupting wave of white Aura outlined in black and a sea of fire blew over his armor, scorching the room as the entire chamber became illuminated in a swirling colorful light.

His visor shook violently, his entire body suddenly becoming engulfed in the swirling energy waves as the ground quaked and shattered in a rupturing cone in front of him.

Xera and Dante stepped back, letting the blast settle as they tried to get a read on the damage they most likely inflicted.

"Your prowess and your confidence do little to sway me." Eo stated, diminishing the burning flames and the destructive wave of Aura with a soft and clean swipe of his blade, dispersing them entirely. His armor remained fully intact and undamaged, his sword still shined with an edge as sharp as before, and his stride never so much as faltered as he walked toward them.

"Tch… He must be wearing some type of enchanted armor..." Dante said.

"Either that, or it's something else that he's hiding," Xera responded.

The two backed off as Eo approached, blade extended at his side as he leaned forward.

"Prepare yourselves."

With those words spoken, he moved far faster than a man fully armored from the ground up should be capable of moving.

Xera's flaming wings curled in front of him as took the full brunt of a shoulder charge, crushing his tense feathers against his light frame before sending him careening across the room. Eo's charge quickly turned into a clean horizontal sweep of his sword, catching Dante's Greatsword that blocked his side in the moments of him dodging backward.

The blade nearly dug into his side with a small splatter of blood before Eo moved once again and caught Dante by the neck. In a quick and sudden surge of strength, he tightened his grasp and threw Dante across the room in the direction Xera went.

Darkness transitioned in a blur before Dante impacted the far wall, shattering the ice there as his he landed on his feet after bouncing off the wall. Xera's own form lay crumpled slightly in a heap, a deep indentation in the wall behind him as well as he pushed himself to his knees. Wings sprawled out at his sides.

Dante sighed as he grabbed hold of Xera's arm and lifted him up.

"Come on man, on your feet!"

"You know… I think…he may have been holding back a bit..."

"He was definitely holding back. He's underestimating us since we haven't pulled out the big guns yet. The question is...how do we beat him? Our attacks have just been bouncing off him..."

"The day man cuts through steel with a feather is the day I can give you an answer to that question..." Xera replied softly.

"I have done that before…"

Xera shot Dante a questionable glare, both how and why as to his decision to do this. But most importantly, how he managed such a feat.

"Hey, Angel Wing feathers count. Besides that, we need to figure out a plan of attack so we can take care of him."

"Do you have an attack that can deliver an incredible amount of piercing damage to a pinpoint location of a target?" Xera asked, stepping up to his friend's side and gazing out into the darkness of the room.

"Well...one of my more famous techniques included me stabbing my enemies and shooting a Howling Dark into them. I can most likely do the same with Devouring Light. I don't even have to stab him to make it a piercing shot. It'll be a bit tricky though since I'm out of practice."

"Well...I think I just came up with a good idea then…"

Eo stood at the center of the room, waiting for his adversaries to prepare themselves once again. He needn't pursue them nor end them in any particular fashion. He knew his time was long, and his servitude lonely.

A challenging battle was what he needed.

His cold eyes soon sensed a presence approaching him, and he turned his visor to see Xera approaching him from the distance. The teen had a dark purple, almost black, flame trailing from his skin and feathers. His pupils once again blazed in a similar color as before, dark purple flames in a sea of amber irises.

"Your persistence is admirable..." Eo spoke stoically, turning his sword in his grasp as he faced the incoming teen. "But persistence can only carry you so far."

The massive knight pushed back Xera as he spoke once more.

"Success is only succeeded by death. Nothing lies before nor after her touch, which leaves you with a futile effort in between that is nothing more than a vain struggle. Even so...I must ask… What is it that drives you to your own destruction so quickly?"

Xera stopped for a moment, eyes flashing a dark blue before returning to their golden amber.

"I fight for something you can no longer feel, so you wouldn't understand."

"You are not wrong in that regard. However..."

The Black Knight stepped forward, shattering the ice at his feet as he moved at an incredible speed once again. He appeared at Xera's side immediately and lashed out, "I feel far more than you will ever know."

His sword cleaved through Xera's flesh, bone, and torso, severing it completely from his body as the teen's form began to fall. Black aura covered the interior of his body until the entirety of the collapsing teen blurred and vanished.

"I doubt that."

A gleam of white traced Xera's blade as he slashed at Eo's throat, slamming his blade against armor there before the knight reached out and grabbed at Xera, only for another clone to take his place. Xera's sword soon slashed across his legs before dashing beneath him and sending a heavy cleave diagonally across his back.

A searing burn quickly roared into the room as the metal of Xera's blade transitioned into a bright orange, shining over its white core like a dense star as he dug the tip into a chink in the man's armor, carrying with it an inferno of heat and flame.

The searing tip slammed against the man's dead skin as the ground quaked beneath them, shattering and rupturing.

Xera pulled back when he realized his attack didn't work, slipping around a bash from Eo's shoulder as he skidded backward and came to a rapid halt.

I hope you're watching Dante and just noticed it after I became the guinea pig… He's probably noticed you're backing off for now, so he's most likely expecting you at any moment…

"You cannot win. Your brother's soul is unsalvageable. Let him be consumed by the Dark." Eo spoke, standing up straight again as he turned toward Xera.

"I won't let Soul-Slasher take him from this world!" Xera shouted.

"Soul-Slasher?" Eo asked with a confused laugh, dead humor chilling his voice, "Is that name you humans have given him..? How amusing..."

"So? What's the real name of your Master?"

Eo scoffed at that remark, soon saying, "Master is a derogatory term assigned to women of lower classes. The being I serve holds honor far above us all. He is a being of a completely different existence, and the only being in this world that I serve so long as I stand." Eostryder stated, his armored hands clinking as he tightened his hold on his blade.

"He... is Zeridûl, Devourer of Souls."

From within the Darkness Dante hid in, his eyes widened as he heard that name spoken. He once read a Registrar that contained the name of every known Dark Entity Lord and the Four Dark Entity Kings, each Lord and King accompanied with a profile of their own.

Zeridûl was a name that struck a chord within him. His was a name the young no immortal rembered, but did not know as to why.

I need to hurry up, Xera won't be able to keep him distracted for long.

"You seem to be forgetting one detail…"

"And pray tell what would that be?" Eo asked, bringing his sword around then dashing toward the teen, making a diagonal swing for his body to cleave right through him.

Xera glanced the strike off Aether's flat edge, delivering it into the icy clutches of the ground as he moved forward and entered Eo's guard, bringing them to a clash.

"My brother's life...dangles from a burning thread... You should remember the feelin...of losing 'the ones you love..!"

Xera pushed back enough to allow him to get close and have his had make contact with Eo's chest plate, the whole illuminating in a burning red light as the black armor glowed red hot almost instantly and was staring to warp to take different shapes. The very ground beneath the two combatants shook and fragmented, quaking continuously.

Eo brought up his claymore and tried to bring it down onto the teen before him, his vast Aura quickly draining as his semblance was pushing itself to its unforeseeable end.

Xera dropped his hand from the man's armor, causing the ground to stop shaking before taking hold of Aether in a two handed grip and heftily slashed upward, cleaving through Eo's softened armor and crashing into unbreakable skin.

But the breakable ground soon erupted in shattered fragments, completely shattering now as the columns and pillars spanning throughout the entire room crumbled to the floor.

Xera forced the man's sword and arm upward before dislodging his weapon from Eo's armor, plunging it deep into the shattered ground below immediately after.

"You should've killed us while you had the chance."

With that, his white Aether flashed and sunk into the realm's blackened ice, eyes dawning a glow of bright purple before the entire spanning ground vibrated and shattered

Eo's heavy form was sent into the air, disconnecting himself from his Semblance's catalyst as the very floor began to fall to ruins.

"Don't miss..." Xera muttered.

A blur of black immediately passed by Xera's side, heading straight for Eo. A stream of black Aura outlined in white moved towards the black knight in the sky, and out of it, emerged a Shadow Skinnned Dante, holding on to his Greatsword with both hands and lowered to his side until he grew closer.

When close enough, Dante let out a hollow, echoing roar that sounded through the plains as he clashed blades with Eo, the young immortal's distorted growls fighting to overtake Eo's.

The young immortal unleashed a small blast of his black Aura outlined in white, sending up the knight higher into the sky. As Eo flew, he looked to his left and saw Dante crouching on the side of a pillar of ice before pushing off it and dashing around the knight in an arcing circle. As he did so, Eo rapidly swung at the air in Dante's direction, unleashing numerous strong air waves to blast the young immortal.

He kept trying, but ultimately failed to knock him out of the sky as another wave of black Aura outlined in white crashed into him, completely obscuring his sight and completely unaware that Dante had appeared opposite of the side he unleashed the Aura Wave, blade stretched out to his side and ready to swing inwards. As soon as Eo could turn his head to regain sight of Dante, it was too late, even if he did raise what remained of his sword to defensively block.

As soon as Dante's Greatsword clashed with Eo's own sword, the Aura Greatsword was once again cloaked in his uniquely colored Aura, and with no resistance, Dante swung around the knight midair half a turn as he roared loudly in a distorted tone before discharging a massive Aura Wave. Eo had been consumed by the colossal wave of violent, black Aura outlined in white as it carried both him and his agony filled screams away into the distance. Dante's blackened Devouring Light made contact with a nearby mountain range, resulting in a massive explosion, wind rushing past Xera as the Shadow Skinned Dante landed beside his Phoenix Faunus friend. The young immortal took a few well earned deep breaths, soon touching the front of his face as his Shadow Skin became black Aura once more, and dispersed shortly after.

"Figuring out his Semblance...was not fun…" said the teen in between breaths.

"No kidding..." Xera breathed out as he let out a long sigh, glancing at the brilliant destruction ahead of the duo miles away.

"Thanks for being the Guinea pig." Dante commented as he patted Xera on the back.

"Oh, you know me… Always happy to bleed for a friend..." Xera replied with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Also... When I said hit a precise point…I didn't mean blowing him away to holy hell."

"It worked didn't it?" Dante shrugged his shoulders with an amused grin.

"Yeah, but a bit overkill. You always like getting up close and personal while discharging one of those Aura Waves?"

"It works really nicely as a ranged attack, but it works really well when using it up close like that. It's how I dealt with a lot enemies in the past when using Howling Dark. That way you swing and don't miss. Which I didn't." He finished by poking Xera in the shoulder.

"Fine, I'll give you that." Xera commented as he forged ahead, Dante following at his side.

The darkness ahead of them had begun to dissolve, revealing an empty room that had collapsed in numerous different sections due to its support structures being in shambles on the floor.

What was once the dark room was now a crimson field of crystals. Openings in the ceiling flooded the entire chamber in crimson and scarlet glows, shining down on their path as they saw a large staircase ahead of them at the end of the room

Just a bit further now… Don't worry Xera… We will get your brother back. Just one obstacle left...and we're home free...

When they reached the end of the path the room lead them, the duo looked up into the sky, seeing the burning red sun hang low upon a throne of black ice.

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 4)**

"Wahhhhhhh... I'm stuffed... Big brother and Inuba sure do know how to make a feast..." said Ciel patting her stomach.

"It was Christmas Eve. And all three of our birthdays. It was only natural that they'd prepare a large quantity of food for such a special occasion given our near...bottomless stomachs."

"Needless to say, plenty of food to go around. And tons of hot chocolate. I mean really, it was good. Whoever decided it was a good idea to put peppermint in hot chocolate, you sir or madam are a genius!"

"She's grown quite fond of it." Said Leonard.

"Right then, so, what's next on our agenda? Or rather, who's our unlucky vicitim today? Hehehehehhehe..." said Ciel in a rather evil manner as she rubbed her hands together.

"I do believe next on our list is..." started Leonard as he opened up his HoloScroll, "Xera Stark."

"OH YES!"

"Such excitement about a topic like this unusual for you..."

"I've been waiting to pluck the feathers off this turkey for a while now. So like the Autobots, let's roll!"

"O-Of course... Ahem... Today Ciel and I will be covering Xera Stark's Semblance with a brief overview on Affinities, a term I'm very sure all of you have seen already. I'll start us off with Affinities first. Now, to be clear, Affinities and Semblances aren't the same sort of thing, obviously. The difference lies in actuality. What they really are. As we know, Semblances are abilities we manifest through the power of our souls. Affinities however...are different. They're different in the sense that Affinities are powers that are more physical or elemental based. In Mr. Stark's case, his Affinity is fire, which allows him to freely manipulate, absorb, and use fire freely along with a near immunity to it. To add to that, there are counters to Affinities. For example, fire to ice, so forth and so on. In a way, a person with an Affinity, fire in this case, means that their elemental control can and would be more powerful and more potent than any other person wielding fire. Although this seems to be the case...I am still skeptical to believe his abilities inoving fire are greater than Ms. Kitsukami's..."

"Dude, Inuba's top through and through when it comes to anything and everything fire. Her whole family is. I don't really see him beating her anytime soon."

"Even if Ms. Kitsukami is on a bit of a lower plane when it comes to using fire against Mr. Stark, she still has a plethora of other skills, tactics and abilities to use against him. I'm confident in her ability to win in a fight against him. Even so, Mr. Stark should never be underestimated at any time. There was a reason he was selected to be brother's close ally. Now that we covered the basic idea behind Affinities, we should move on to Mr. Stark's Semblance. Ciel?"

"Sure sure. So, Xera has a pretty interesting Semblance considering his circumstances and because of this, Xera's Semblance is the ability to thoroughly examine another's Semblance and then use it for himself later on. As powerful as you're thinking this is, there is a drawback. Despite being able to copy and use another's Semblance, the actual power of the Semblance is only half of what the original is. Say Mr. Stark were to copy our big brother's Semblance, which is Aura Manipulation, and were to produce Aura Swords. In comparison to big brother, Xera's Aura Swords would only be half as powerful."

"There's also another limitation Mr. Stark has. Instead of just being able to swap between Semblances at the snap of his fingers, he can only have three set up at a time to swap through. The rest of the Semblances he's analyzed and copied are stored and can only be swapped into his three uses when out of combat. So an example would be him being able to use my Semblance, Ciel and brother's Semblance. When out of combat, he can swap out Semblances from storage so that he has Ms. Rose's Semblance, brother's Semblance, or Ms. Belladonna's Semblance."

"Even if the Semblances Xera collects are only half as good as the original, it still makes him a decently powerful individual and a rather dangerous combatant to fight against."

"And with that, we conclude our segment for today."

"We're done?! Yes! Now I can go get some more of that awesome hot chocolate!"

"You've become rather obessed with the beverage as of late..."

"How can you not? By the way, think we can set up a sparring match between them one day?"

"Between Mr. Stark and Ms. Kitsukami?"

"Yup. Not that it'd matter all too much since Inuba would totally kick his butt and roast him like a turkey."

"Perhaps. But I still wouldn't be so quick to eliminate Mr. Stark out of the equation so easily. He is a rather 'lucky' individual. Not all battles are determined through strength, skill, and all sorts of other abilities we may posses. The littlest of things may very well be your undoing, should not be careful at least."

"Yeah yeah, tell me something I don't know already... Later folks! Hope you all had a great New Year, and hey, we all hope you have an excellent year from all of us! PEACE!" Shouted Ciel a final time before stepping off stage.

* * *

 **("New Years Blast", by me)**

"To the new year!" shouted the group of six around the campfire of white flame.

Each of them clinked their glasses together and consumed their drinks after their toast. Irene wanted some of what Raum was drinking, but said no since it was a "grown up drink". She was dissatisfied with his answer, as evidenced by her pout, but was soon very content when she was presented (for the first time ever) two drinkable apple sauce packs. To thank him, she made her usual gestures for him to closer so that she could give him a peck on the cheek before wagging her tail and going about her applesauce.

"No matter how many times I see that, it's always entertaining." said Dante as he started working on his bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.

"Got a problem with that?" asked the Dark Entity.

"Nope. Just letting you know I've got mounds of material I'm building up to tease you with later. Ciel's already got over one hundred things already, I've got like thirty eight."

"You little brats..."

"Don't poke fun at him, Master." said Inuba as she pulled the young immortals cheek.

"Shorry, Shorry... Ow! Can you lhet meh go?" he asked while she still pulled on his cheek.

Content with his apology, she smiled and let go before resuming to eat her vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips and chocolate and straw berry syrup.

"It's frankly a good thing she's here to keep the rest of you fools in check." said the girl cloaked in white as she sat on the other side of Dante, opposite of Inuba.

She was eating the same type of ice cream Dante was, compared to Leo who was enjoying mint chocolate chip ice cream, and Ciel, who was enjoying coffee chip ice cream.

"Hey! Who you calling fools, fool?!" piped up Ciel.

"I'm sorry, was I somehow mistaken?" asked the girl under her hood as she smiled coyly.

"You little..."

"Hey now, it's the New Years. Which means, no fighting. Yet." said Dante.

"Anyway, what's the plan for this evening? I don't think simply camping out and enjoying a feast would suffice." said Leonard.

"Well, we could always blow stuff up in the air." offered Raum.

"What? That's just stupid." said Ciel.

"No no, wait, I think I'm catching his drift. You mean fireworks?" asked Dante.

"Yeah, those boomsticks you people use to celebrate occasions."

"Boomsticks..." said Ciel as she chortled.

"What did you have in mind?" asked Inuba.

"Perhaps a competition to see who makes the best fireworks?" suggested the cloaked girl.

"Yeah, that's doable." said Dante. "Okay, I'm going up first."

The young immortal drew his sword from his sheath, taking a few steps ahead from the camp before quickly lashing his sword out in the air, unleashing numerous arcing waves of white Aura outlined black in rapid succession as they flew up high into the night sky. The explosions that followed were rather simple, but each had been timed so that the bursts happened in intervals, almost like how a firework show would occur.

"Not bad big brother... Alright Foxy, let's see what you got." said Ciel.

Inuba took a deep breath before having her hands glow with white flame as she shot up numerous orbs of white flame as quickly as her Master did with his Aura Waves. Seconds later, bursts of white flame filled the night sky, unleashing forth numerous symbols and patterns that moved in an almost psychedelic manner. Needless to say, it was a breathtaking sight to behold before the bursts ended with a heart of white flame that irradiated with the same white flame it was made of.

"Nice, nice. If I didn't know any better, me thinks you were being a bit too obvious there..." Ciel whispered to Inuba as the kitsune's face was now a light shade of red.

"Anyway, my turn. Leo! Fire away!" said Ciel clapping her hands together.

Leo did as instructed, whipping out his pistols as he shot numerous Aura beams of white outlined in black at Ciel, who twirled her scythe in front of her as a portal of black Aura opened in front of her to swallow up those shots. The young sibling then stopped twirling her weapon around, then spun around to quickly repeat the same motion as the beams exited from the newly made portal. The beams collided with one another high into the sky, creating not only an amazing display of pyrotechnics, but a miniature light show from the center.

"Top that suckers!" said Ciel as both she and Leo high-fived their team effort.

"Alright, step back hellions. It's my turn." said Raum as he interlocked his fingers and cracked them as he stepped up, Irene cheering him on with her cute giggles.

Like the emperor from Star Wars, Raum extended both hands towards the sky and shot forth numerous bolts of electric-like black Aura outlined in dark green that trailed up and intermingled together in the sky, forming a small cartoonish version of Irene performing numerous cute actions, such as rolling around and growling with her hands raised in the air, each action put into a loop sequence.

"Impressive work. But I'm afraid I'll be the one to win this competition." said the girl cloaked in white.

All it took her was a single wave of her hand, and the whole sky was littered with explosions of numerous colors before they all ended in streams of numerous lights that almost resembled the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.

"Damn... She might have won..." whispered Ciel.

"Not yet..." said Dante as he stepped forward with Inuba. "Ready?"

"Ready." responded Inuba as she extended her hand towards him, her fingertips facing the sky.

He pressed his hand against hers as their hands crackled with white flame and white Aura outlined in black. Dante slowly drew his only good arm back as now a spear lance of his Aura and Inuba's flames floated in between their hands. The young immortal then grabbed the spear lance of Aura and twirled it in between his fingers a few times before he took aim and tossed the flaming Aura lance into the sky. After a few seconds, numerous explosive bursts of his Aura and Inuba's flame littered the night sky, creating a rather beautiful sight before them. The explosions moved aside like a curtain, displaying a side-scrolling screen that fluidly displayed a mini animation of sorts that depicted a group of six moving along on their journey and performing numerous actions and deeds along the way before they all stopped to rest at their camp at the end of the day. And with that, scene of carefully manipulated explosions ended.

"Thank you! We win!" shouted Dante.

"Now you're just making it obvious." said Ciel as she approached Inuba, referring to two of the figures in the small sidescroll slideshow that had been holding hands together the entire journey.

All it took was a glare and her hand lighting ablaze to make Ciel rush ahead and remain silent. Inuba sighed and lowered her hand, removing from the pocket her skirt had the fox charm she had, similar to the one she gave the young immortal. She flipped it over and rubbed her fingers across the two kanji she etched into the backside, the kanji reading as "happiness" and 'love". She stared particularly at "love" and smiled, clutching the charm tightly before pocketing it into her skirt pocket once more.

 _Soon enough... Just a bit longer. Like how you asked me last time...I ask the same. Please...wait for me..._

"Did you make a wish for the new year?"

Inuba jumped at the sound of Dante's voice as he walked besides her.

"N-Nothing in particular really... I-It's... It's honestly a fairly simple wish..."

"Is that so? Well, I guess it'll get granted then."

"Do you think so?"

"Of course. Unfortunately, you can't really say, otherwise I'd help and try to make it come true."

Inuba giggled to herself.

"It's such a simple wish, that even you'd be able to grant it without realizing it at first."

"Is that so..? Alright then. I'll do my best."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

* * *

 **The big showdown with Soul-Slasher comes live next chapter! What? You didn't expect me to give you everything this time around, right? And hey, did you expect it to be over so soon? Not even. We still a bit of a ways to go until the end of this collaboration arc. So look forward to more next time! With that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend and hope you have a happy holiday season! See you next time! Bye-bye now!**


	10. Chapter 10: Driven

**Heya everyone, welcome back for another week of Veil of the Aether. Luckily, I've been feeling better recently, but I'm still pretty worn out from my procedures. Even so, I move onwards for you all. Unfortunately, after this chapter, we're moving back with the usual two weeks per update schedule. I'm going back to school in a week or two, so we'll have to resume our normal schedule. Now that we have that out of the way, lets get started with this weeks chapter! Enjoy!**

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Chapter 10: Driven

Red poured from the entrance ahead of them, shining crimson smoldering through crystals of ice like glistening rubies. They shimmered in the walls as the teens ran, skipping steps as they took the stairs in front of them in quick leaps. The walls around them narrowed, pulling in as they reached the top then breaking away as the crimson glow reached its strongest. The duo had reached the peak, the reaches of the highest point of the mountain revealed before them.

"I must say, I am impressed that you've made it this far, you moreso than the other with you...Xera Stark..."

"Zeridûl..." Xera spoke the name of the entity before him, standing far beyond the point they stared out from.

He stood at the far end of the mountain's peak, a pristine black ice claymore embedded in the ground before him. He faced them from a thick platform above a flat face of ice that raised him above the level of the central area, a jagged outcrop of ice running down its front. Two slopes of stairs slipped down in mirroring inclines at the two ends of it, curving down to surround the lower area before leveling off at its surface. Columns of ice towered around them, reaching into spires and sharp broken points that climbed in varying heights throughout the area. Thick walls surrounded the entire peak, jaggedly stretching and chipping as they curved around the mountaintop, before breaking off entirely at the platform Zeridûl stood on, leaving an opening that overlook the spanning land of ice and ash.

A bright red tear of fire split the sky behind him, obscuring his form only slightly and darkening his skin. Its blazing column of light disappeared over the edge at the entity's back, shining into the sky in the backdrop as it connected with the red sun overhead. Its rim of fire only brightening as a smirk tugged the blackened skin of Zeridûl's assumed form, eyes shining with an unnatural light that pierced the air in a flash of bright red. Two brightly glowing irises of overflowing scarlet, surrounded by a sea of black sclera and engulfing slit pupils.

He took Zerath's form in its entirety. The elder Stark brother was in there, and he was fading.

"Ah... Long has it been since any have spoken my true name..."

Zeridûl took a deep breath as he grinned, relishing in the taste of his own title, his words freezing in an icy wisp as his eyes closed, dark hands resting atop his hilt and pommel as he took it in.

"Don't be so relieved just yet..." said Dante.

"Slayer of my kin... I've heard the legends surrounding you, yet...you are no longer the person you once were. Your old power has faded."

"How cocky of you to think I wouldn't stand a chance against you. That'll prove to be your undoing in the end." spoke the young immortal.

"Hmph... We shall see... Both of you were given every opportunity to turn back, yet you foolishly remain." Zeridûl's voice carried with it an icy chill, slithering down from his frozen outcrop as he pulled his sword's point out of the ground, "You stay because you hope to see change, to see a fitting end to your ideals and your strife. Well, let me be the first to tell you then, Xer Stark... Your brother has long since faded." Zeridûl stated.

"Lowly enough to resort to lying now? How childish of you." Dante retorted.

Zeridûl stepped forward once again, the ice beneath him shattering and cracking as it broke away and gave him a stone to stand on.

"It seems to be that you fail to understand, immortal one, just how long I've lasted and repeated the same process throughout the centuries. By now, I know Zerath more than you can ever hope to realize, and more that you _ever_ will, no matter how long your lifespan may be." He brought his sword around and let it reflect the light of the red sun, "Not that it matters anymore."

Xera made to move forward until he was stopped by Dante's hand, that same hand now burning slightly, yet he did not relax his grip.

"He's trying to lure you in. You need to take a step back and focus. If you charge him without a plan, then you'll just be giving him your life as a gift."

"Don't tell me what I already know..." Xera muttered as the bangs of his hair smoldered in an orange glow. His red irises trailed a similar light as he glanced back at Dante with flames flickering around his pupils, "If you've ever known me, even for a moment, then you'll understand one thing that I revolve around."

The air shimmered around them. Blank spaces of brisk shuttering wind glimmering from an unnatural waver in their spanning reaches around Dante and Xera.

"I'm always thinking things through, even when I may seem blinded by everything else. Just remember that… even if you're convinced otherwise…" Xera's voice grew quiet as his Aura shifted.

Red eyes melted away as the phoenix's rage and anger rose, a new shade filling his irises. Swirling them with a new color. Bright sky blue. They didn't carry the sympathy, or the kindness, or the understanding that they usually bared. They held within them a power unknown to all else that lived…except for the one who stood next to him.

The flickering flames that shined in his eyes and burned in his hair blazed over in a new shade of fire, darkening completely as they transitioned into flames of ebony and black. White pinpoint swords began to shimmer into view all around them, shining solidly like crystals of bright glass, before each one turned and blazed in an outline of black fire.

 _He's already copied down my Semblance..? If that's so...then this'll be a bit easier._

Xera's wings twitched and fanned outward, a black haze flicking from their feathers like shadows in a misty darkness. More and more Aura blades shimmered into view, each one appearing just as brightly as the others as they pointed toward Zeridûl on center stage.

"You think weapons of pure Aura can pierce my skin?" Zeridûl asked, his blade remaining at his side as he extended his other hand.

Xera simply shook his head, "You assume I'm incompetent with the knowledge I currently know. Your Aura nullification will render them useless."

Zeridûl brought his blade around to his front, this time turning it so the flat side faced the teens before him, "That wouldn't be fair, now would it? You've come here looking for a fight, a climactic end to this dilemma with your brother. I shall give you one."

"Honor will be your downfall."

Xera's wings stretched as he took a step forward. That was when the countless blades hovering in the air began to move. One by one, in flurries of dashing white light and black flame, they collected across Xera's wings as they melded with the sleek black feathers throughout his entire set of appendages. Each feather paired with a blade of a unique size, and each blade soon replicated the shape of each feather.

Zeridûl smirked, "Armor of the finest qualities, how fitting. Its defense is high and its offense even higher. I applaud your ingenuity, yet my word remains. This fight will be fair. I will not negate any of your Aura. It's been a long time since I've had a true fight."

"Are you willing to keep your word until its end?" asked Dante.

"I am." The dark entity returned, hard eyes slipping over the sharp edge of his blade as the two approached.

"Then accept your death with the very honor you have shown us on this day..." Dante finished, his Greatsword now suddenly brimming with an uncontained light as he brought it around and swept it rapidly through the air in front of him, "Devouring Light!"

A menacing wave of white Aura outlined in black tore up the ground as it approached Zeridûl rapidly, who then slashed through it, splitting its rushing blaze and letting the manifestation detonate around him.

"You'll have to do better than-"

A wing of blades slashed before him and forced his blade into a flat block, feathers of Aura crashing against his ice as Xera turned and slashed forward with Aether, forcing the entity to dodge backward. Dante quickly dashed in behind him and tore his blade through the entity's back, spilling black blood before Zeridûl turned and lashed out with his own sword, clashing with Dante's and sending the teen skidding backward. The entity followed his turn fully around and brought it up, bashing Xera's sudden strike aside and countering with a quick slash toward Xera's chest, only to glance off of Xera's quick wing. Spikes of ice soon split the ground around the entity and rushed toward both Xera and Dante, piercing through the hard ground in rapid waves of lethal sharpness. Xera was quick to take flight as Dante leaped into the air, reaching a hand up as Xera flew by and pulled the white haired teen even higher. Several unending columns of ice soon erupted from the ground, shooting into the sky in speeding climbs that forced Xera to weave in and around each rising spire.

"Since you can basically use my Semblance now, we might just be able to overwhelm him." Dante called upward as the two nearly careened into a column of ice, needing to plant his shoes into it and kick off as it soon collapsed back into the ground.

"We can definitely try!" Xera responded, pulling Dante around after his kick as the two dodged past several more columns.

Before long, the rising pillars of ice all crashed back into the ground as Zeridûl raised up his free hand, flexing the fibers stringing his fingers together as he tapped into more of his power. Shards of ice suddenly whipped up out of the black ice at his feet, forcing Xera to drop Dante and curve his wings in front of him to deflect the flurry of attacks. Dante took that moment to brandish his weapon and hold out his own arm as he fell, three large aura blades soon plunging down toward Zeridûl from three separate angles. The entity managed to sidestep two of them before he deflected the third and shattered it with a swift kick, only for those smaller shards to reform just as Dante landed. The white haired teen dashed forward and pulled his larger blade out of the ground with a leap, immediately sweeping it through the air in a downward spin that struck the edge of Zeridûl's blade. Dante and Zeridûl suddenly entered a flurry of clashes, sweeping blades from angles and plunges as they struck weapons and dashed in and out of each other's range. All allowing Xera to hover above the two below as he channeled his aura and fire, causing several aura blades to shimmer into the sky around him as they pointed downward.

Dante managed to summon in several of his own as he fought, masking each one in an invisible veil as they appeared. None of this went unnoticed by their enemy.

Zeridûl spun his blade around and swept Dante's sword aside, kicking the teen in the gut before turning and delivering a heavy slash toward Dante's chest, only for it to be blocked by a newly formed sword as the teen was sent backward.

"An admirable try for my attention, but don't take me for a fool." Zeridûl lashed out with his blade, a dark sheen of ice covering its surface that sent a wave of shards at Dante's skidding body. The teen managed to deflect most of them, but a few slipped by his sword and embedded themselves into his skin.

"What gave you such an idea to insinuate that claim?" Dante grunted out, breaking the ice piercing his skin as he dug his sword into the ground.

Zeridûl scoffed, reaching out into an empty pocket of air before crushing his hand around one of Dante's hidden Aura blades, shattering it immediately.

"I can sense every disturbance in the air that you currently breathe."

The entity proved his point by lashing out to his other side, shattering another blade into fragments in the air.

"You seem to have missed the true purpose of my actions."

Dante tore his blade out of the ground as Xera softly landed behind Zeridûl, forcing the entity to glance back toward the quiet noise.

"A distraction?" The entity asked with a laugh.

"Not in the slightest." Xera replied, striking the ground with his blade as he sent a surge of black fire through its structure. Smoldering black flame ruptured across the ice and erupted beneath Zeridûl's form, forcing him into the air.

"Now!" Dante yelled, all of his Aura blades reappearing in glints of white light outlined in black as every single one of them shot forward.

Those streaks of white and black were accompanied by the hail of Xera's blades from above, each one streaking in black fire as they struck Zeridûl and the ground in a flurry of breaking ice. Cold mist culminated before them as the ground itself was torn to pieces, a storm of blades impacting it from countless angles as Xera's and Dante's blades rained down on the entity. The potent smell of blood quickly filled the area, splattering the black ice below with blood just as black as it cracked and shifted.

"You think this is enough to stop me? Fools...the fight is only the beginning."

The ground suddenly quaked as it completely reformed itself, before shattering outward and reforming again, throwing Xera and Dante into the air as a black blur dashed out of the cloud of rising mist. Xera's instincts were what saved his heart from being torn from his chest as his wings encompassed the space between his body and Zeridûl's lunging form. A harsh clash ripped through the air as Zeridûl's blade slammed into Xera's wings, shattering the bladed armor the teen had and sending the phoenix crashing into the jagged wall in the distance.

"You think me killable?"

Zeridûl scoffed again as he stood up straight and turned, slashing away Dante's attempt of a strike from behind before grabbing the teen by the face, and then slammed him into the ground in a painful attempt to crack Dante's unbreakable skull.

"Y-You're not… immortal..." Xera coughed out, his wings aching at his back in a throbbing series of painful twinges. He forcibly pushed himself out of the wall of ice and landed harshly on the ground in front of him, shoes digging into ice as he ran forward again, "You're not...unkillable..."

"How little you understand..."

His blackened eyes soon snapped down to Dante though as the teen took a solid hold of his wrist, before in a flash Dante tore his blade through Zeridûl's forearm, completely separating it from the rest of his body.

"Insufferable pest..."

The entity's words were cut off by Dante pushing off of the ground with his hands and delivering a solid kick into Zeridûl's face, forcing him into a minor stumble backward just as Xera's wings surged with movement. The air burst behind Xera as he flashed forward in a haze of now purple flame, plunging Aether deep into Zeridûl's upper back. The white weapon tore straight through his black heart, breaking bone and driving through skin as Aether's tip emerged from the entity's chest. Xera soon reached forward and pressed his hand against Zeridûl's back, purple aura flaring before the entity's skin suddenly smoldered and burst in evaporating clouds of blood. Aether quickly became dislodged as their enemy stumbled forward, clutching at the hole in his chest as his skin and sinew reformed around him. And for a moment, Zeridûl's eyes flashed into the color of Zerath's before returning, followed immediately by a bright white light that emerged from the wound Aether had inflicted.

From the wound the final fragment of Zerath's diminishing memories resided in.

"So, you've found it…" Zeridûl shuddered from the light emitting from his open wound, before it slowly closed and his skin healed completely, "The one piece Zerath guarded most of all."

Dante slid over to Xera's side as the entity choked out a distorted chuckle, his chest constricting around his lungs.

"You mean to tell me…that _he_ , after all this, still has enough of himself to recognize your presence?" Zeridûl's breathing returned to normal as his amusement resided, "Impossible."

"Nothing's impossible so long as you don't believe it to be." Dante retaliated, swiping his Greatsword to the side as he and Xerare-gathered themselves.

"Impossibility is only limited by those who perceive it and those who concede to it. You are no different immortal one." Zeridûl's hand reformed itself with blood from the ground, returning it to its original state as he formed a new ice sword in his grasp, "Even if you stop me here, stop my reign over your so-called brother, he will be nothing more than a husk. A capsule. He will remember absolutely nothing of his former self." he said looking to Xera.

Dante brought up his sword as Xera's gaze narrowed, purple flames slipping away as his original orange fire took over again.

"Give me an opening." Dante muttered silently.

Xera didn't hesitate to dash in. He slipped along the ground in a low rush before dipping around a quick slash from Zeridûl, maneuvering himself into the entity's guard and slashing his white blade through their enemy's side. Again, another light emitted from the wound inflicted. Xera didn't let up. He managed so turn and slide around Zeridûl's other side, slashing through there too before the entity slashed downward. Pain appeared to be surging through him from each wound inflicted, the only pain he's ever visibly shown, as Xera dodged the strike and kicked off of the hilt of the icy blade. Aether's edge tore through the front of Zeridûl's chest, ripping open a curtain of white light before Xera kicked away and flipped his light form backward, landing softly on the ground a few feet away. It was an opening Dante refused to miss. White light shined brilliantly from his Aura Greatsword, its shape barely containing the Aura surging within it as it overflowed and poured from its sharp edges. He soon entered a low stance and charged forward, shards of ice kicking up behind him as he disappeared in a blur of white outlined in black, driving the tip of his sword deeply into the closing slash of white light as he reappeared in the space at Zeridûl's front.

"Devouring…Light!"

A torrent of focused white Aura outlined in black blasted through the Dark Entities entire body, destroying the platform behind him in a cone-like rupturing beam. All splatters of blood burned away as quickly as they spread, evaporating into black mist as Zeridûl grew limp and hung on Dante's sword, blazing light diminishing soon after. A wide gaping hole smoldered in the entity's chest cavity. Heart, lungs, central spine, and everything around them completely burned through as Dante removed his sword. As Dante left Zeridûl to fall, the white haired teen snapped his sword to the side before cleaving through the remains of the entity's torso, severing it completely. But as quickly as it split, it pulled itself back together in a web of black bloody strands of flesh. Similar strands soon snapped together and reconnected the sides of the opening in Zeridûl's chest, stringing it all back together as the hole began to close. Dante slashed again, but the skin he split only mended itself back together all the faster.

 _This isn't making any sense.… A Dark Entity only has a set amount of times they can regenerate, the amount increasing with each classification. But the potency of his healing is far beyond what he should be capable of..._

Xera's white blade suddenly cleaved through Zeridûl's limp neck, cutting cleanly through it and leaving behind another white light. Only, it didn't sever his head like it should've. The skin still melded itself back together as Zeridûl's eyes glowed a brighter red. Xera tried again, this time slashing down through Zeridûl's skull before bringing it back up in a slash across his chest and closing wound, only for the wounds to heal as quickly as he made them.

"He's not immortal, so there's still a way to end him..." The phoenix stated with grit teeth, making another swipe for Zeridûl's neck, only for his wrist to strike something cold and hard, stopping his blade completely.

The flash of an icy claymore was all Xera saw before his hand was thrown aside and his grip loosened on Aether's handle. The ethereal blade slipped from his fingers as his form crumpled forward against a bone-crushing kick to the chest. Ribs cracked and broke beneath the weight of the kick, aura shield shattering as he was hurled into the ground at an impossible speed. The time necessary to even blink hadn't so much as transpired yet as Xera crashed downward, ice crumbling and shattering around him as he skidded in a harsh tumble across the scraping surface of the ice. His wings curled around him, lessening the scrapes and the gashes as their durable tensed fibers protected his fragile frame. Aether's white shimmer faded as it fell, solemnly falling toward the ground as Zeridûl reached down. His fingers barely touched the cloth of its handle before his entire hand had burned away from the rest of his arm. Dante swept in, catching the white blade as it fell and dematerialized his Aura Greatsword, before delivering a swift upward slash into Zeridûl's recently closed wound.

"I don't believe this is yours to take..." The light in Aether's shining blade rekindled as it resonated with Dante's soul and aura, "This small piece of the soul you're devouring belongs to one person and one person only."

The white haired teen glanced back, seeing Xera's roll come to a sliding halt as his wings slowly unfurled from around his body.

"His brother needs this sliver of light," Dante continued, pausing as he looked forward again, watching Zeridûl's eyes narrow, "And we fully intend to make sure he sees its safe return."

The entity brushed off the front of his black coat, cloth mending together now that his flesh recollected itself.

"That comment would warrant some merit if there was a brother who could actually receive that sliver of memory."

"It takes an immense effort to fully eradicate or absorb a soul. Being what you are, you of all people should know this." Dante retaliated, pulling Aether back as he twirled it Around twice before summoning an Aura Longsword in his left hand, Aether resting in his right.

"I do, yet you fail to realize one thing. I am Zerath's life force as I reside in his soul. He is tethered to me, and I to him. If I am slain…he _will_ die. You will either accept that fact...or you will take full responsibility for the death of Zerath Stark."

That was when Dante realized something. Something Xera had only momentarily sensed before he was thrown to the side. A glimmer of hope. Something began to reverberate through Aether, its light somehow shining a mere fraction of a level brighter than when he first gazed upon it in the alley. There was a way. They still had a chance to preserve him, to save him. They only had one shot.

"Xera, when you get up…" Dante spoke loud enough for the phoenix to hear him, Xera's bruised arms pressing into the ground as he tried to move again, "Follow my lead. And please...trust in me..."

Zeridûl's smile faltered for a moment.

"You plan to take the life of his brother? You'll kill him at the expense of stopping me?"

Dante's eyes changed suddenly, the whites of his eyes turning black and his bright skyblue irises a glowing white as he glared at the Dark Entity before him.

"I take full responsibility for what happens next..."

Nothing could prepare Zeridûl for the speed Dante closed the distance at. The twenty-foot gap zeroed out in an instant, Dante's Shadow Eyes the only thing the Entity saw before twin slashes were delivered to his chest, one glowing while the other closing immediately. Still, he managed to back off and slam Dante's next strike upward, deflecting it with his blade as he made a stabbing lunge for Dante's chest. Ice met nothing but the steel of Aether's streaking edge.

Dante clashed both of his blades into a solid crossing block from Zeridûl's claymore. Again, the blade shattered and Dante's hand carried its momentum, slipping beneath the blocking sword and generating another blade in time to plunge its tip into the entity's leg. The white haired teen quickly backed away before kicking off the ground, driving Aether's edge through Zeridûl's arm as the Dark Entity tried to remove the embedded blade. Dante slipped in and out of the man's guard, dodging around rapid and vicious swipes of Zeridûl's icy blade. Half of them glanced over his skin, splitting it in various places while several others left deep gashes in the rest of his body. Blade after blade, the sound of rupturing flesh and severed tendons rang out across the icy mountain's peak. Dante slammed Aura Sword after Aura Sword hilt-deep in varying places of Zeridûl's body, riddling him with shining points of white Aura outlined in black as several more struck their marks.

Dante quickened his pace, plunging several more into vital areas inside his enemy as he let his own flesh get cut up and torn, ignoring each wound he sustained.

"Enough!"

Zeridûl slammed the prong of his blade's hilt into Dante's gut before driving his sword back and plunging it through the teen's chest, its cold edge slipping between the bones of his ribs as it tore through one of Dante's lungs. The life in the teen's eyes failed to fade. Black blood trickled to the floor as Dante's own red blood followed close behind. One free hand came up and gripped the edge of Zeridûl's blade tightly, even as the entity lifted the teen from the cracked icy ground.

"You're lucky I don't have the means to kill you." Zeridûl growled, white and black blades still sinking deeper into his flesh as he lifted his boot and kicked Dante from the length of his sword.

A sickening squelch tugged from Dante's chest as he slipped forcibly from Zeridûl's weapon. Aether slipped from Dante's grasp as he flung it upward, white steel whirring through the air as its handle was caught in the grip of a descending teen from above. Xera had just enough time to burn his wounds away and leap into the air, catching Aether a moment later to deliver a heavy slash down across Zeridûl's heavily damaged skin. The first cracks began to form.

"I broke your ribs, you shouldn't even be-"

The ground cracked beneath Xera's shoes as he dipped forward, tearing Aether through Zeridûl's stomach before bringing it up and through the entity's chest, severing bone along the way. With a growl, Zeridûl caught Xera's wrist just as Aether's sharp edge left the cavity of his chest.

"Accept defeat when-!"

Xera let go of Aether as he kicked the bottom of its handle, sending it skyward as Dante flipped over the two combatants. The teen caught the blade and brought it down through the back of Zeridûl's skull and straight down his spine, causing him to release his grip on Xera. As Zeridûl turned and lashed out at the white haired teen, Dante tossed Aether through the entity's guard and let Xera take hold of it again. The two worked with efficient abandon, all restraint gone as wildness in fluidity took hold. Aether's shining form slipped from grip to grip, spinning and flipping with each toss as its length was buried, torn, and dragged through blackened skin and sinew. White streaks littered the air as pale glows littered the reaches of Zeridûl's body, and with them spread webs of cracking white light.

Ruthlessly, no regard to mercy, Xera and Dante exchanged weapons over and over again, driving Aether through as many areas as they could that wracked the entity's body with more pain that he's ever felt before. Time and time again, a new slash appeared on his body as he slashed at and deflected attacks from his front and his flank, but it wasn't enough. They worked around him, timing and executing maneuvers to damage his hide as the cracks began to spread. The jagged lines of glowing white light slowly began to engulf him.

"W-What…are you…"

Zeridûl's voice began to fade into a dying echo, eyes flashing in and out of sky blue and dark red as more and more of his body became engulfed in white lines of light. Dante drove Aether's tip into Zeridûl's back before kicking the shining pommel, sending the weapon straight through his body for Xera to catch and sever his torso completely. The light in Zeridûl's eyes began to fade as the power in his voice began to waver. Tremors now shook the ground as the black ice beneath them shifted, collapsing in spanning areas as pieces of the mountain top broke away. Aether's light had long since started to steadily grow, brimming now with a light it didn't possess before.

"We're sending you back to the abyss you clawed yourself out of," Xera stated with a calm lethality, plunging the tip of Aether into Zeridûl's heart, "It's your turn to accept defeat!"

Xera twisted his blade, white light emerging from the wound as the rest of Zeridûl's body brimmed in a culmination of energy and a crackling white blaze. Cracks suddenly shattered across Zeridûl's entire form as the light finally diminished from his red eyes. The white light of Zerath's fragmented memory burned before erupting, gathering its energy in an implosion of destruction before its immense waves of darkness and light were dispersed through the dark ashen lands and the mountain of ice. A spanning shockwave violently quaked the ground in a deep burst of suspended sound that shook all the reaches of the sky, shattering and breaking the ice away as the whole mountain crumbled beneath the force of its passing glow.

Zeridûl's world fell apart.

The ice of his realm shattered and burned away. The scarlet haze of his thick sky melted into a sea of crystal blue. The black ash smothering the world below was wiped away, leaving behind fields of white grass and shimmering oceans of blue water. The red sun above wavered in its crimson light, snapping its tether it held to the lands below as its unstable ruby rim burned away. The blackness of its heart now replaced with a shining lambent white blaze. All of it changed as the white light crashed into the ground and shot across the furthest reaches of Zeridûl's realm. The two teens were left plummeting to its surface. Dante's form struck the grass first, a soft thud echoing out as Xera's wings had just enough strength to slow his decent by a small margin. Even so, his legs still buckled beneath him as he collapsed. Aether fell at his side, embedding its tip into the grass before him. Rolling over, Xera glanced up into the crystal blue sky and reaching his hand toward it, feeling a soft cool breeze pass over his skin and drift through the locks of his hair.

It smelled fresh. Cold. It lacked the stench of blood and the smothering odor of icy death.

Aether shimmered beside him. It wasn't just a blade. It wasn't just a fragment of memory or a sliver of light. It wasn't just a small ray of hope. It wasn't just a light in a pit of darkness, or just a way to save a life. It wasn't a fleeting miracle for them to strive for. It was a catalyst of memory. It wasn't simply the last sliver of Zerath's memory. It was everything. It was a capsule left behind, holding onto the last possible piece of Zerath's soul in a single weapon of his remaining light. It was emptied of its memories, only able to hold onto the last of Zerath's past as it sat in the darkness of an alley. The alley that started Zerath's life anew. It was the beginning. And it was nearly the end.

Aether recaptured the memories it had lost with every swing, every pierce, every plunge, and every slash. It gathered as it dealt, it took as it was taken, it rebuilt as it fell apart. It took back what was stolen from it.

Zerath's soul had been returned to him. And with it, his memories.

"It seems...we really did return Zerath's memories..." Dante let out a heavy sigh before he began again, saying "He just needs time to recuperate since he'll have to reprocess his memories, but…he'll be fine now…"

Xera turned his gaze to see the white haired teen standing next to him, hand extended toward the phoenix on the ground.

The Phoenix Faunus took it just as the world went black.

* * *

Xera felt his mind reel in pain as he was yanked from the consciousness of Zerath's body, forcibly removed as he and Dante returned to the world of the living. Their eyes snapped open, sweat residing over their skin, as the blinking light of the infirmary room weakly flashed on and off.

It was as if a dark hurricane tore through the room mere moments ago.

The ice was gone. The only window of the room had been shattered, cracks and black stains riddling the wall around it. Zerath lay crumpled in a broken bed, its sheets shredded and torn. Inuba and Destiny lay against the wall behind them, weak arms holding themselves up as the young girl in front of them collapsed to her knees, the barrier of pure white Aura she put up dissolving into nothingness soon after.

"I'm sorry… I had to keep the connection…" Her young voice came out in a meek, low tone, "I had to make sure you returned…"

"What happened?" Dante asked, his mind trying to push aside the familiar pain in his right arm.

"Given my current restrictions, I could do nothing effective…" The girl replied, no portion of her pale face visible now as she dipped her hooded head, "He was strong. Stronger than we originally anticipated…"

Wind flooded in through the opening in the wall, pushing against the door of the room as it brushed against the weakened floor below. Dante slowly closed his eyes, one breath escaping his lungs as he quietly nodded his head.

"He got away..."

His gaze soon opened again, falling to Xera as the phoenix slowly stood up.

"How powerful will he become if we leave him alone?" asked Xera.

"The facts are still uncertain, but I sense something that should not exist in this world..." The girl replied, her small hands clasping at her elbows as she spoke, "He is drawing power from an object that should never have appeared in your world, Xera."

The girl soon turned her head to Dante.

"You know what it is I speak of…"

"Unfortunately… I do know now…" He responded.

"How powerful will he become?" Xera asked again, this time turning his gaze to the girl kneeling on the ground.

"Enough to raise an army..." She replied, "He will have enough power to challenge everything… And the world will become his battleground."

Xera dully nodded, pale fingers pressing into his palms as his fists grew white.

"Then we need to hunt him down."

"Slow down there Xera. First things first, we need to rest. And while we rest we need to find where he's hiding." Dante said.

The young girl shook her head in agreement, saying "He has yet to fully hide himself. His new power has yet to manifest within him."

"If that that's the case...then we need all the help we can get." said Xera.

Dante moved away from the open gap towards Inuba, kneeling down to her.

"Hey... You alright?" he asked as he looked her over to make sure she wasn't injured.

His touch was always something she welcomed, even in...accidental circumstances. As such, she was never calm when he did. It felt as though the kitsune's mind was going a million miles an hour accompanied with small jolts each time it happened.

"I-I'm fine... J-Just a little scratch is all..."

"You sure?"

Her back was slightly sore after making impact with the wall behind her, but it was nothing serious. But...perhaps if she mentioned something...she might just get a massage...

She immediately shook her head afterwards as it reddened, pushing back the memory of the last time she received a tail and ear massage from him, one she cleverly snuck in once as part of a "recuperative process." She could do it again. But it would be cheating. That...and she was afraid for the most part she would be unable to contain herself, like she barely managed to do so last time.

"I'm sure..." she said softly. "For now, we should change rooms so that I may take care of him. Though his body has been purged of the Darkness within, he'll be in need of recovering from the side effects he's long endured."

"Right then... I'll help you with that then..." spoke the young immortal as he gently lifted her up as he winced slightly.

She only then noticed his arm gave off a small distorted hissing noise, watching small streams of black smoke emerge from his right arm.

"Master, your arm-"

"It's alright. We can tend to it after we move him."

* * *

The morning sun once again peaked over the horizon of the brisk Emerald Forest, littering the foliage and the forest floor in flowing streams and patterns of dancing lights.

"Ugh! We finally get to leave and come over here, and we get stuck in forest! Which way's Beacon? And how much more do we have to walk?" Ciel asked.

"That way and not much longer." responded Leo as he walked alongside his older sister.

The girl hummed quietly as she swung around another tree, falling back in line with her brother.

"What was it even that he needed to do that was so important that he, Inuba and the two of us needed to crossover to another Reality of Remnant for?"

"It's likely something akin to a personal matter he's attending to."

"A personal matter, huh..." Ciel spoke.

"We could always ask him when we find him."

"Come on, Leo!" The girl drew out, slapping the back of her hand into her brother's arm, "What if it's something nefarious?! Like an affair?! Maybe he's with someone! What if he's actually a super pervert and he's come here to unwind and let loose?! How would Inuba react?!"

"I really doubt it's something like that… Besides, she went with him, Ciel." Leo noted.

"Well, that doesn't mean he's not up to something. And as his sister and brother, we have a duty to make sure he's not doing anything stupid." Ciel stated.

"He's always doing something rather ridiculous."

Ciel blinked quietly for a moment, retort getting stuck in her throat, "Okay, that's fair."

"That doesn't say that he's not doing something reckless right now, though." Leo added on, "Perhaps he's visiting a friend."

"Oooor, he's about to fight a colossal Dark Entity with the help of some friends and going to save the world!" Ciel paused dramatically for a moment, before tacking on, "Again…"

"That is always a possibility." Leo responded, before he suddenly picked up a small trace of foreign Aura.

His eyes flicked quickly ahead of them, tracking something between the trees of the Emerald Forest.

"Stop walking for a moment."

Ciel stopped immediately, narrowing her own eyes and reaching her hand behind her back. It was quiet. Too quiet for a forest infested with Grimm. A light breeze drifted through the air, blowing his white bangs slightly as Leo reached up and broke a small branch off a nearby tree. He then tossed it in front of him, only for it to split down the center as soon as it passed through a diagonal ray of light. The halved pieces clattered dully to the forest floor, muffled only by the sound of a thin shining line of light before them. It was at neck level.

"A trap?" Ciel asked quietly.

"Undoubtedly." Leo said.

"For us?"

Leo turned his gaze slowly, drifting through a scan of their immediate area as his eyes traced every detail in his line of sight.

"This trap was only made recently. It's likely someone detected us and set the trap to stop us."

"So..?"

"It's best we assume the worst."

"Assuming the worst can save your life." Someone spoke lowly, the two instantly narrowing in on the new voice as a figure in black stepped out from behind a tree in front of them, "Or, it could get you killed with little results but your own worries."

He wore a cold, emotionless face. Bright lime green eyes glowed beneath the shadow of a black cowboy hat, its front lip slightly tipped down to cover the tops of his eyes. It appeared worn and used, no longer pristine, and almost dusty in appearance. Yet, it retained its solid shape. The hat hid a head of unkempt black hair. Messy strands poked out around his ears and forehead, while the rest simply stood out at the back of his head. His gaze was critical, analytical… calm. Not a twinge of fear ran through his cold blood, not a moment of uncertainty crossed eyes, not a single nerve sparked with a moment of apprehension or buzzed with any amount of anxiety. A pair of pale hands dipped deeply into the pockets of his slim, lightweight trench coat. The collar was upturned and his build was thin and toned, reaching exactly 6 feet tall in his entirety. His coat's shoulders had a subtle sharpness to them, barely there but noticeable in the way he calmly stood before them. He knew they were dangerous. But he either didn't care or it didn't matter. Worn black jeans and slightly lengthened black combat boots adorned his legs, the backs of them tapping against the tails of his coat that trailed just past his knees. The only other color in his clothes was the light gray trim on the rim of his downward tipped cowboy hat.

"Seriously dude? A modern cowboy?" Ciel asked, "Ugh... Great. So, what do you want with us?"

"I want something very simple and easy to obtain..." The man before them, or teen really, due to him appearing around seventeen or eighteen, grinned slightly beneath his hat, "And you are going to divulge that information."

"We're but visitors from a neighboring Kingdom, I assure you we very likely do not know the information you are searching for." Leonard spoke up.

"Awe, come on brother," Ciel whispered excitedly, "Don't you wanna have a fun fight while we're here? It'll be a nice training exercise."

"Look around, Ciel. Focus on the glints of light you see in the leaves and the trees, between the trunks and the branches." Leo quietly responded.

Ciel did just that and lost count after quickly noting half a thousand glinting lines of light, whispering as if she were impressed by the display.

"They're everywhere. I thought it was just the sun's rays earlier."

"This isn't a fairytale or an enchanted forest," The teen in black interrupted, his bright, subtly sparking eyes never leaving the two in front of him, "This is reality. And reality is a lot less beautiful than it seems to appear to be."

"A girl can dream you know." Ciel retaliated, sticking her tongue out momentarily at her adversary.

He showed no reaction to it.

"You seem rather confident..." Leo pointed out, "Do you really believe us trapped?"

"There are 717 invisible strands of unbreakable Aura in the vicinity of this section of the forest, 115 alone strung together in the path between you two and me. Every single one of those is fully capable of severing you limb from limb." The teen responded lowly and monotonously, as if it were an explanation for a mathematical equation, "Do I think you two are trapped? No. If you're as competent as I think you are, you'll find a way out. If you're not…then I guess you two are both as equally useless as I initially thought."

Ciel's lips grew into a challenging smirk, "Unbreakable? Sever our limbs? Hmmmm… Who's to say we can't just walk out the way we came?"

"You can try, but I have full control of those Aura strands. New ones were places as soon as you stepped forward." The teen in black responded evenly.

"No matter how hard you mask your Aura, I can see them, and so can she. They're not as invisible as you might think." spoke Leo

"A boy can watch a train approach him from a mile away, yet if he's tied down, he can't do anything but watch it grow nearer. You can see my wires, yet you still can do little against them. You can move, but you risk a part of your body with every step." The teen countered.

"Is that so?" Ciel wondered, stepping forward as she summoned her skeletal-like scythe in a burst of white Aura outlined in black. She twirled it around and spun it past her body, swiping her large blade in a tight rotation before cleaving it down onto a taught strand of light in front of her. The edge of her incredibly sharp weapon slammed into the strand with a resounding clang. The strand simply bent forwards a bit from her initial strike, but did not cut or break.

"It didn't cut..? Tch... I wasn't even swinging that hard either..." Ciel muttered.

 _It didn't break her weapon…_ The teen in black noted.

"A scythe wielder..." He muttered, loud enough for the two to hear him, "Your kind is all about appearance with little regard to efficiency. A scythe is the least effective weapon. Any bladesman will tell you the same."

"Hasn't anyone ever told you that looks can be deceiving?" The girl asked, drawing back her weapon and bringing it back behind herself.

She had enough of this guy, if he wanted to talk like this and act like he's the most important person in the world, then she wasn't going to hold back this trick on his account. She lashed out, swiping her blade horizontally in a wide fashion. It looked ridiculous, swiping at nothing, until the bones and sinew of her scythe's spine extended rapidly as she tore it through the air. The man didn't even flinch. He lifted his left forearm lazily, letting the inner shaft of Ciel's scythe crash against it in a solid metallic bang. Ciel only smirked and retracted her blade without missing a beat, only for the teen to turn and bash the underside of her wide blade with his other arm, letting her weapon return to its normal size. No damage was done on the return trip either, even as the curve of the blade pulled back dangerously closed to where his upper back should've been.

"You suspect your enemies to neglect spatial awareness, even in combat." The teen in black shook his head with a low tsk, his hat obscuring his eyes completely now from his lowered crouch, "You're as arrogant as your weapon suggests."

"Says the guy cheating with a field of wires as his safety net. If you're so strong, how about you come down from your pedestal and fight? Ever think about that? You're as arrogant as you look you creepy weirdo. You even wear all black like some sort of Mary Sue overpowered character from a poorly written anime." Ciel rattled off, dropping back into a low stance as she eyed the one in front of her. She stood alone now.

"And not even that, it's probably just a side story that no one cares about because the main character is so bland like the worst type of coffee or tea. And trust me, no on likes anything bland." She continued, narrowing her own eyes as she waited.

A sudden flash of something hidden off to the side sounded out. The first burst of gunfire, carrying a concussive rupture that echoed across the entire expanse of the forest. An impossibly fast eruption of lime green strands of Aura tore out of the ground around the teen taking a knee, his thin black glove sparked with the same electrifying light as he pressed it into the dirt. The rapidly fluctuating cyclone of wires blocked the flurry of incoming bullets from Leo, dropping white and black chunks of metal to the ground.

"Your brother is rather impolite. At least I revealed myself to you before doing anything." The teen stated, the tip of his hat lifting to reveal his calm eyes as his shield continued to bash aside the second onslaught of bullets.

Each shot was aimed for an opening, or a would-be opening in his shield.

"You're the one that's rude. You trap us in the woods, a young girl, and her twin brother, and threaten our lives while trying your hardest like some high school gossip girl to demoralize us with your words. And you call us rude?" Ciel argued, rushing forward and slipping into a route that would've looked ridiculous and unnecessary in any other scenario.

In this case, it was the only way to clear the distance by avoiding the now brightly glowing strands of lime green light littered around their surroundings.

"I never directly attacked you, now did I?" The teen asked rhetorically just as Ciel reached his shield, "You two are the ones who fired the first shots."

Ciel leaped over the field of aura strands, using her scythe's tip to catch as many as possible as she flipped over the fluctuating storm of light and tore an opening in his shield by tugging the wires upward. Leo took the opening immediately. All of his shots entered the storm of Aura strands through the opening that Ciel had created, his sister softly landing on the opposite side of their enemy a moment later as he rotated his handguns twice more. He took aim and held his fire now, each barrel slightly warm across the twelve inches each one spanned. Thin black chains slipped out of his sleeves and connected to the butts of his guns, softly clinking in the wind now as he held his position.

"Thanks for the ammunition..."

The field of green strands dropped just as quickly as the teen within them rose, a sleek black revolver gripped tightly in his hand clad in a black fingerless glove, its fabric was thin and its length ran slightly up his right forearm. It, and his gun, sparked brightly with his Aura as he immediately fired in Leo's direction, forcing the teen to dodge.

Two bullets came dangerously close to clipping Leonard. They were fast, far faster than any normal gun should've been capable of firing. They reached a speed as if each one was fired from his own enhanced guns, which were of a quality found nowhere else in all of the four kingdoms of Remnant. In all of the Worlds really. Leo narrowed in on the teen's glove. Only one hand was adorned by it, the other remaining bare as he used it to slam his hammer back for rapid consecutive shots. He had sensed it earlier, but now it was clear to him. That glove was some sort of catalyst for their opponents Aura. But how much aura did this man have? Leo couldn't get an accurate read on it, even with his more than capable senses. Ciel couldn't even take that opportunity to attack for now. The field of strands that the teen threw off of himself was all directed at her, forcing her to just barely slip around its reaches.

The teen then kept his gun trained on Leo in the distance as the storm of strands turned and collapsed toward Ciel again, forcing her to keep dodging. He then raised a hand up to tap the inside of his ear, "Shadow, lock them down."

Ciel's and Leo's legs suddenly froze, as if they had suddenly glued themselves to the forest floor in a treacherous and cold hold. Blackness crept up their shins, only stopping after reaching their knees and keeping the twins solidly in place. Neither of them could move their lower bodies anymore.

"Before you make the blunder of thinking Shadow is my partner's real name, I'll save you the trouble. It's a codename, and he's a marksman that can shoot a bullet out of the air ten clicks away in a low-light level hurricane." The teen explained, dragging his gloved hand through the air after slipping his gun into a holster beneath his coat.

 _Ugh, what a pompous douchebag..._ Ciel growled in her own mind as she rolled her eyes.

Several more strands took form in front of him as he created a new wall between himself and Leo. Both twins continued to struggle against their restraints, but whatever was holding them down was strong enough to prevent even the smallest of budges.

"You're in no danger, as I emphasized from the start." The teen in black continued, eyeing the two before him as he put his hands in his pockets again, "All I wanted was a small piece of information. A simple question, yet you both attacked me with no justification."

His voice was low, calculated, and almost bored. Not even the slightest bit of effort slipped into his tone, not that he was at all winded.

"Now, before you run off, tell me what I want to know." For the first time, the teen's lime green eyes narrowed beneath the tip of his hat as his face grew dark, "Where is Xera Stark?"

 _Xera Stark..?_

It was a name that the siblings did not know. One that did not matter to them at the moment. Ciel slowly managed to bring up her right leg until it broke free of what held her, allowing the young girl to stomp on the forest floor and send out a surging shockwave of white Aura outlined in black, breaking Leo free of his bonds as well. Ciel raised up her arms and stretched before letting out a sigh.

"I'm sorry, was there something around us?" asked Ciel, Leonard following along by simply shrugging.

The man still stood undeterred, forcing a scowl out of the young girl.

"Leo, we can take him, right?" asked Ciel.

"It's possible. But I'd rather not for the time being."

"What? Why not?"

"It would be much more of a hassle than what is required. Besides, we are here for brother, remember?"

"If you say so... Ready to give him the slip?"

"At your mark."

"Right. After a short lived discussion, we're going to leave and let your creepy ass be on it's way rather than going home crying with broken legs. So with that, we're gone."

"I never said you could leave." spoke the man as Ciel spun around and stopped moving.

She stood there, silent and without saying a word. That was until she reached out in front of her and grabbed hold of a few strands and pulled. Immediately, with little to no effort and without spilling a drop blood, Ciel broke and tore the strands away, slowly turning around and shooting the man a menacing glare as her palm came into view, the man noticing Shadows slowly creep away from her hand.

"Hey, douchebag... I didn't ask for your completely useless opinion, now did I? You're really starting to piss me off, so run along before I seriously decide to snap your scrawny legs like toothpicks."

The man continued staring blankly until he moved his hand up, stopping shortly as soon as Leo raised his pistol at him.

"Unfortunately, we have other matters to attend to at the moment and have little time or patience to deal with you. So for now, we bid you farewell."

Leo had already set his trap. All that was left was to pull the trigger.

* * *

"And then Leo here pulled the trigger and used his Semblance to tether the guy in his place, then called upon all the bullets he purposefully missed and forced them to circle the guy. The whole thing was like a giant ring of lasers!" Ciel exclaimed, kicking her feet in excitement as her eyes widened in anxious wonder, "And he spanned the circle out to sever some of the surrounding trees while I cleaved through the rest. He then tethered them and forced them all to collapse onto the guy in the center!"

"Tiiiimmber!" Skyla yelled, face held tightly in her hands as she leaned forward in her chair.

"Exactly!" Ciel laughed in amusement, "Everything happened so fast! _So_ fast he couldn't do anything but stand there and let it happen!"

Skyla gasped while Allix tapped her elbow from her crossed arm stance.

"How did you break away from whatever it was holding you down?"

"Never skip leg day. No, but seriously now, I figured it had something to do with my shadow," Ciel explained, "So, I flooded my legs with Aura, then sent out a pulsewave to break apart the rest. Easy, right Leo?"

"Y-yeah." Leo nodded momentarily, looking away from the several glances that suddenly turned toward his position against the wall.

"We could've taken him." Ciel clapped her hands together once more to bring the attention back to her, "But hey, we had stuff to do. So if he ever comes up again, we'll be ready."

"How do you know he hasn't shown you everything?" Ren asked, sitting beside Nora at the edge of a nearby infirmary bed. The rest of his team sat side by side next to them, while teams RWBY and the girls of CFVE resided on the edges of two other beds that were surrounding the few teens that sat in chairs at the center of the room.

"It is likely that he was holding back in favor of the information he was seeking. So, it is certain that we have not seen everything." Leo responded.

Fox and Yatsuhashi leaned against the opposite wall of the male twin, accompanied by Sun and Neptune. Rideat and Anna kicked up on the last remaining mattresses of the four beds located immediately around Ciel, Skyla, and Allix.

"That's some tale..." Rideat spoke up, "But how can someone block your attacks so easily? You two have enough Aura to be on an entirely different level than all of us here combined."

Ciel looked to the one in the beanie, tilting her head slightly as she took in his appearance.

 _Is he blind? No, that wouldn't make sense… He can just see my Aura. A visual Semblance?_

"You have a keen eye." Leo spoke up, "However, based on my own analysis, I couldn't get a solid read on our adversary's Aura capacity nor predict its capabilities. It was either too vast to fully pick up, which is unlikely given my capabilities, or he masked it in such a way that hid it from scrutinizing eyes."

"Which is also highly unlikely." Ciel added on.

"Okay, so which is it then?" Coco asked from her seat beside Velvet.

"We cannot make an assumption yet based off of the information we currently have." Leo informed the fashionista, "We also know very little about his partner, whom I couldn't sense their presence for the entirety of our encounter. It was very likely he was far away for the duration of the encounter."

"This guy, and his partner Shadow, do you think they'll enter Beacon's grounds?" Ruby asked, fingers clasped tightly in her lap as she glanced toward the two strangers in front of her.

"I doubt it." Weiss spoke up at her side, "They may be powerful, but I highly doubt they're reckless enough to stroll into a place like this."

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Ciel muttered, before shaking her head slightly and changing the tone of her voice, "They were looking for someone. He had no intention of even fighting us."

"But you fought him anyway?" Blake asked.

"I would've, he sounded like a prick." Yang commented.

Ciel just shrugged, "My bad. I thought he was challenging us."

"That was also his intention, I believe." Leo said.

"In any case, do any of you know a guy named Xera Stark?"

Her question left the room in a dull silence. Her own bright sky blue eyes traced the glances of the others, watching in mild confusion as several of them traded looks with one another. A few of them looked almost unsure of themselves.

Ruby was the one to turn back to her and begin to say something, "He's-"

"Xera Stark is dead." Rideat cut in before the reaper could say any more, "He was shot down during the conclusion to a tournament held last week at Aero Coliseum." His voice was even, cold, and honest. He showed no signs of false intel, despite Rideat's awareness of the lie he spoke.

"Dead?" Ciel asked, as if for clarification.

It took a moment but several nods in the room confirmed the hyena-faunus's words. But Leonard knew full well this was a lie. He had studied everyone's faces carefully to determine this.

"I see… Forgive me for addressing this bluntly," Leo started, drawing the attention back to him, "but if you think you're protecting Mr. Stark by telling us a lie, you are doing little to defend him. This enemy is powerful and he is searching for your friend for reasons unknown to us. Do you really think that they believe his death was real?"

"Forgive me for being equally as blunt," Allix fixed her gaze onto the teen leaning against the wall, causing his eyes to advert momentarily, "but what gives you two any right to know about my dead leader? We've never seen you until today so how can we know anything you've told us today has even the smallest morsel of truth in it?"

"But… But Allix… It was such an awesome story! How can it _not_ be true?!" Skyla exclaimed.

"I know right!" Ciel tacked on with the same amount of excitement.

It was truly an awesome tale.

"Allix is right." Blake agreed, "We know very little aside from your names. Who's to say that you're not the ones looking for Xera and not these supposed enemies you encountered?"

Amber eyes narrowed as the cat-faunus crossed her arms. Above everyone else, she was the most skeptical about these two new arrivals. Their appearance was rather convenient. The timing was uncanny, falling on the day that such a climactic problem with Xera's brother was on its way to being resolved. How can anyone just shrug that occurrence off like it was nothing?

"I can vouch for them."

Dante's voice came from the doorway, causing everyone to turn their gazes to the white haired teen as he entered the room.

Alongside him walked Xera.

"Who are they-" Allix nearly lost her balance when something pushed past her.

"Big brother!" Ciel proclaimed, dashing across the room and pushing her speed and strength into a tackle hug with Dante.

The teen managed to keep from bowling over, but he enveloped his younger sister in a soft hug as he ruffled her hair gently. That was enough to dissuade the unease most of the teens in the room felt.

"They're related to Dante… That just makes me distrust them even more…" Allix admitted.

"What makes you say that?" Skyla asked.

Allix simply shook her head softly.

"He's too perfect, annoyingly so. Not to mention that he keeps showing up here in our Reality. I'd rather just him keep to his own business."

"If I didn't know any better," Skyla reached up and tapped Allix on the nose, "your hatred sounds like it's stemming from denial. Allix, are you in lo-"

"Only in your own mind, Sky. He's far from my type." Allix retaliated coldly and swiftly.

"Wait, what _is_ your type?" Skyla asked.

"Sleek, elegant, curvaceous, and slim." Allix commented, her eyes glancing back to Skyla and taking in her excited look. It was as curious as ever.

A light smirk quietly slipped across the archer's lips. So, she continued.

"I look for a nice edge and some flexibility and, above all, a beautiful body." Allix listed, straight face almost slipping into a dreamy flush, "They need to be quick and agile, while also durable and strong enough to protect me."

"Oooh, this is getting good…" Skyla let her words tumble from her mouth as she listened to Allix gush about her dream lover.

"They need curves in all the right places, and I want them to be a comfortable fit for me to hold and roll around with."

 _Roll… around with…?_ Skyla wondered, before her excited gaze suddenly turned sour and her eyes dropped into a deadpanned stare.

"I think tension and range is one of the most important things I look for in my bows-"

"I'm leaving..." Skyla muttered, throwing her hands in the air as she walked away from the archer, an entertained smirk residing on Allix's face now.

Dante lifted the small girl clung to his waist and pulled her off of his body, walking over to the bed near the door and plopping Ciel onto its mattress.

"Seriously, though, what are you two doing here? I said to come over if we sent out an emergency." He asked, eyeing both Ciel and Leo.

"We got bored, so we figured you might've needed help by now." Ciel explained, pushing herself over so she leaned against the pillow and headrest of her bed.

"We did think a little aid might have been in order. However, as you said it yourself, we are only a last resort countermeasure. We ultimately made the decision to only step in if you truly need us." Leo explained as well.

"Well, we do need to put together a team for what's next."

"Wait, so were you able to…?" Ruby began to ask but trailed off instead.

Xera was the one to nod, "Zerath's fine and he's resting now. But the Dark Entity managed to escape and leave Beacon. So what we need to do now is hunt him down."

"Why can't we all go?" Velvet asked, eyes flicking between everyone in the room in such a way to seek agreement. She found it in most of the people there.

"Because it's going to be dangerous," Xera explained, "As cliché as that sounds, this mission isn't going to be an easy outing. You'll be facing someone far stronger than anything you've ever faced in your lifetime. And I can't promise that all of you will get out of this unscathed. So, I'm asking you as a friend and I won't hold you to anything if you say no."

Xera slipped his hands into the pockets of his black sweatpants, lowering his gaze slightly.

"In fact, I'd prefer it if most of you _did_ say no." The phoenix finished.

A cohesive unit was needed to move in and out. Teamwork was essential and needed. They all needed to be able to work together effectively and efficiently to get through it, this much Dante knew. His early days in the CGA taught him that much. Teams were torn apart and rended through so easily... If they didn't all work together, then someone was going to die along the way.

"We're in." Allix's voice carried itself to the door, and next to the archer nodded Xera's partner in crime.

"We got this! We'll give them a real fight!" Skyla emphasized her words by raising her fists and moving them in vertical circles in a sarcastic and almost taunting way.

Ruby and her team had already talked it over, so she got up from her spot on her team's bed and approached Xera, "My team and I are all willing to help you if we can too. So, don't rule us out."

"Mine as well." Jaune got up after seeing Ruby stand, then stepped up to her side.

The rest weren't so quick to agree from what Dante noticed. For the most part, he was fine with this since there were less chances of less people getting hurt or dying. If others were to be brought along, coordination was needed.

"If you can't come with us, or would rather not to, that's fine either way. We don't expect you all to go so freely or willingly. Especially if it's something like this."

A soft knock soon came from the door, causing him to turn his head slightly to catch whoever it was in his peripherals.

It was Destiny, followed by the girl in white.

"here's been a slight change of plans." The wolf-faunus stated, entering the room before stepping to the side to allow the girl from before entry.

The cloaked girl addressed the room with her voice, but her eyes were directed only at the few teens that stood before her.

"Our enemy has taken refuge in a self-created rift. He has forged his own dimension and tore an entrance in the space of this world and its reality, which in turn limits us. In order for you to enter that dimension unscathed and remain there, I must be the one to keep a connection between your souls and this Reality. If I do not , you will all be at the mercy of Zeridûl in his realm of darkness, where he has full control of that domain."

 _A torn dimension…? Great... More trouble than we need..._

"Our numbers will be limited then... How many are you able to send in?" asked Dante.

"Six at most, unfortunately. I cannot sustain a number higher than that." The girl responded.

"That really does limit things…" Dante said shaking his head, turning his gaze to the ones that volunteered.

Who was he going to choose? Who would best work in a situation like this?

 _Ruby's always a good pick. Not...because I'm being biased here due to our relationship. She's really fast and has a unique fighting style that works to counter and confuse the enemy. Not only that, Ruby has the ability to rapidly and fluidly switch between targets and eliminate each one in quick succession. Plus, her weapon is both a long range and deadly close range weapon, giving her a near-perfect balance between all ranges. So long as she remains cautious and weary...she'll be fine and have nothing to worry about._

Dante then looked to Weiss.

 _Weiss has her vast knowledge in Dust and her array of Glyphs, alongside tactical support she could provide for the rest of us when we need it. She's virtually calm and collected during fights and can make some really nice on-the-fly decisions without having to rely on a lead._

 _Blake's quick and agile, able to slip in and out of danger with ease and able to easily enter the personal range of most enemies she encounters. She's great for mid-ranged combat with her weapon. She's a near-perfect choice in situations where we need stealth...but I doubt stealth will help us too much in the end, if not at all._

 _Yang is a nice powerhouse and can nearly match my brutality with hand to hand combat. Not only that, but like me, she's excellent for crowd control and clearing areas. Not only that, but she could take and dish out large amounts of damage. Even so...she's reckless and can charge in without thinking at times. I don't think she's ready for this sort of thing. If it were the Yang from my Reality, she would be... If she still had her arm that is..._

 _Jaune has been, and can be unbelievably lucky at times... He has a decently strong tactical sense to him. He can think through logical and strategical plans at times even under pressure. He's a leader at heart and a decent decision maker in the heat of battle. But could he call shots under such stressful conditions like these? Not only that, but there's already myself and Xera. I don't think he'd be ready to take on Dark Entities...much less Lesser Class..._

 _Nora's got strength, unbelievably so at times. She's highly unpredictable like myself in certain combat situations and works well with her partner, Ren. If she were separated though... Let's save her for now.  
_

 _Ren isn't a safe bet for this either. He's stoic and has a level mind, and has incredibly fast reflexes and unbelievably agility, and he's able to predict moves before they were made and possesses senses that surpassed several others. In any given sense, he's close but not quite on my level. Even so, his damage output isn't all that strong, nor consistent._

 _Pyrrha... How long has it been... If only I can tell you of the things to come were it not for the Keeper of Time... Focus for now... She has long-range, a very strong offensive melee capabilities, strong defense alongside that to balance it out, and can turn around most situations in favor of herself or others. Problem is, she's never worked with anyone but her team. And I highly doubt she'll go willingly without at least bringing Jaune or one of the others along. Or vice versa. As well rounded and capable as she is, it's a pass on her._

Dante then focused his gaze on Skyla.

 _She's a definite must. Her semblance, as long as Xera can teach her how to use it, would be outatanding for us if Zeridûl tried to make use of any more black ice._ _Zerath's ice affinity was likely something Zeridûl made his own by now. Though from what I know of Affinities, it's still questionable if it's as strong as the original. It'd be a copy at best._

 _Allix, was it? Hrmmmm... She's still injured enough that it'd be hard to keep up. Not only that, but her abilities wouldn't be all that useful this time... Sorry, but you're sitting this out too._

 _Destiny and Fate... They've already fought Zeridûl in the past, but they haven't faced him in his newer form yet. No one in this room has besides myself and Xera. But, they have something that no one else does. They have unique fighting styles and the ability to either play the role of magic support or the strong role of uplcose melee combat. They have the tools needed to more than take care of themselves in there.  
_

 _Inuba would definitely be the best pick to send in with us. She is stronger than I am, equally skilled in combat, and as analytical as I am, so it would make sense. But...if things go wrong...I'd rather she be here with Ciel and Leo as the back up plan. She'd be more than able to take him on with the two of them backing her up if he slips past us again. Sorry partner... As much as I want you to come with us, I need you to stay here for now._

 _Ruby has her high damage at all ranges and her speed. Skyla has her direct counter to any black ice Zeridûl would try to make. Weiss has the highest potential for supporting the team with her glyphs alongside her ability to lock down high priority targets. Destiny has her summons, something that very few other huntsmen could say the same for. Fate has her strength and her armory of powerful weapons, something that brought diversity in its own regard. Then there's me, enough said. And finally, Xera. We've fought together side by side from the start of this whole mess... He's undoubtedly powerful, and would be a rearl menace to handle given his Affinity and Semblance. This is it. This is the team. It's all we need for the inside. I think we can expect enemy resistance outside, so for those that can't come in with us, they can handle the rest outside._

Dante looked to Xera and gave him a nod. He could tell the Phoenix Faunus was more or less having the same thoughts he was.

"Ruby, Weiss, would you mind joining us? Even with the danger involved?" Xera asked, almost meekly, but as soon as he looked up a sense of relief relaxed his shoulders at the sight of the two already moving to join them near the door.

He then looked toward the members of his own team, "Skyla, I'll need to teach you a few things on the way, but would you mind-"

She had already charged across the room and engulfed him in a solid hug before he could finish his request. He couldn't help but chuckle lightly at that.

"It's about time we did something as partners." Skyla commented, letting the phoenix go as she flicked his shoulder and poked his hidden feathers for a moment.

"Lastly, you two," Xera turned toward Destiny, eyes locking with Destiny's own lilac irises to speak to both souls about this matter, "Think you can-"

"No need to ask us either." Destiny held up a hand and cut the teen off, "We're in."

"Good..." Xera said, nodding slowly.

"Great. For now though, we all rest before we head out. It'll take time for Zeridûl to manifest the Rift just enough for us to enter through. So...rest up, eat up, do whatever it takes to settle your nerves at ease before we leave. This'll likely be the greatest battle you have, and will ever face." Said Dante.

* * *

"That duo kicked your ass, Niro."

A teen in black sat on a cliff's edge. He wore a cotton jacket with equally onyx fur trim around its collar. Down the back of his jacket lay two long, parallel, open slits that disappeared in the dark folds of his attire. The material was thin and dark, leading down to just past his thighs at the back. His legs were clad in a pair of baggy sweatpants, finishing his black set up with a pair of running sneakers. He was 5'7, built more for mobility and endurance than durability and strength.

The colors were needed for his line of work and they interacted seamlessly with his semblance. Far beneath him, a sea of green leaves bristled and flowed, the cool sun bearing down on the world below as he felt a cold wind sift through his shaggy black hair. His strands reached his ears and gave him a ragged, rough, yet clean look, each lock of hair tipped in a bright gold. In his hands, he held a large, delicately crafted, ebony rifle. Customized in more ways than seven, it was a sniper rifle built entirely from scratch.

Heavy steps came up behind him then stopped at his side, before the one from before took a seat beside his assigned partner.

"Like hell they did... And what exactly were you doing? Distracted by that girl's thighs when you were looking through your scope?"

"Maybe..." Reflective, rebellious golden eyes glanced toward Niro beneath dark swaying bangs, "You can't blame me though. She did have nice legs. Really nice legs... But that's beside the point. You looked like you had it handled."

"First of all, she's younger than you, idiot." The one who just took a seat adjusted his cowboy hat momentarily, securing it against his head as a strong breeze rode up the outcrop beneath their dangling feet, "And second, your judgment calls are as bad as your ideas for entertainment."

"What? You don't find it fun to try and toss lien coins into a vending machine from across the room?"

"The last time you challenged me to something like that , I beat you."

"That's because you went first and decided to throw the coin with enough force to not only send the coin _through_ the target slot but through the wall behind it too. I think you broke that vending machine beyond salvaging as well."

"Machines like that deserve to be destroyed."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" The teen on the left set his rifle at his side before pulling out a black scroll.

"Think our employer is the kind of person to want to remain up to date with everything we do? Or do you think he's the kind of person to just assume and wait until the end results…?"

"I wouldn't bother, Kyzal." Niro spoke in disinterest, resting his chin in his gloved palm as he looked out over the Emerald Forest beneath them, "He'll get what he paid for."

"He's paying us a fortune..." Kyzal noted with a relaxed grin.

"Exactly..." Niro replied, retaining the same tone as before.

In the distance stood the immaculate structure of Beacon Academy, the school towered high over the cliff sides that fell off on the edges of its campus. Their target was within those very walls. And if their job demanded they infiltrate the school, then so be it.

* * *

 **("Magical Girl Irene", by me)**

"Since you two are here, what happened with Raum and Irene?" Asked Dante.

"Um... He said he didn't want to go near this one with even a hundred foot pole, so he said he was going to go chill at a village nearby until we get back and entertain himself." Said Ciel.

Dante took in his siblings words, looking above her and thinking for a moment before looking down at her again, saying "Oh god..."

"What?"

"I think I know what he's up to..."

 _(In some random village in Dante's Reality...)_

People had gathered in the town square after hearing some big announcement of some sort of performance being played at the town center. It was supposed to be a good and eye-catching performance. Hundreds had gathered before the small structure with the curtain covering it, talking amongst themselves as to what they would see today.

The bells tolled, signifying the start of the performance.

The curtains were drawn and revealed the cute little wolf Faunus who stood before them, hands on her hips as Irene's tail whipped about back and forth happily. Raum sat in a chair in the farback across Irene, giving the young wolf Faunus a nod as she nodded back.

She cleared her throat, which to the rest sounded like nothing more than a cute squeak.

"Hrmmmmm... Hmph!"

Irene slowly raised up her hands and thrusted them into the air, a small and steady stream of sparks emerging from her fingertips.

The crowd "ohhh"'ed a bit, but Irene was not satisfied with the result given the pout she wore currently. Raum only smiled from the back and flicked his finger slightly when she thrusted her hands high in the air once more, this time a large gout of fire emerging from the palm of her hands and escaping into the sky, a sight that the crowd, and even Irene, awed at before the flames reached higher into the sky and formed into fireworks before dissipating completely.

It was then the little wolf Faunus bore a mischievous smirk about her and pointed a finger at an electric lamppost nearby, the device crackling a bit before electricity emerged from within it in a steady stream like water, moving and circling about it the air when Irene moved her finger elsewhere in other directions and angles. The stream split apart into two streams when Irene used her second hand, the streams of electricity crackling high overhead different audience members heads as the young wolf Faunus focused. And then, she clapped her hands together as all the lights had gone out. Everyone waited in suspense, when ten seconds later, Irene threw her hands up in the air as Raum clenched his fist, the electricity immediately being restored to all buildings in the village as everyone clapped for her.

She bowed politely a few times to the audience before raising her hand up to silence them. They all fell silent and watched with anticipation, waiting to see what she would do next. She then slowly raised up both her little hands with a "hmph" as lare sloshes of water began forming in the air above the crowd, and with the tiniest movement of her fingers, the sloshes of water danced about in the air, sparkling like little diamonds in the sky. This continued for about another minute or so until some of the water dropped down into the few cups that audience members held in their hands, and after that, the water froze into ice and floated in the sky.

Irene soon clapped her hands together once more, making the spehere of ice explode and fill the air with powdery snow, a sight the audience more than loved as they clapped for her. She then bowed numerous times to the audience, but then placed a hand on her chin, as if she were thinking of a final trick. She let out a loud gasp, then began rubbing her hands together. Raum had the exact thing in mind for what to do next. As soon as Irene pointed to one of the audience members, Raum had simultaneously snapped his fingers, and that audience had suddenly transformed into a frog the next second, the audience clapped despite being completely surprised, but Irene had backed away a moment, just as surprised as everyone else was. She then looked at both of her tiny hands, as if she were questioning the power she held.

Raum sat in the back, one hand slapped over his mouth while the other slapping his knee continuously as he tried to hold his laughter in. It had been long since he turned a human into an animal, a frog no less. But it was always entertaining to both do and see. What made it even better was the look of surprise and shock on Irene's face when she had thought she turned the man in to a frog. To him, it was such an adorable sight he couldn't help but laugh. He was even more amused when she tried flailing her arms about while muttering with her small voice to try and turn the man back. Deciding Raum had his fun, he snapped his fingers and the man took human form once again. And with that, the show ended.

 _(Minutes later)_

"As soon as most people hear 'Magical Girl', they just lose their minds, drop their things and come running... I should do this again sometime. Charge more Lien for admission next time as well..."

Irene voiced concern, likely at the idea of using her talents for money, by pulling on the Dark Entity's slightly pointed ears.

"What? There's nothing wrong with using your talents to make money. What's that silly game humans play and have teams for that make money and the such... You know, with dribbling the ball?" asked Raum as he went through a relaxed dribbling motion with his hand, Irene replicating his hand movement with her own.

"Ballbasket? Something like that... They have 'sports teams' and the players are payed for their talents they use in official games."

The young Faunus girl hummed with curiosity, then patted his head once.

"No, it's not the same thing that we did, but the idea is the same. Anyway, we need to make our own money when we can. I don't want to rely on the brat for money all the time, even if he does split the money we earn from Hunts and Tasks evenly between us."

Irene hummed once more before wrapping her arms around the top of his head as she sat on his shoulders, her wolf tail wrapping around his neck like a scarf. The Dark being couldn't help but feel embarrassed slightly. And comfortably warm.

"A-Alright... Time to head back for the night."

"Hmph..."

"You just ate ten minutes ago."

She patted the top of his head twice.

"Fine, we'll get you something to eat at the inn. Lets go."

And with that, the two had traveled to the nearest inn to enjoy the final meal of the day before turning in.

* * *

 **(Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide 4)**

Dante looked at the holographic screen of his scroll, his eye twitching slightly as he read the message he received.

"I'm really really really sorry! But I got sick yesterday and I'm bed with a fever... Sorry I didn't say anything until, I forgot we had the segment at this hour!"

The message from Ruby followed with a pouting emoji.

"Look, it's fine. You got sick and it's understandable. But you could have tried to tell me earlier."

"I'm sorry!"

"Look, don't worry about it Ruby. I got it covered. Sleep well, I'll be over to help take care of you later." he sent along with a thumbs up emoji.

He then hit the contacts tab and hit Ciel's name, opening up the text box.

"Code red. I repeat, code red."

"Situation?"

"1A. Red is in bed."

"..."

Dante waited for his sister's reply.

"So you need condoms then?"

"W-What?! No! Not what I meant and not that kind of situation!"

"But wasn't 1A-?"

"No! 1A is Ruby being sick!"

"Oh... Right. 3D was-"

"We never made a plan 3D and we never ever ever made a plan for a situation like that. Look, I have to do the segment in a minute, so I need to move to plan B."

"Oh yeah! This is the one I actually payed attention to!"

"Really?" texted Dante back to demonstrate his disappointment.

"Relax. Give me a sec. Oh... Just in case for later, do you need Magnums or something even larg-?"

At that moment, the young immortal immediately closed his screen and waited. Ten seconds later, a black portal had opened up, and out of it fell Xera Stark, face first.

He groaned slightly as he held his aching head, standing up to take in his surroundings.

"Welcome everyone, we are back for another week of Illustrated Weapons Guide."

"Wha-? Dante? How did I-?"

"Unfortunately, Ruby is sick today and wasn't able to make it to the segment today. So in her place, we have special guest Xera Stark!" said Dante motioning his hand to Xera.

"Um...hi?"

"Great. So Xera, you're here today because we're talking about your weapon, Anivia's Talons."

"My weapon? R-Really?"

"Yup. I know a decent amount about it, you know all about it. I say stuff, you jump in, then I jump in, rinse, repeat, so forth and so on."

"Easy enough then... Well, since you know a decent amount yourself, why don't you start us off?" asked Xera.

"Sure. So, at first glance, Anivia's Talons look like two bladed boomerangs that are shaped like sharp feathered wings. What's nice besides being bladed boomerangs of flying death, these blades are imbued with corrosive dust which can cut through most softer materials over time. Both blades can be thrown in an arc of any size, based off of the angle and strength of the release of the thrower, and they will maintain their flight path. They're resistant against almost anything while spinning fast enough, plus, they can also be used as swords for close range combat."

"Not bad. You got the basics down so far. To continue, the blades have a sleek nature to them, and when fully straightened, they each span nearly two and a half feet. At their handles, the blades thinly curve around the cloth tight grips and connect solidly to the pommel of each sword, giving them a bladed guard. The curved nature of the blades and customized weight of metal density causes each sword to pull inward when thrown, giving them a slight boomerang effect. When combined with my Aura Lock bracelets that I made, I can enhance the strength of that pull with my Aura and call them back to me like a magnet in an adjustable curved line."

"Basically like a boomerang with changeable distances."

"Right, now, Anivia's Talons, when in gun form, look like shotguns that can shoot dust slugs of any type. It's good for when I like to get a bit close but still keep my distance."

"Next is his Longsword mode, where his curved blades straighten out and open up the panels along their spines where they then interlock together creating a double edged longsword. The handles don't flatten together, but one of them does extend downward and connects to the bottom of the other handle, creating a dual handed grip. The thin bladed guards that originally covered the handles rotates upward and aligns at the base of the new longer blade, creating a crescent shaped hilt. And let me tell you folks, it's a really nice looking Longsword. So, give us the breakdown of how you made your weapon, Xera."

"Well, how they were made was a process called 'Aura Forging', where Anivia's Talons were made of a delicate variation of titanium-alloy memory metal and a low-alloy spring steel, a combination resulting in a light-weight blade with an incredibly high yield strength and insane malleability. These two high tiered metals grant my weapon the well defined ability to return to its original shape despite heavy deflection, twisting, or warping. When the blade is slightly heated, the hyper-reactive memory metal allows it to return to whatever shape it was set to when it was first forged. The spring steel further ensures it returns to its original shape against any encounter. The blades were forged through a custom variation of a rare intricate metal-working process known as 'Hot Aura Fusion', which, contrary to 'Cold Aura Fusion', is a process that is done through the use of a high temperature forge and a specific Aura-retaining set of metals."

"Few people know of the process Xera uses, and even fewer have perfected it. Xera is one of these few Aura forgers. Now, 'Hot Aura Fusion' is a process where a forger pours their Aura into a weapon in segments and layers, depending on the retainability of the metal being forged. Through numerous focused and carefully mapped out marks, the Aura will bleed throughout the heated molecules of the material and settle evenly throughout the design. Once the metal cools, those heated molecules tighten together and fuse with the layers of Aura cast inside. Because the scale of this is so small and delicate, it makes this process irreversible and permanent. No mistakes can be made."

"The displacement of Aura must be evenly spread or the weapon's structural integrity will ultimately fail, resulting in a shattered blade or an overly brittle weapon. Because of this process, any weapon created will be compatible with the 'Aura Lock' mechanism I made. Whoever fuses their Aura with the blade when it was forged will be able to create a phantom connection with the blade by activating their own passive Aura flow. This gives the blade wielder, and the blade, countless possibilities and potential for how the weapon is used and how the user can fight with it."

"This phantom connection can also create a pull between the Aura and the user. If the weapon were ever disengaged from the user's possession, it can be called back through focusing Aura to a powerful point on the user's body which creates a weaker version of polarity, much like when I had my old powers and could recall my sword to me whenever it was discarded from my person. Proficient Aura users can amplify this affect to reach or surpass even the affects of polarity itself. These affects grant the user the ability to forcefully pull their weapon back to within their grasp with a simple moment of focused Aura activation." said Dante.

"Why is this process so rare you ask? Because the heat required to fully breakdown a metal then recombine it is immense. Only a handful of furnaces throughout all of Remnant can ever hope to even reach this degree of heat. And very few of those already small numbers can handle the process without rupturing and destroying themselves, along with the forger. I am a phoenix however, so I can withstand the heat, but I can also create or amplify what is already being produced. Not just this, but I can also focus this heat to funnel this disastrous process into an efficient and effective process."

"This is what makes Xera, a Phoenix Faunus with a fire Affinity, one of the best in the arts of blacksmithing...and strangely cooking from what I've heard. You cook?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere. And yeah, I cook."

"Not bad, not bad... Well everyone, that's Xera Stark's weapon, Anivia's Talons, and how it's made. This guy is a literal Frankenstein, like me, when it comes to making weapons. That's all for this week folks. Xera, thanks for coming." said Dante shaking Xera's hand.

"Thanks for having me...well...drop in."

"So...you cook?"

"Yeah, I cook. Surprised?"

"A little bit. I cook myself, but Inuba is our designated cook, with me being a helper on occasion."

"And how good is she?"

"Better than you and me for sure. Better than Ren even."

"Seriously? Better than Ren?"

"Yup."

"Now that's something I'd like to see."

"Who knows? We might get the chance soon enough."

Dante's HoloScroll immediately gave off the same, single tune electronic ring as it usually did, signifying he received a message. He opened it, seeing it was from Ruby. He apparently sent her a message seconds ago and she quickly sent one back.

"Are you ready to feel more than better?" read his text.

"What the..? I didn't send this..." replied the young immortal.

He immediately saw Ruby's message and froze.

She sent back her reply in the form of a picture. Her face was a deep red, part of her face hidden behind a heart-shaped pillow with the word in big letters "YES" written across it.

Dante closed his HoloScroll immediately and walked off hurriedly. He had a misunderstanding to clear up.

From the producers box, Ciel sat in a chair with her feet placed up on the table, drinking a box of juice. She then looks to you.

"What? I can't always use little ms. Foxy all the time. Turns out, branching out to Little Red was an excellent choice..." she finished with a wink.

* * *

 **Zeridul has been successfully driven out. Zerath Stark has been saved. Even so...a greater terror looms over Xera Stark's Remnant. Though driven away, Zeridul still lives. And with help, he is planning his next move. Will Dante and Xera, along with their allies, be able to neutralize this threat once and for all? Find out as you keep reading!**

 **Nothing much else to say at the end here. Except...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend! Bye-bye now!**


	11. Chapter 11: Misunderstandings and Bonds

**Hiya all! Finally back at college and things are going great so far. To celebrate, here's a chapter for you all! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 10: Of Misunderstandings and Bonds

"So? How's our fluffy little friend doing so far?" Asked Dante as he walked besides Inuba down the hallways of Beacon.

"Her recovery is coming along splendidly. Although...I could do little for her vocal chords…" replied Inuba touching the front of her throat.

Dante immediately understood what she meant and grimaced for a second or two as he touched his own throat. The other problem with his imagination is his quick ability to visualize a scene in dozens of different ways in only a mere second, playing through them only after hearing the context of the subject. And frankly, after hearing that, he couldn't help but feel sick slightly.

"Master...do you think that..? No…"

"What is it?"

"Never mind… It was a poor thought…"

"I don't quite believe you. Come on, out with it."

"If… If she only had a bit of your blood, then…"

"Ah… I see…"

"Forgive me for thinking of such a thing."

"No no, don't apologize. You're only looking after her is all. If, and only if her life were in extreme danger, very much on the verge of death, would be when I would give her some of my blood. Your healing magic is the absolute best out of any type of healing magic available. Still, even that has its limits on what it can heal…whereas my blood does not. Yes, drinking a small portion of my blood would heal her completely and restore her vocal cords. But there's a risk to even that."

"Should their will be weak...partaking of your blood would only turn them into something else worse."

"It's always a fifty-fifty chance with my blood. It's why I don't use it unless it's an absolute emergency. Believe me, if there was no risk to it, I'd go and do it immediately."

"I know that Master…" Inuba said smiling as they stood outside the infirmary door.

"Hrmmm… I'm actually a little thirsty right now... I'll go get something from the vending machine. And get you something too. Tea? Coffee?"

"Hmmm… It has been a while… I'll have coffee please."

"Sweet. I'll grab myself a coffee too. Maybe tea for your fluffy patient?"

"I already had some prepared for her. It's our special remedy tea as well so that she can recover her strength and revitalize her body a lot more rapidly than usual."

"Right, right… I forget you're practically a doctor… Or should I say nurse?" He said.

In that moment, Inuba's fox ears and fox tail were perked up completely, her heart feeling as though it could beat out of her chest at any second.

"Y-Y-Y-You remember that outfit..?" She asked softly.

"O-Of course. I mean, how could I forget such a...such a remarkable outfit…" said Dante softly at the end as his face reddened slightly.

Of course, Inuba's face was an even brighter red at the moment.

"A-Anyway… I'll be back in a bit. Good luck in there." Waved Dante as he traveled further down the hall.

"Thank you kindly Master."

As Dante walked further down, Inuba bowed to him before entering inside the infirmary wing. The young immortal slowly drifted down the hallways, taking in the sights around him. Long has it been since he wandered these halls. They may not have been the exact same halls from his Reality, but it was Beacon's halls no less. One this business with Zeridûl was to be concluded...that was it. He'd be gone again.

Dante missed his Beacon. There's was far too much he liked about it. To see it go in such a way… It upset him, but no overly so. Because within him, he believed he'd one day be able to return to it and see it restored to its former glory. But for now, he'd have to settle with this "other Beacon".

He purchased one canned coffee for Inuba, and another for himself, holding the two in his left hand as he made his way back to the infirmary room.

"No freaking way!" Shouted a voice from behind him.

 _Oh no… Please tell me I'm imaging it…_

"You're that guy Dante from the tournament!" Spoke a familiar blonde brawler.

 _Please no…_

"Finally! Now that you're back, how about you and I go toe to toe in a quick match up? What do you say?" Asked Yang as she quickly walked towards him.

 _I really don't want to._

"Um...I would...but...I need to go back to the infirmary wing and-"

"Aw come on, you got five minutes, right?"

 _No, I don't._

"W-Well… To be honest…"

"Come on! Don't tell me you're chickening ou-!"

She immediately stopped when she stood in front of him now, eyeing his bandaged right arm and hand in the sling.

"Woah… What happened to your arm?"

"Um...a little accident is all…"

"Aren't you immortal or something?"

Dante jumped a bit when he heard her say that.

 _It was either the fluffy little wolf or the flaming turkey… Either way, Ciel is going to be making a list later…_

"Y-Yes… Where did you hear that from..?"

"Skyla."

 _Skyla… Of course it was… She's forgiven because she is how she is… Honestly...she and I are gonna have a talk when I see her._

"Right… Um...truthfully then, I kinda used a really powerful attack with my Aura, and it ended up damaging my arm. So it's been healing."

"Well...you can take me with one arm, right?"

"I couldn't possibly…"

 _Actually I can. But I really don't want to spar with you right now._

"Are you sure you aren't just chickening out? Hmmm… I guess you aren't as strong as they say you are…"

 _It's not going to work Yang._

"Guess so. Later then."

"Are you actually busy doing something right now?"

"I am, so sorry, I kinda need to go right now. Maybe next time when I get my arm healed. Later." Said Dante walking off quickly.

"Fine fine, later then."

 _Thankfully I avoided that… Now then, let's say hello. But first things first…_

* * *

Dante knocked on the door before saying, "I'm back. Is it alright if I come in?"

"Yes, please enter."

The young immortal slowly opened the door and closed it behind him, turning to see Inuba and the other smaller, fluffy kitsune, who was resting in bed peacefully. That was until she saw Dante. The smaller Kitsune went stiff, eyes as wide as saucers and mouth agape as she saw him approaching, shivering like a leaf in the wind.

"Here you go." Said Dante handing a can to Inuba.

"Thank you."

"Now then," started Dante as he looked to the smaller kitsune, "I'm assuming you can hear us, so hello. I'm Dante. You've already met my partner from what I heard. And as of now, both she and I will help make sure you get-"

By now Dante had noticed she was shivering and her mouth was wide open, as if she were...screaming..?

"Hey, is she alright?" Asked Dante.

As soon as he got closer, the smaller kitsune immediately hid herself under the end covers, like how a child would if they had seen a scary monster in their dreams.

"W-What's wrong?!" Asked Inuba worriedly as she tried to have the small Kitsune come out from behind the covers.

Only her hand emerged forth, shakily pointing at Dante before it quickly drew back in.

"M-Master..?" Asked Inuba as she looked to Dante, who only shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

"I have no clue… She just looked at me and… I'm thinking she was screaming…"

 _Strange… Why would she-?_

Another thought had crossed his mind, forcing him to quickly look into a mirror to see…

Nothing… Just a normal reflection of himself. So why..?

He looked down in time to see the smaller kitsune's reach out from under the sheets once more and quickly Inuba under. A few seconds of silence and Inuba nodding her head a few times, she re-emerged and slowly walked over to Dante, whispering in his ear.

"She said… Well…"

"Well go on, she won't hurt my feelings or anything."

"Um...she said you looked as though you were a, and I quote, 'big scary monster'..."

Dante froze in place, his expression blank as he stared at the floor.

"Master, did you perhaps have another Shadow Skin Flash and transform temporarily for a second or two? It seems as though-"

The door closed, leaving only Inuba and the smaller kitsune in the infirmary room. With Inuba's already superb hearing, it didn't take long for her to hear the pained whimper that came from behind the door, and a thudding noise which was most likely the sound of a head hitting the wall rather roughly.

 _I know he may have said that his feelings wouldn't be hurt, but I've know him for a very long time now… And truthfully...his feelings get hurt very easily…_

"Um… He's gone now…"

The smaller kitsune poked her head out slowly, cautiously examining her surroundings before staring at the elder kitsune, a small hint of terror still in her eyes.

"A moment please…"

Inuba had almost forgotten the silly picture she had taken on her HoloScroll. But it was the only she had for what was needed next. She quickly scrolled past the numerous photos she had in her library, flicking her finger upwards on the Holographic screen slowly.

There numerous pictures of herself in the library, and of course, Dante was in most of them. Though there were numerous selfies inside the library with herself and Dante, sometimes with the duo overlooking a splendid scenery, other times simply a commemorative photo whenever they traveled to new villages or other locations. She quickly scrolled over a photo she managed to capture on accident with his shirt off, finding the picture she desired.

"Could you please take a look at this for a moment?" Said Inuba double tapping the screen to enlarge the photo as she flipped it around to kitsuki.

It was simply a photo of Dante in his Shadow Skin. Two long, black horns that stood on the sides of his head that bent inwards before curving outwards slightly. His entire body layered from neck to toe in black, vicious-looking segmented armor, white glows emerging from the gaps of the demonic looking hide-armor. Clawed hands that also retained segmented armor on the fingers and thumbs. And the face that resembled a mask-helmet that covered his entire face and back of the head, slanted eyeholes for visibility and a glowing white zig-zagging formation that spanned the corners of the mask-helmet where the mouth would be. From within the slanted eyeholes appeared eyes with black sclerae and glowing white irises.

The only reason this photo was deemed silly slightly was the fact Dante was using a peace sign in the photo whilst Shadow Skinned. Inuba couldn't help but smile whenever she saw this picture each time.

"Did you see something akin to this?" She asked the smaller kitsune, who crept backwards slightly when she saw the photo.

Oddly enough, she shook her head. Inuba was confused now. Was this not what she saw? If not this...what else could it have been?

The younger kitusne quickly closed out the photos app and opened up the text app to type a more accurate response.

"Honestly… It didn't look like that...at least...not exactly the same…"

"Not exactly the same..?"

She watched as the younger girl's fingers quickly typed in another response after quickly nodding.

"It...didn't look the same...but parts of it were… If anything...what I saw looked a lot more eviler…"

 _A lot...eviler..? What does she mean? How could..?_

Another thought crossed her mind. She couldn't help but feel her thoughts trying to draw from the night of the Friede Ball...but her mind was drawing blanks each time. All she to go on was Dante's explanation of events that occurred in between the gaps of her memory...but was there more to it than what he had previously told her? Was he hiding something he didn't want her to know about?

"W-Who was that..?"

Inuba looked down to see the new message from the silent kitsune before giving her reply.

"He's… Well… He's a very dear friend of mine… One that means the world to me…" she said smiling.

"W-Why does he look like that..?"

"He doesn't actually look like that. In fact...he looks very different than what you saw earlier."

"He does..?"

"He doesn't look like the big scary monster you saw… Honestly, I don't know why it is you saw him like that, but… We will figure it out next time."

* * *

 _Why? What did I do so wrong?_

This was all that was repeated through the young immortals mind as he sat in a corner outside the infirmary room in fetal position, banging his head against the wall constantly.

"Dante?"

He didn't respond to his name being called. He was muttering to himself, almost berating himself or feeling some amount of depression as Xera Stark approached from behind.

"Uh, you okay?"

The young immortal slowly turned his head around to stare at Xera.

"What did I do…? She…she hates me…" He said sniffling.

"She…hates you?" asked Xera.

"Y-Yeah… She saw me and screamed… Well, not really screamed but she-" He opened his mouth wide to imitate a silent scream, "did that, so I assumed she was screaming…"

"Why did she scream when she saw you?"

"Inuba just sent me a text on my scroll saying she very likely saw me Shadow Skinned…"

"Did you use your Shadow Skin?" asked the Phoenix Faunus.

"That's the thing...no! She has to be some sort of Seer if she could see it without me using it… But that's not important! What is important...is that she is terrified of me and that makes me...very, very, very sad...!"

"Uh...well… She'll come around eventually. You're a nice guy. She'll see you as you actually are at some point instead of… Mr. Scary Demon..."

He only hummed silently in an even more depressed tone as Xera moved past him and opened the door, stepping inside shortly after as the door closed behind him.

 _This sucks… I've already been through this case once before with Abby when I first met her back on Primordial… Only in her case...she saw the first version of my Shadow Skin as a specter standing next to me… Heh… She thought I was being haunted for the first week we met… Hmmm… How odd… If Abby first saw it as a specter standing next to me...and that small kitsune that Xera rescued saw it as my actual form at first… What does that mean exactly..?_

 _Shadow Skin has been my one and only ability that has remained after losing my Dark Powers… Now that I think about it… It's the one ability that's always stuck with me and managed to resist everything so far. But now after what happened inside...does this mean I've finally obtained full control after the fact?_

Dante sighed as he scooted himself from his corner all the way over to the door, cracking it open slightly whilst peeeking inside. The young girl inside practically jumped, yanking her blanket up again and diving beneath its cover once more, like a fox seeking shelter from the rain.

"Wha-? Mas- I mean Dante! I told you to stay outside for now. I know it's difficult for you, but she's still frightened... Until we find a way around this...it would be in everyone's best interest to remain in the hallway."

"Everyone's best interest…" Dante muttered slowly, "Okay... Sure… Yeah... I'll stay out here… By myself… Crying…"

The young immortal pushed himself away from the doorframe and slid slowly to the floor, pulling his knees in toward his chest before rocking slowly against the wall as the door closed once more.

 _I want to die right now..._

* * *

Five minutes passed at most. He wasn't going to live with this grief any further. After his final roll on the ground, he leaned back on the tips of his fingers and hopped back up, a proud look of determination on his face.

"That's it! I'm coming in!"

Dante forced the door open and stormed inside, unaware of his previous wish about to come true.

"I am going to prove to that I am not The Devil and thy I'm just a nice guy unfortunate enough to look mean and scary when I use that weird looking form and that I-" He stopped, pausing as his mouth fell open, "That I-I… I-"

He watched as fox ears were slowly rising up before they dipped down and bent in intervals as they slowly got higher and higher with each peak they reached. And, as she reached a point in the song she was listening to on the earbuds in her normal ears, both of the young kitsune's fox ears began to vibrate and completely perk up atop her head.

They vibrated like that, tensely accelerating in violent shaking before at the moment the music in her ears hit a drop in the beat, they slammed downward and began moving up and down to the beat of the song, slamming down and perking up to each elevation that could faintly be heard from the earbuds in her ears.

Dante's eyes continued watching as Kitsuki's fox ears danced and her head bobbed up and down, eyes closed and listening to the beat. Soon after, there was a dull thud and a small squeak from Inuba, Xera turning around to see Dante on the floor, as limp as a noodle.

"Did… Did he just…?" Xera trailed off, glancing to Inuba as she slipped down to her knees at her master's side and nudged him with careful fingers before checking his pulse.

"Oh dear… His heart stopped…" She said quickly, rolling the teen over and pressing her own fox ear to his chest, "He's quite dead."

"Dead?! I thought he was immortal?!"

"No no, it's fine." Inuba quickly stated, trying to reassure anyone listening with the light tone of her voice, "This happens from time to time when he see's something...overly cute happening..."

"Okay…so, he'll be fine then?" asked Xera

"Yes, he will be fine. At least, in a few more seconds he will be."

There was a sudden thumping of someone running in the hallway, and as Inuba and Xera quickly looked up from Dante's currently dead body to the open doorway. Ciel skidded past on her boots before reappearing again after gaining her balance.

One would think she had felt the presence of her brotherhad faded and that she came to see what was wrong, but instead, Ciel stepped on Dante's stomach like he wasn't even there and shot up to the foot of the bed where Kitsuki, the young kitsune, sat on, the girl still rocking out with her ears. Inuba let out a silent scream when she had stepped on Dante as if he didn't exist.

"Oh my god! I knew my cuteness senses were tingling!" Ciel squealed, clasping her hands together in excitement.

Another rush of steps came from outside and I turned again to see Skyla tumble by like an awkward ninja, before she pulled herself back to the doorway and jumped to her feet.

"Ciel, why'd you take off like that?! All you said was you felt tingly all of a sudden-"

"Skyla! Look at this!" Ciel pointed at Kitsuki like she was the last cookie on the planet, and it had just finished baking in a hot oven, "Gaze upon her and praise the cuteness!"

"Awwww~!"

Skyla had jumped over Dante's momentarily dead corpse and landed just past him, skipping over to Ciel's side and smushing cheeks with her, gazing at Kitsuki with twin eyes of adoration.

It didn't take long before Ciel scampered onto the bed, and before Kitsuki could react, the poor girl was pulled into the younger sister's arms and cuddled into her embrace. Skyla quickly scrambled over to the other side of the kitsune and did the same.

"Okay, yeah, definitely getting out of hand…" Xera said, catching a very confused and awkward look of help from Kitsuki.

She was protecting her tails as the two beside her cooed at the sight of her large furry ears.

"It's alright, they just like cute things. They won't hurt you."

The young kitsune gave Xera a questioning grimace as if asking if he was sure of himself.

"I promise they won't do anything harmful to you."

Ciel and Skyla suddenly both reached up and lightly touched Kitsuki's fox ears, a strong shiver running down the kitsune's spine all the way to the tips of her tails.

"Though, I didn't say anything about, uh…ear massages. My bad..." Xera said, feeling apologetic about the situation. As Ciel and Skyla gently rubbed the girl's fox ears, her golden-orange eyes slowly began to close and her small mouth gradually fell slightly open, her tongue partially lulling out of her mouth within the next few seconds.

"She's so cute!" Ciel squealed alongside Skyla, both in a soft voices.

"Her name's Kitsuki if either of you were wondering..." Xera informed them, but they very likely didn't hear him; they were all in their own little world right now.

Especially the fox-yōkai between them.

It wasn't long before Inuba dragged Dante to the side of the room and made a makeshift bed from three chairs she soon carried over as well. She then grabbed a fourth to sit in between him and Kitsuki.

The dull sound of rain tapping against the window filled the room as Dante remained dead for another few seconds until his body stood straight up like an undead creature sitting up suddenly from a coffin in a horror film.

"That…was adorable!" he cried out.

* * *

The rain was starting to come down harder now, rapping against the window as the two teens stared at each other from two opposite ends of the room. Inuba ushered Ciel and Skyla out of Kitsuki's room after Dante got back up, and the three were waiting outside making sure the door remained closed at all times.

It was dark out now. And Kitsuki felt a little uneasy as Dante sat in a chair, awkwardly tapping his finger against his knee until he finally rose from his seat and took a step forward. Kitsuki tried to scoot back, but the headrest behind her stopped her.

She could still see it. But it was different now. It began to slowly look more and more like the picture Inuba had shown her beforehand. But his eyes… His eyes were different from the picture. Instead of the perfectly round, disk-shaped eyes that glowed an ominous bright white, large, slanted eyeholes were present in the armored faceplate mask, showing his Shadow Eyes. Glowing white irises with black pupils and black sclera stared deep into golden-orange eyes. His eyes narrowed slightly to express his displeasure in frightening her.

"Listen, I am really sorry about scaring you." He spoke in a hollow, echoing voice from her perspective, "I don't know exactly why you can see… um… this appearance...but I really am not going to hurt you." Dante admitted, speaking as gently as he could as he stopped walking forward.

Kitsuki had trouble signing something out, her fingers were still shaking as she tried to avoid eye contact.

"It's okay. Just… Just stay over there... I don't know why I see you like that either…" she said as he sat back down in the chair he rose from previously.

What she saw was something akin to a demon of the most frightening kind. And no one else saw it currently but her. She could see the version of Dante that put fear into the hearts of any and all that would gaze upon this form of his.

"Okay, I'll stay right here. I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was actually some sort of big scary monster that eats people...and souls...and… Yeah, I'm not gonna go any further with that. Well, you've been spending time with my partner Inuba… So, what has she told you about me?" He asked slowly, remaining completely still.

"That you're a really nice guy with a big heart. You'd do anything for your friends and you're willing to sacrifice yourself for their sake." Kitsuki signed out in the darkness of the room.

The lights were out, which was her initial decision when she realized what Inuba requested of her to try to do, but she was starting to regret that now. The white glow and the black Aura that oozed from him only made it more ominous. Inuba wanted her to at least give Dante a chance. And she was willing…but something else was scaring her now.

A dull crackle of thunder broke through the hammering of rain outside the window. It was distant, but it still carried into the room in a muffled boom.

She flinched, ears folding against her head as she pulled her blanket up to her heart. She didn't notice Dante had jumped slightly himself, his body shaking as his Shadow Eyes went wide for a moment.

"S-She told me that you were the nicest person she has ever known..."

"T-There, see? If anything, everyone should trust what Inuba says! Especially if they say I'm nice. I try to be nice to everyone I can. Being nice is fun. Most of the time. Again, I don't want you thinking that I'm like The Devil or his cousin Steve, or-"

There was another crack of thunder, and Dante jumped slightly once. His eyes quickly watched Kitsuki flinch on the bed as her eyes and ears were shielded from the window, staring back at him. She was seeing something strange happening to him. It was as if his Shadow Skin was warping slightly, slowly dissolving away into the night.

"Anyway, I'm not a big scary monster, well, technically not, but truthfully even I don't know exactly what I am. I know I'm not exactly human but I am just me, and you can trust me." He said really fast as he gave her a double thumbs up.

He wasn't sure if he was getting anywhere with the girl in front of him, which was worrying him.

"I believe you..." Kitsuki signed out.

There was another flash of light, then a resounding boom as the sound of thunder tore through the walls in a concussive blast. It sounded like it was just outside now.

The only person that could squeal in the room did so, as two bodies suddenly threw the only blanket into the air and scurried beneath it, both shivering heavily as another flash illuminated the room just before another blast of thunder shook it to its core. The taller one of the two quickly grabbed the sheet sheet out of the air and brought it back to cover the both of them. Kitsuki was mute, but she certainly thought it was her who made that rather girlish squealing noise. She wanted to squeal. It wasn't her however.

By the third crack of lightning, Dante and Kitsuki were clinging together beneath the covers as the storm raged on outside, all tension between them thrown to the wind as a baser phobia took over in the both of them. Thunder and lightning shattered in the rainy sky, as if knowing how much the two in the room feared them, as the storm continued for the rest of the night.

Kitsuki didn't see him as the demon anymore. She saw him as he normally was, slightly sweating and looking somewhat terrified, but still, nonetheless she saw him normally now.

"Y-You're afraid of lightning and thunder t-too..?" she quickly signed.

"W-What..? No… Not in the slightest!"

Another crack of thunder and a flash of lightning soon proved that theory wrong as he let out yet another girlish scream and jumped just as much as Kitsuki did.

"Y-Yes..!" he corrected silently as his shivering became more apparent.

Despite the current situation, Kitsuki was rather amused slightly. No longer afraid of him, her shivering hand took hold of his own shaking hand, and it was in that moment, she felt safer than she did previously.

The immortal and the kitsune never let go of each other until dawn broke through the morning clouds.

* * *

Inuba locked the door to Kitsuki's infirmary room as Ciel and Skyla scampered off with disheartened and bored faces in some form of cuteness withdrawal, despite being away from Kitsuki for nine seconds.

The two girls disappeared down the darkening hallway as the rain fell a little harder outside, striking the window at the end of the corridor as Inuba turned around and placed her back to the door. She let out a sigh and slid down slowly, situating herself on the floor before pulling her knees up and against her chest.

Her fox tail wound its way around her ankles and shins, giving her a protective field of white fur that Kitsuki instinctively curled into as well.

"You think they'll be fine?" Xera asked, walking past the fox-yōkai against the door and making his way to the windowsill.

"Well, the intention is for Kitsuki to see Dante at a comforting level, rather than the image she has been seeing since his appearance."

Xera pulled himself up onto the sill, bending one leg up as he leaned against the frame of the window's crook in the wall.

A white light flashed across the pain of glass at my right, illuminating Beacon's courtyards and gardens for a brief, shining moment before thunder shook the night sky.

"Think it'll work?" he asked.

"I believe so. There are other methods I can try should this not work, but I am confident in how this will play out..." The kitsune responded, resting her own head against the door at her back and glancing to Xera.

"Well, if it works, I hope they become friends. If anything, I hope Kitsuki can start building her own little network of people who care about her."

It grew silent for a little while, the two of them just sitting there, listening. The rain grew a little harder, and the storm closed in a little closer, but they sat there in silence for the better part of a few minutes.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you know Kitsuki's name and her past?" Inuba asked, her eyes drifting across her tail before her gaze lifted and fell on Xera once more.

"When I found her at the facility, she was barely being kept alive by a couple machines on their last legs of scheduled functionality. They weren't going to last… One of those machines was a computer hooked up to the control panel running her life-support operations."

"They most likely took meticulous time logs I presume.." Inuba responded, her hand pulling away from her tail.

"It was a research facility. Time logs, data records, journals, formal notes, they were all on digital record. Even full background files on the subjects they collect."

Another flash of lightning danced across the window and along the floor of the hallway, thunder rolling in a moment later.

"How much of the information did you gain access to?" She asked.

"All of it, including her family history."

"She didn't have one, did she…?" she asked, her voice carrying more sympathy than her eyes.

"None on record. As far as they knew, she grew up an orphan in Mistral, where she survived in a small, close group of others just like her. They were all around the same age. They didn't just find Kitsuki or any of their subjects. They watched them, studied them, gathered information and waited. It was all planned, all of it. From start to end, every step a meticulous study to find the most suitable targets. In the end, the records didn't say anything about what happened to the rest of them. They all were simply written off after they collected Kitsuki."

Collected...

It felt inhumane to Inuba, especially since it reminded her of a darker time.

"Then she somehow was transported to the facility in Krono Desert, where you found her.." Inuba replied.

"I want to build her a family." Xera stated simply, taking a step forward as he pushed his hands into his pockets, "A new one. Because what she doesn't remember now, she'll remember in the future, and no one can know for certain what she'll be feeling when that time comes."

"I had a feeling you had that intention when you mentioned a growing network of people who care for her…" the fox girl on the floor, glancing up at Xera as her fox ears perked up ever so slightly.

"Inuba…" he addressed, letting the following thunder dull down as he gave the fox yōkai a small smile, "Would you mind playing the part of Kitsuki's older sister? Even if it's just every once in a while?"

Inuba's eyes left Xera's as she glanced to the side, turning her head slightly now as her ears perked up just a little higher.

"I suppose I can visit every once in a while. The crystals we used to crossover into your Reality allow for transportation with only a simple limit to the time buffers between the trips."

Her fox ears were the only answer he needed, seeing as they stood up in elation and bounced atop her head.

"Thank you, Xera. I would love to fill the role you request of me."

"Good… That means a lot to me." said Xera as he waved goodbye and began walking away.

 _Mai would be very jealous if she knew I took in a little sister… Same in Master's case as well._

Inuba giggled to herself as her fox tail whipped about slowly.

 _Oh Mai… How long has it been since we've seen one another… I really hope that one day we can see each other again. You and everyone else at the estate… Asahi, Akihito… Mother…_

She let out another sigh and looked out the window, watching the flashes of thunder streak the sky and listening to the hinder rumbling loudly.

 _And father… Where did you go? Where have you been for so long? Mother and the rest of us miss you so dearly… Will we ever see you again some day..?_

* * *

 **(POV of an unamed Shade)**

How long has it been I wonder… Ten years now? No...about twelve actually… I can't even begin to remember how long ago I found myself in the same situation. Alone. And unable to speak to others. Unless I reveal myself that is. But there is a more than decent explanation for my hiding from others. Many that actually knew me, or knew of me, believe me to be dead. Only a very rare few know the truth of what has transpired. Why now only a Specter walks in my place, watching closely and observing everything here in Creation, whereas my true self remains elsewhere.

In truth, my duties have taken me elsewhere, leading me to travel beyond everything we know and understand. But a price. Once I enter, I can only leave once. As soon as I return another time, I will never be able to leave. Right now is my one and only chance to finish what it is started and be able return to what remains of my family. They mean the world to me. And for them...I would endure this task devoid of hope in order to ensure that they will have a future. Not only for themselves...but for all.

But there are times now and then where I may simply relax for a few moments or so and personally watch, even control my Specter and it's actions. The places I go to observe with my specter almost always have some sort of interesting to observe or study. I know a great a deal about virtually almost anything and everything you could possibly think of. Even so, there is always more to learn or see, something I appreciated greatly throughout my travels thus far.

And so I stood at the top of an icy mountain overlooking the Beacon Academy of this Reality. It was in there my greater interests rested within. It's why I made this Specter. To follow them, watch them, give them clues along their oath on their journeys without revealing myself to them, and if absolutely necessary...intervene in very difficult situations. Although I do wish to keep my intervening as minimal as possible. This Sepcter only has so much Aura it can use. I can't waste it. It is my only connection to the outside. I lose my Specter, I lose my ability to be in two places at once.

So for now, all I can do is watch. Killing Zeridûl would be a simple task for me. A snap of the fingers really, or as humans popularly say, a "flick of the wrist". Though in some cases, "of the" would be replaced with "a da". Honestly, people of this day and age have such strange verbage… Though I suppose there is some merriment or humor behind it. Most of the time anyways…

But yes… Zeridûl… In my eyes, he, like Raum, is still like a child. Though Zeridûl does not seek dominion like how Raum once did. His goal is much much simpler really. A challenge. A worthy opponent. And he will find it when he faces Dante and the Phoenix. Xera Stark… Stark… Ah… His last name did sound familiar after all. So…he is her son. This will an interesting fight after all...

As my Shadowed figure rested my rather ethereal black hand on the engraving of the memorial in front of me. It was an object of interest at the moment. After all, it was her grave site. The one thing I disliked about my Specter slightly is the black energies that oozed from it. Although, when the energies do drift in the wind, I must admit, it does seem rather impressive looking. Of course, my Specter wasn't bare bodied. I wore a black cloak of sorts to hide beneath it, also oozing of these dark energies.

"I see… How unfortunate that you and your people have suffered such injustice…"

Through touching the gravestone, I could see the memories of the one who lay here. And they were powerful memories altogether. It was a shame how her end came about… As much as I love and appreciate humans, I can't help but think some are who are beyond salvation. And intelligence. But, there are humans who continue to impress and amaze me. And it is they whom I appreciate the most.

What's this?

…

Ah… So then... It is you… Hmmmm… Very well then… I shall greet him.

"You're the first to slip through my senses unseen. In fact, I sensed you as if only now you willingly just made your presence known." A young man behind the Specter spoke, "Your presence is Dark… Who are you?"

"I am no one of significant mention or importance. Only a simple passerby and an observer."

My voice, compared to how it normally sounded, was hollow and echoing.

I ignored him for a moment to look at Beacon once more. I was sensing...fluctuations in Aura. Ah, of course it's Dante's… It doesn't seem as though he's realized his Aura is unstable currently. Yes, he has little to no trace left of his original Dark Essence, but still, he has just a small portion left. Considering that the Light Essence within in serves as his main power, there would be a struggle since he's had no need for them until his arrival on Remnant.

Currently, it isn't as fine tuned as his Dark Essence was on Primordial. He still isn't completely tuned to it. And because of this, his power fluctuates between the two and creates a small struggle. Honestly… I expected him to realize this now, especially after the...incident in the church with Friede…

Oh yes, I almost forget he was behind me. How rude.

"Your lies drip from you like the black mist seeping out of your being." he spoke.

"Again, no one of great importance. And I walked here for your information… Niro Ezdeil."

Yes. That Niro Ezdeil.

"I would've remembered meeting someone like you, but a chance encounter such as that isn't in my memory. Don't be so full of yourself, though. Names aren't hard to come by. What else do you know?" he asked me.

"I know a great many things Mr. Ezdeil. Some would say I know everything. The people I knew would say I know too much."

It is true. I do know much. Far too much than I should. Even so, that does not mean I know everything. Only that I know more than most do.

I finally turned to face mr. Ezdeil completely, my disk shaped, glowing white eyes staring right at him.

"I know that you too are a tragic victim of unfortunate circumstance."

He really was if you knew everything about him beforehand. Though I suppose he would attempt to de-molecularize you if you tired showing some form of pity. Or if your tried to give the man a hug. Either or really.

Oh? Countermeasures? How amusing. He thinks I might mean him harm. Given my current state, eliminating him would be a rather strenuous effort. But st the cost of my Specter no less. Though I may be immune to his abilities, on his own in this area, he is still a formidable foe.

Right now he's thinking why his Semblance and that condition of his isn't affecting me. Again, for simple reasons really. Yet to him, not so simple.

"Your Semblance doesn't affect me. It's a fairly simple as to why. First, I erased your countermeasures. Then, I locked access to your Aura, Semblance and that special...condition of yours."

"Redefining those you don't know can be dangerous. I could always tap into something else, it might not be as simple as you assume…"

"Not while I have you locked down you can't. I do not like to boast Mr. Ezdeil, but such a thing is not impossible for one such as myself to lock you down for the time being. Do not worry, I mean you no harm. I simply did so as a sort of…oh, dear me...what is the term these days? Ah yes, I remember now. I did so as a sort of 'insurance policy', as they say. I hope you understand. After all, you yourself went to a length to entrap me in case I would attack you."

"You're not wrong… You've been careful to this point to not tell me who you are, so, allow me to inquire something. Will you tell me your reason for being here specifically?"

"I'm following and keeping close watch of a group of four that recently arrived here. Five if you count the other. But then I came across something rather…peculiar. It piqued my interest greatly and…reminded me of days past. You did as well. Frankly Mr. Ezdeil, I made myself known to you to interact and converse with you. It's been far too long since I've done so…"

It really has. When you are one such as myself and stuck where I am, conversation is a completely rare thing.

"You made yourself known to me so we can talk…just because you were bored?"

"Welllllll… In a manner of speaking, yes."

"Brilliant…" he said with a smirk.

I did what some would do in almost any situation. I walked up and offered him my hand to shake. If we were acquaintances, it would ease whatever tensin there was.

"I do believe people shake hands in making formal acquaintances with one another."

Niro did exactly so, calmly shaking my hand.

"Wonderful. You and I are now acquaintances."

"Terrific… Who were you observing, or still are observing?" he asked me.

"I believe you met them earlier today. Well, two of them at the least."

It was entertaining slightly to see Ciel and Leonard take on mr. Ezdeil. If they knew of his Semblance and condition, they'd would be able to formulate a strategy to defeat him. Although, it would be easier if Dante was with them. His powers were more fit for offensive tactics whilst mixing in defensive measures. He was the most versatile of them.

"Those two?" he asked.

"Precisely. You noticed it too, didn't you?"

"I did… Those two aren't normal, none of the presences were. I could tell that much just by taking a look at their Aura."

"You would be right to think so. Did you know that they weren't the only two?"

"I counted five as soon as I stepped into the city, they're signatures stuck out like bloodstains on the floor of a white room. Their conversation suggested they were looking for their brother."

I chuckled to myself.

"The two of them have always been rather attached to their older brother. They think the world of him. Most younger siblings tend to do that from what I've observed."

"The way you put it, it sounds as if you've been watching them for years now."

"I have from afar. Getting close to them currently would be rather problematic."

How would I explain circumstances as they are now? They wouldn't be able to do much, if not anything. They were still far behind on path and in need of catching up.

"The most you can do now is just watching them then, I assume."

"Indeed…"

A silence remained between us for a few moments until I spoke once more.

"Mr. Ezdeil, you are currently hunting a Xera Stark, are you not?"

"What if I am?"

"I would implore you to halt your progress in the current hunt for the time being."

"Or?"

"I'd rather not say…"

"Because of the siblings you're watching?"

"You are very perceptive… How enjoyable… Part of the reason is because of the three of them and their very loyal companion. Should you do anything rather… unsavory… well, it's safe to say the four of them will be more than enough for you. Especially their loyal companion. She… heh… She would very likely destroy your entire being."

"I somehow doubt that…"

While I do understand that underestimating someone was rather dangerous, he didn't know the full truth behind them and their powers. All of them.

Intriguing… He's thinking that since all of them are abnormally powerful, it raises his chances of defeating them.

How naive of him.

"But you see Mr. Ezdeil, you don't possess the knowledge I do. If you did, you would understand and give way to reason. But as I said, they would be a concern of yours. Invoke their wrath, and they would be your prime concern."

"And you're saying Xera Stark should be a concern?"

"Memories are a powerful thing Mr. Ezdeil. Memories reveal so much information that it's...well…indescribable… Leona Stark's were certainly powerful… I know a great deal about Xera Stark now from her memories. And from my own observations I've made thus far, he is certainly an individual of great interest."

"Are you telling me not to go after him because he's of interest to you?"

"Partly yes, but I know for a fact you won't listen to me unless I threaten you and force you to give way to reason. You'll take my words into account, but nothing more unless you see for yourself. What I'm saying, is that you take some time off for now. Continue observing and making your reports. But do not engage. Not until the current business at hand has concluded. You've felt it too haven't you?"

"I have. I've never seen the likes of it before. But why should I halt my efforts because of whatever that thing is?"

"Well, Mr. Ezdeil…if it's caught your fancy, perhaps you should go and see for yourself what it is Xera Stark and the others fight currently."

"Perhaps I might…"

At this point, our conversation was over. There was nothing more to discuss really. Although, I did have one more,piece of advice for him.

"I know of your plight Mr. Ezdeil. Moreso than you think."

"And?"

"And…" I started as I placed a hand on his shoulder, "It is never too late to re-evaluate your options and your views. There is always hope. Even in the deepest, blackest of places. It is never too late."

I then gave him a pat on the back and went on my way.

"You still didn't tell me who you are."

"I've had many names over the eons Mr. Ezdeil. All of them quite flattering. In most instances anyway."

"You insinuate that you're-"

"No. An excellent guess, though. I've found this conversation to be most enjoyable Mr. Ezdeil. I look forward to seeing how this all progresses."

It really was fascinating for me to see him think I was The Creator. Or God as most would commonly call him. But no, I am not The Creator. I am nearly as old however…

With that, I snapped my fingers, and from mr. Ezdeil's perspective, I simply vanished. In truth, I simply altered my standing in the dimension, putting myself in one separate from him. I watched as he stood still on the mountaintop for a few moments, eventually walking down its slope again.

I do hope that when the times comes, he would make the right choice. But for now, I will do as I have always done. I would watch vigilantly, and I would take note of all I could see. And if possible, continue laying bread crumbs for them to follow. Soon enough, they would realize their true potential, and take up their true calling.

* * *

 **(Omake: "Of Foxes and Beat Drops", by Xera Stark)**

"What are they doing?" Leo asked.

Two fox-yōkai sat on their heels on a soft bed, speakers lining the corners of the room, as a scroll sat between them with a playlist running through some songs.

"They're listening to music." Ciel explained.

"Yes, that much is obvious..." Leo replied, watching as both Inuba and Kitsuki situated themselves and gave one another an affirmative nod.

"But why are they doing this? Perhaps I should have led with that." Leo continued.

"You'll see..." Ciel said with a grin, rubbing her hands together in excitement, "It all started with Kitsuki." She pointed to the smaller kitsune on the left as the volume started getting louder.

"What do you mean-"

Leo's words soon fell from his mouth and lost meaning, even in his own mind. His eyes narrowed in on the smallest of movements before that movement happened again, and again, and soon…he realized what his sister was excited for.

Kitsuki's fox ears suddenly twitched, then Inuba's twitched as well, the two closing their eyes as they started listening to the music. Ciel's bemused smile grew as the music began to pick up pace.

Before long, two sets of fluffy white ears began to sync up with the music and slowly began to rise. Furry appendages rose into the air, reaching a level of perkiness before folding, then rising again and going slightly higher as the music progressed.

As the song grew louder, the ears reached higher, and Ciel let out a small giggle as she watched Inuba's and Kitsuki's ears begin to move side to side and flick in the air.

The beat suddenly reached a soft moment, and each set of ears stilled, waiting for just a moment before each ear began to softly vibrate.

Music began to escalate, causing each appendage to vibrate more apparently than before, and as the tempo and the music got faster and louder, so did the movement of the ears before, in a loudly sung crescendo, both sets of ears slammed downward and began moving up and down to the beat of the song, following and syncing to every rise and fall of the music, of the lyrics, slamming to the beat and the tune as the two began to lightly bob and nod their heads.

Ciel suddenly squealed as she jumped up and down.

"Look look! Look at their tails!"

Four tails swished back and forth quickly and fluidly, flicking their tips to every crest in the music as all of Kitsuki's three tails and Inuba's one tail fell in sync perfectly with each other.

"I...cannot seem to find the words for what I'm seeing..." Leo muttered, face going slightly red at the spectacle before him.

The two kitsune continued to quietly rock out cutely to the music as it drew into the next song, immersing themselves into it with little regard to their surroundings anymore.

"Ciel? Leo? Have you guys seen Inuba?" Dante's voice called from outside the room.

Ciel's eyes suddenly widened.

"Oh my god Dante will die if he sees this!"

"I am sure you're mistaken," Leo shook his head, "Dante's immortal. We all are-"

"No you idiot! Don't you remember?!" Ciel exclaimed, shaking her hands as she looked back at the door.

Leo's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered what she meant.

"Don't come in here big brother!" She exclaimed, trying to hold the door closed as best she could.

"Ciel? What are you doing? Why can't I come in there?"

"W-We, uh… We-"

Ciel looked back toward the scene behind her then to Leo.

"U-Uh… I'm naked!"

"I can assure you, Ciel is currently fully clothed." Leo suddenly spoke.

"Leo!"

Ciel had a look of shock cross her face as she glared at her brother.

"Wait, Leo's in there too?" Dante's voice came through again as the door's knob quickly turned.

"No!" Ciel pushed herself against the door again.

"What do you mean, no? I heard him! He's definitely in there!"

Dante pushed harder, forcing his sister to slowly begin to lose her grip on the floor.

"He is quite correct. I am indeed right here."

"You're not helping smartass!" Ciel growled, pushing with all her might but still skidding back as Dante tried to peek his head inside.

"I still don't get why I'm not allowed in this room! This is Kitsuki's room, so why are you all in there?" Dante asked as he pushed the door open even further.

"I believe only Ciel has the answer to your inquiry, brother." Leo responded.

Ciel huffed in annoyance at her brother and found her boots skidding effortlessly along the floor now, fully being pushed back as the door opened just far enough for Dante to slip inside.

"There!" Dante proclaimed, dusting his hands off as he fixed Ciel with a mild glare.

"Seriously, have either of you seen Inuba? I need her help with something."

"S-She's, uh…"

Ciel quickly scooted herself closer to the door to make sure Dante's peripherals didn't catch what was happening on the bed.

"She's not here! Kitsuki and Inuba went into town to go shopping for clothes! Yeah, clothes. Kitsuki needed some."

Ciel was fiddling with her skirt as she lied her heart out.

"Really? I could've sworn she was still here in the room. Are you sure she went out?" Dante asked, dipping his chin slightly as he looked down in thought, "She would've told me if she was heading out."

"R-Really?! I'm sure she just forgot to this time…" Ciel said with an awkward, toothy, very convincing smile.

It wasn't that convincing.

"Inuba never forgets anything. For as long as I've known her, she's never forgotten something or not considered something that could lead to misunderstandings."

He soon slowly crossed his arms as he looked down at his younger sister.

"Ciel, what's going on?"

"Going on? Nothing's going on, just listening to music in Kitsuki's room is all." Ciel replied back, tucking a strand of her white hair behind her ear.

"You and I both know that you're lying. Come on, you can tell me, I'm your trusty older brother. You can tell me anything."

Dante then realized something and a look of worry flashed in his eyes.

"Is something wrong? Is Inuba in danger? Are you in danger? Is some nefarious plot going on that has you forced to lie to me in order to protect someone?!"

Ciel quickly shook her head to all of that.

"N-No! No, not at all. Please, big brother, just don't-"

"I am quite surprised it has taken him this long to notice." Leo commented from the side, clearly both enjoying himself and smiling amusedly at the interactions going on.

Ciel's mouth fell open as she fixed her twin brother with a look of pure, unrestrained shock.

"Haven't noticed what?" Dante asked, turning to regard Leo.

That was when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Something white flicked up in down in his peripherals, and his bright sky blue eyes quickly turned to see what it was. His face had never been so red.

"I-I-Inuba?!"

His mouth fell open, eyes dancing up and down as he watched the tips of her ears dance up and down, his eyes flicking to the other occupant.

"K-kitsuki too?!"

Dante was at a loss for words.

What were words anymore? How did breathing work again? Wait, wasn't blinking supposed to be a thing? Why did time suddenly stop?

Ciel watched Dante choke on his thoughts and fall forward, slamming unceremoniously to the ground with a solid flop as his blood and skin ran cold.

"Well...his heart has stopped again." Leo said with an amused grin, reaching down to check the downed teen's pulse.

"I told you!" Ciel exclaimed with a solid punch to Leo's arm.

It wasn't long before Inuba and Kitsuki started dancing and hopping around on the bed together. Unfortunately, that was at around the time Dante sprung back onto his feet.

He lasted three seconds before dying again.

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 4)**

"New Years was awesome!" Shouted Ciel.

"Agreed. To think I of all people would enjoy blowing things up the way we did… There was also the food brother and Inuba made."

"Seriously, why go to restaurants when we have those two?"

"Come now Ciel, we can't always have them cook for us."

"But it's so goooood~"

"We can discuss this at a later time. We have our segment now. Have you picked out a person of interest for us today?"

"Hmmmmm…. Oh!" she said snapping her fingers, "Why don't we do our segment on Weiss Schnee's Semblance? I heard she's a pretty 'chill' person."

Leo only sighed at his sister's awful pun as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"In spite of my sisters terrible pun-"

"Hey!"

"I'll start us off. Today we will be discussing about ms. Schnee's Semblance, commonly know and/or referred to as Glyphs. Now, from what we know, Glyphs is a hereditary Semblance of her family, each Glyph having a variety of effects on objects, creatures, and people. Ms. Schnee often uses her Glyphs for propulsion in order to enhance mobility, as well as exerting push/pull forces on other objects and acting as a solid surface, such as placing a glyph on the side of a building and running up it."

"She can also use her Glyphs as a solid shield or barrier to offer some really nice protection, and even use her Glyphs to accelerate objects both through the air and over surfaces in. Using that fancy-schmancy rapier of hers, Myrtenaster, she modifies the effects of her Glyphs by changing which Dust vial is in use at the time, giving her a whole variety of awesome effects to tack on."

"Possibly my favorite part of her Semblance would be her Time Dilation, which appears to increase speed and reaction time."

"Well, my favorite is her Summoning. According to Winter, her older sister, members of the Schnee family are able to summon foes that they have previously defeated in combat and bring them to fight for their side. We haven't exactly seen it yet, but Leo and I have a theory this also means humanoid foes or just straight up humans she defeats. If you all recall the attack on Beacon...our big brother let Weiss 'defeat' him."

"Indeed. While we aren't sure if she has attempted to or not, we are under the assumption she could very likely summon a Specter of our brother in his Shadow Skin form. Given this fact, she could already have an extremely power summon to bring onto the battlefield whenever she is in need."

"Don't forget about that giant suit of armor." Said Ciel.

"I didn't forget Ciel. I am merely stating a Specter summon of our brother would be a far more suitable summon than oversized suit of armor."

"True, true. But don't forget, the stronger the summon, the more is consumed throughout the process."

"You honestly do believe I'm simple enough to forget such details…"

"I know you aren't able to pick up chicks."

"That's-! That's not even remotely relevant! A-And..! I-I'm very sure if I actually tried I could very well 'pick up chicks'!"

"Oh~? Then why don't you have a girlfriend yet Leo? That shyness of yours holding you back?" Asked the sister with a wide grin.

"Q-Quite the opposite really!" He said turning around and crossing his arms, huffing in frustration at his sister, "I… I simply haven't had the occasion to d-do so…"

"Uh-huh. Sure… Well, that's it for this week folks. Next time is Weapon's Illustrated with big brother and Ruby, and you guessed it, they're featuring Weiss' weapon Myrtenaster!"

"T-Thank you all for joining us this week… We hope to see you again soon…"

"Alright, come here Romeo." Said Ciel as she slung an arm around her brother, dragging him off stage "Let sweet sister Ciel give you the guide on 'How to pick up fair maidens'..."

* * *

 **Excitement and fun all around ladies and gentleman. Dante and Inuba bond together with the new little kitsune Kitsuki, but Inuba moreso for obvious reasons. Right now, it'll nice rest chapters for just a while. Having fun and the sorts. When the rest period's over, back to the fight!**

 **Really, that's all I have to say, so with that...**

 **Don't forget to check out my other new story Knights of White and Black, which is being written in conjunction with Xera Stark's story Rogue Huntsmen. It's totally awesome and definitely a new and fresh way of wrting for me. So yeah, please go check it out!**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend! Bye-bye now!**


	12. Chapter 12: Food War

**Food War**

Kitsuki awoke with a silent whimper, her head lurching in a sharp pain, reaching for a memory only to watch it vanish and slip away. She did not know what it was, only that she knew her body wished for the memory to come back, despite it being out of reach.

Her stomach twisted in on itself as the pain grew in her head, and she pressed her ears flat against her hair as she felt a sudden rush of soothing warmth fill the void just beneath them. The twisting stopped soon after, but it wasn't like she had anything in her stomach anyway. Her stomach growled at her as she pouted and looked around, large fox ears slowly rising as she noticed the sun peeking in through the single window to her right. She took a tiny hold of the edge of the blanket covering her and adjusted it slightly, before pushing into the mattress and sliding into a sitting position with her back against her pillow.

Her three fox tails returned to her after getting comfortable, wrapping around her small frame as she glanced down to the empty spot on the bed beside her, wondering where the young immortal had gone.

Her golden-orange eyes stared in confusion for a few moments before looking up and finding Dante sitting in a chair by her bed. His eyes currently switched back and forth between his holographic screen, HoloScroll as he called it, listening to the news while reading a thick, black leather bound book, quickly flipping through the aged and dry pages. Kitsuki forced herself to read the text backwards the news channel displayed, watching as a woman giving the weather report for the week.

"So, you're awake. That's good. Did you sleep well?" Dante said, glancing momentarily away from his HoloScroll as he slid his finger upwards slightly to turn up the volume.

Thanks to that, Kitsuki was finally able to hear what was being broadcasted. Storms seemed to be culminating across the skies throughout the majority of Vale and its surrounding villages. Discrepancies and anomalies in the weather patterns were amassing at an unnatural rate, originating from some sort of epicenter that's too clouded to accurately pinpoint or view normally.

The storms are originating from somewhere south of Vale...

 _Given the Dark Omens I've seen through news reports, unnatural cold weather and lighting storms, Zeridûl must have set up base around there. That, and he must have blanketed the rift from prying eyes… He's playing it smart. At least, for now he is._

Another thought soon entered the young immortals mind, remember last night's "scare".

"Ahem…" he started as he cleared his throat, "I have to apologize for that rather...um...abnormal display. Even after so long I still have a problem…" he said finishing softly, referring to last nights lightning storm.

"It's alright. You were just as scared as I was. And...it helped having someone there." Kitsuki signed out as she continued to listen in with her heightened hearing, something she didn't realize she did out of instinct rather trying to do so.

She still retained her instincts, knowledge, and thought processes from before. It was just her memory that was the main issue.

"It helped, huh..? Well, seeing as you haven't been reacting to me like you did before, I think I can safely assume that you don't see that scary form of mine?" the teen asked.

Kitsuki gave him a small nod, glancing slightly at him now before looking back to the sheets in her lap. She missed Dante suddenly give a fist pump in the air with a silent "Yes!"

"Good, that's good."

"What… What was that form of yours if it's not how you actually look like?" she signed out.

"Hmmm… Well, in the shortest explanation possible, it's my trump card so to speak. One of my toughest abilities. Besides scaring the enemy to the point where they have to change their underwear, it dramatically increases all of my parameters for the amount of time I'm using it. Luckily, it doesn't need to draw on my Aura after I fully form it, or do partial transformations. The only time it does is when I have to fix any damaged areas. Even then it's very difficult to so much as scratch given it's high defensive capabilities. Ever since I've first used it, I dubbed it as my Shadow Skin!" He said proudly standing up with his hands on his hips.

Kitsuki smiled at his rather silly display. But she another another question in mind, one she kept to herself. Why was it that she saw a different version compared to the one in the picture Inuba showed her? Was it a mistake? Or maybe a small discrepancy in perception?

"In any case, you probably haven't eaten in a while. So...I'll have Inuba's cook up something for you from the school's kitchen. Her food is just heavenly if you've never had it before, so you're in for a real treat."

"To be honest, I can't remember what most foods taste like. Or, what most foods are. I think I might if I saw it, but I can't say for sure." Kitsuki signed back with a meek little smile, something that brought a small, brief visual reaction out of Dante.

His eyes widened for just that moment, as if realizing something.

For someone who's having trouble even remembering the taste of certain foods…would something as delicious as Inuba's cooking give her a flavor overload? But this might be a good chance to help out Kitsuki a bit. Maybe jog her memory slightly.

He suddenly switched his attention to his HoloScroll and sent Inuba a quick message, asking her to cook Kitsuki something light and warm, with herbs used as a base for the meal, a good way to soothe the stomach while warming and satisfying the person being served. In this case, he wanted to be careful just in case the other dish was overwhelming for the smaller kitsune.

"Well, we'll be able to see if you recognize the dishes that'll be ready within the next few minutes. Inuba just messaged me back when she might be done."

Dante then closed the tabs on his HoloScroll, turning his attention back to the fox-yōkai on the bed.

"This may sound weird since we've only just met one another, but I have something I need to ask of you. A small request, if you're willing to listen."

Kitsuki took a moment to wonder what Dante was going on about, but she nodded slightly at the end as she turned her ears partially in his direction.

"Please don't tell anyone about how I was last night. Very few people have seen me in such a…vulnerable state, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Why do you want to keep it a secret?"

"Well...it's…it's not so much wanting to keep it a secret... I'd rather just leave it be something nobody knows about. It's...embarrassing to say the least. And above all that, it's a weakness I'd rather not have widely known."

"Okay, I won't tell anyone. But what about the two people who heard you squealing last night?"

Her innocent question brought a sudden grimace to Dante's face as he suddenly looked toward the door with a rather diabolical look, as if he were planning something.

 _One of them had to be Inuba... But who was the other? Someone who knew about Kitsuki being in this room… Someone who knew them in person but also recognized Inuba by appearance. Or maybe they stuck around to ask her why she was here. This wing is locked down as is and blocked off from student access except for a select few..._

"If you're wondering about who it was, it was Xera." Kitsuki signed out, catching Dante's attention and, simultaneously, his curiosity and intrigue.

"You could sense him?" he asked, the look of worry passing from him completely as he set that aside for the time being.

 _Would he ever exploit my weakness? No, he wouldn't… Would he..?_

"I wasn't able to recognize Inuba's Aura Signature at first, but I guessed she would be keeping an eye on us from outside. But somehow...I was able to know for certain that the other was Xera. It felt…familiar. And I recognized it immediately, even after he left." she signed with a look of trepidation and confusion, finishing with her last statement as she cast her eyes back to Dante to see if he had anything to say.

 _Not exactly sure of Xera being a Seer… But Kitsuki definitely has to be one. She saw my...well...alternate form from the church that I used. Without me actually using it too. The only other person I've ever seen do that is Abby… All in all, Kitsuki's Aura Sensing definitely seems to be finely tuned. Though I suppose it's a natural occurrence with kitsune having strong sensory abilities. Mine aren't as good as Inuba's, but she's been helping me improve… Let's see…_

Dante moved his face closer to Kitsuki, staring at her as if he were examining her.

The kitsune reflexively leaned back as soon as he leaned in, trusting him moreso than before, but not enough to so close.

"W-What are you doing..?"

He reached out slowly with his only good arm and began rubbing one of Kitsuki's ears.

The girl's tails suddenly whipped out and stood on end, twitching slightly as they swept back and forth against the sheets all of a sudden as she struggled to figure out what he was doing.

"W-Why are you..?"

Her other fox ear drooped slightly as her tongue lulled out again like it did for Ciel and Skyla, letting the final word she was going to sign out fall to her lap.

 _Her ears are definitely real…_

He looked over her shoulder at her giant fluffy tail that was really a combination of three tails. He then began to rub it gently.

Kitsuki suddenly went stiff as her tails stopped moving, her small body shaking for a moment as a hot shiver ran from the tips of her tails to the ends of her ears, shrinking away from Dante's gentle grasp as she suddenly disappeared. A gentle breeze swept through the room, as if a window had cracked open, before Dante turned and saw Kitsuki sitting on her heels on the opposite side of the bed.

She had her tails in her hands, holding them against her chest as she fixed him with a cautious, flushed gaze from just over their furry lengths.

 _She's definitely a Kitsune… Usually doing something like that to an illusionist or someone pretending to be a kitsune through the use of magic reverts them to their original form. The reason I even doubted it in the first place is that I find it somewhat hard to believe there'd be an authentic Kitsune on Remnant… Especially since they practically only come from Primordial unless there's another World that has them… And that just now… That was wind… No kitsune ever uses wind magic unless it's in conjunction with an attack alongside a crow tengu._

The young immortal quickly looked around the room to attempt and confirm his theory.

 _All the doors and windows are closed… I see now… She must have an Affinity. A Wind Affinity to be more specific. How odd..._

"Sorry about that… I was… What's the term again…? Ah, right. Appraising you to make sure you're the real deal. I ran into a rather annoying case back then with a string of fast kitsune so, it helps to make sure. That, and you don't find too many of your kind out and about. Really rare if you ask me. That makes you special."

Despite Kitsuki's fur running on end as her instincts flared still, telling her to still be cautious, she slowly loosened her tight, protective grip over her tails and signed a response.

"Rare? Are there…not that many of my kind at all?"

Her ears drooped slightly, wondering what something like that entailed. She didn't feel very special right now. She felt like a target.

"Well… Not here per say. Where I come from, there's tens of thousands of your kind. It's really an incredible thing. As for where I come from…well… I'm not from this World. And Reality in general. I think it's one of the reasons why a few of the others think I'm so suspicious."

"Really?" Kitsuki asked, tilting her head again as she took in his appearance.

He didn't really look all that different. Were other Realities the same as her own, or were they different? How exactly did that work?

She suddenly blurred out of sight again, vanishing completely before moments later Dante found his shirt completely lifted, nearly off his head, as Kitsuki reappeared in front of him and stared at what she'd found for a few moments.

She didn't know what she was expecting to see. Maybe something that proved what he said, but everything just looked normal. That was until she poked him with her finger, which turned out to be a slight mistake given she poked his ribs with some force. It felt like her finger hit a metal wall.

"Careful now…" said Dante chuckling, "My bones are special, so don't go poking too hard and hurt yourself."

"Why are your bones so special?"

"Um… They're black bones!"

"Black bones..?"

"Mhmm. Bones that are colored pitch black and look like shiny metal. And are indestructible."

"They don't break?!"

"Never in my life have I ever had a broken bone. I thought at first it was because of all the milk I drank by the gallon per day, but then I saw deep layer scans of my body meant to observe my skeletal structure, and found out then that my bones were black. We found out later they were indestructible after running loads of tests on them. With lasers."

Were it not for Kitsuki's inability to speak, the young immortal was sure she would have let out an audible "woah~".

And so, she let his shirt fall back down as she crawled back a foot or two and sat on her heels again, regarding him with a small, disappointed look.

"Is that really possible? I don't really know much about this World right now, so I don't really have much of a sense as to what's possible and what's not..." she admitted.

"Well, for starters, not everyone is completely different. Both externally and...well...internally." Dante said, chuckling as he fixed his shirt, "People can be of the same variety. Or not. Some people might not exist in another Reality, but we wouldn't know that unless we really looked hard. For instance, there's a chance you might exist in my Reality. Or not. But don't get all frustrated about that. Truth is, no other Reality is fake or an illusion. They're all universes that branch off from one another. Mine to be more exact. Apparently from what I've been told, my Reality is the original Reality where everything else stemmed and branched out from it."

"That sounds a little self-conceded to really think a Reality is an original. How do you know nothing's clashing with it from another angle? Or if there's something beyond what you currently understand in your own realm of thought and relativity?" Kitsuki responded, using words out of instinct rather than thinking too far into what she was going to respond with.

It was almost as if her sign language was her primary way of speaking, even if she only learned it yesterday.

"Don't look at me." Dante said, holding up his hand innocently, "I only know what I know because I learned it all in The Plane of Angels. Heaven for short."

Heaven… That almost sounded like a word Kitsuki knew but didn't know anything beyond recognizing its importance. She knew it had to mean something significant, she felt that much for sure, but she had no idea what to think beyond that minor thought.

"But isn't this Plane of Angels only in relation to the creation of your sentient Worlds? Isn't it fair to think something unrelated created the Reality you're visiting, here, right now? With a simple link between them under some unforeseeable agreement that allows those from one to exist with those in another?" Kitsuki asked with a confused stare.

She didn't know why, but she felt a little…off, thinking that some other Creator wanted to claim credit for her existence.

"Well, here's the kicker. Each Reality has a different Crestor. A different God. So forth and so on. Each Creator is different in each Reality, but each of them knows of the existence of their other in another Reality. For us, it all started with The Plane of Angels. Ar that time, The Creator just…existed. He made the Angels and all the other Worlds and Realities. The Angels were like his helpers, so they needed a home first before he could make all the other Worlds and the people who live in them. Honestly, you'd be right to be skeptical, especially hearing this from someone you've practically met only yesterday. Truthfully…I was just as skeptical as you were at first oh so long ago. I never really thought he existed at all. And that was mainly because of all the horrible things I experienced throughout my lifetime so far. But he's real alright. At one point…when everything seemed to be at an end…I felt him. Although he was gone for thousands upon thousands of years… He was back… If only for a few moments..."

Kitsuki slowly nodded her head, realizing her trust in his words didn't run deep enough to fully believe what he was saying. There may have been some merit to his words, and she realized that he believed them himself, every word he spoke. But, the feeling she felt before, it still lingered.

From where he's from, that logic may very well be the truth. But, she couldn't help but feel there was something different for where she currently resided. She wondered if there was something else in the making for her own Reality that his 'Creator' had no control over…but still maintained some amount of relation to.

In any case, her fox ears flicked slightly as she recognized the sound of footsteps, closely followed by an aura signature approaching from the hallway. Her little nose scrunched up momentarily as well, a new aroma filling the stale air of the infirmary room before her mouth naturally began to water.

"What's that amazing smell?"

"Heaven on a plate. The best food you will ever eat." he replied quickly with a wink.

"But you just said Heaven was a place? How can you put that on a plate?" Kitsuki asked, confused again.

He laughed to himself.

"It's a figure of speech. It's so good it may as well be Heaven. What? Was my joke that bad?"

"A…joke?" she responded again, not really following.

"Humor through usage of words and sometimes physical expression. We tell or perform jokes either to relieve stress or to simply brighten up the mood a bit. Sadly, jokes are the one thing that I'm still bad at."

"But, that doesn't make any sense. Aren't you really bad at dying?" Kitsuki asked genuinely, well, as much as that was possible given her sign language.

Yet again he laughed.

"That might actually be true. But you see Kitsuki… I… am immortal!" he said, proudly placing his only good hand on his hip.

"I'm still confused… After your little sister and Skyla's partner were dragged off by Inuba, she explained to me that you died momentarily when I asked why you were on the ground. Was she wrong?"

"Momentarily, though. I came back to life. And besides, that was an exception in part because of you." he said rubbing the top of her head gently.

Her fox ears folded against her head as she closed her eyes for a moment, shaking his fingers from her hair a few seconds later as she opened her eyes again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill you… I don't really know how, though. Did I forget something again?"

That thought scared her. Was her mind so fragile it was continuing to shred memories, even if they were current?

"No no! Don't think of it as a bad thing! If anything…it's a good thing, and a compliment in most cases."

"It's a good thing…that I killed you?" She was even more confused now.

"Well, in my case it's okay since I'm me and can't really stay dead. But, it's good because that means you're cute."

"How does that relate to anything?"

Kitsuki's confusion didn't diminish, despite the door to the room opening and Inuba stepping inside. She balanced a large, rectangular silver tray with what looked like stubby legs at its corners on one hand as she closed the door behind her, regarding the two in the room with a polite smile.

On top of the tray seemed to rest two similarly colored domes of sorts. Kitsuki realized she couldn't really smell what was what, but she knew the aroma was coming from those shiny domes.

"Pardon me for coming in during your conversation. It sounds as though you're getting along together just splendidly." said Inuba.

She was glad about that. It hurt her to see Dante so crushed by the simple idea of Kitsuki seeing him in such a dark way. She wasn't wrong when she said his feelings do get hurt rather easily. He was just good at hiding it. Sometimes anyway.

"It's going good." Dante replied to Inuba apologetically before turning back to the smaller kitsune, "But to answer your question, a lot of things. For one, it means that a majority of people will see you in a higher light. Or whatever the term is. In short, they like you more than usual."

Kitsuki turned her gaze back to Dante and tilted it again, "I don't think I like the sound of that."

"Why not? It's a good thing! Trust me!"

"I don't think I want to anymore…"

Kitsuki admitted before she watched Inuba walk up to the side of her bed, resting the tray of domes down onto its surface.

"I hope you enjoy it." Inuba said for before lifting the domes from their positions above the food.

It all looked delicious, but Kitsuki didn't recognize anything on either of the plates.

"The one on your left is a take on a Steak Don. It has a tenderized sirloin as the main component, only I tenderized it with onions and topped it with a glaze created through wine and the juices left in the cooking pan. In the rice beneath I mixed in small amounts of pickled plums for a small refreshing taste."

Kitsuki slowly nodded, her mouth speaking more words than it could ever vocalize as it watered at the very scent of the food before her.

When Dante couldn't help himself and reached forward, his hand was promptly smacked away by Inuba without even sparing a glance, prompting an "ouch!" from him as he shook his hand off.

I'm starting to think it's better if I tell her she actually hurts…

"On the right is a carefully crafted curry with herbal-like qualities due to the fresh and dry spices and herbs I used."

Kitsuki slowly nodded, reaching slowly for the nearest spoon and taking a small spoonful of the curry first. She was afraid of trying the heavier dish, just in case she couldn't handle it, even though every fiber of her being wanted her to eat both.

She was about to take a small sip when Inuba raised her hand to stall her, taking that moment to transfer the heat from the dish Kitsuki chose first and absorb it into a small ball of white flame.

"I had almost forgotten. Your senses may yet still be sensitive. But your dish should be at a desirable temperature now, so please, continue." She explained, letting the flame vanish as Kitsuki nodded again.

As soon as Kitsuki took one bite of the curry, she promptly passed out from overload of flavor. The duo had a sleeping kitsune on their hands yet once more, while Dante dived into the rest of the food, the dishes not lasting for more than four seconds.

"Hehehehehehehehehe…"

"M-Master..?" asked Inuba slightly concerned with his rather evil chuckle.

"Ciel owes me fifty lien now."

* * *

"Did someone say shokugeki?!" said Ciel as she snapped to, finishing the last of her buttered and maple syruped chocolate chip waffles.

Leonard looked to his sister awkwardly, before looking around the lunch room shortly after.

"No, I don't believe someone said that…" he replied.

"Leo!"

"Yes Ciel?"

"My… My…"

"Your..?"

"My nonsense senses are tingling!"

"Ah, I see…"

"Someone's challenged Foxy to a cook off…"

It was that moment that Leonard's fork dropped out of his hands and back down on the plate with a loud clatter, Ciel looking to Leonard to see a rather unusually shocked expression.

"What poor and unfortunate soul would ever do such a thing..?"

"I know, right? I mean, let's be honest. Inuba's cooking? No way in hell does anyone stand a chance against her."

"Well, who is the one undergoing this shokugeki against Inuba?"

"Just got a message about it… Some guy named Lie Ren?"

"Ah yes, Lie Ren. I hear he's quite the accomplished chef himself. Very famous for his usual work involving pancakes."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! So he's the pancake dude Nora talks about all the time… Right. Meh, my money is still on Foxy. She not only started cooking young, but has worked with Divine Chefs. Both from the Apparition World on Primordial where all the yokai live, and the one from The Plane of Angels."

"Even so, it would be most unwise to underestimate mr. Lie Ren. Pancakes aren't his only specialty."

"Yeah yeah yeah. So, who's your money on?"

"Oh, without a doubt Ms. Kitsukami, Ciel. I was only suggesting to give Lie Ren a chance at least."

"Even though Inuba's gonna win?"

"Although we may be certain of her victory, that does not mean it is a given fact considering she has never had a 'cook off' against him. For all we know, Lie Ren may just have a decent enough strategy to best her, as unlikely as it seems."

"Oh, got another message… Oh snap!"

"What is it?"

"Uh, we're starting soon and I've just been hired to do stuff."

"To do stuff?" asked Leonard questionably.

"Yup, later!"

With a quick flash of white and black Aura, Ciel had immediately vanished out of sight to go do her "stuff", leaving Leonard by himself.

"And she didn't even manage to give me the location… Brilliant…"

A test notification chimed on his HoloScroll, promoting Leo to bring up a small holographic square in front of him as he pressed on it, the small square expanding into 17 by 20 holographic screen that displayed a text message from Ciel.

"Thought I forgot for a second, huh? Ha! As if! Anyway, the shokugeki is in the auditorium. Be there in twenty minutes. Or be a square. Or a triangle. Or maybe even-"

Leonard closed the screen entirely and went back to eating his waffles. Though now, he had to rush slightly so that he could be there. It would be an event that no one would like to miss.

* * *

"Alright!"

Skyla's voice echoed from on high Beacon's auditorium, standing next to Ciel at one of the overseer desks. She had no idea where she was or how she got there, but she was excited and her amethyst eyes shined at the center stage.

"Are you ready for the greatest shokugeki Beacon has ever seen?!" Ciel called out at her recently found best friend's side, both girls wielding deadly loud microphones with splitting smiles of pure, unadulterated glee.

"A battle between chefs hasn't been held here for fourteen years… But! With the room recently cleaned and the food laid out at the adjacent stations," Skyla continued, waving dramatically in wide gestures to the assorted goods and the two contestants standing at each station.

"It will certainly be one for the ages!" Ciel finished, gesturing the other way.

They stood at the center of a raised platform, square in shape and surrounded by a sea of stands. A glowing, black scoreboard hung thickly from the ceiling, its four sides illuminated by holographic screens each panning around the stations below.

Four images, all separate, were transmitted into the feed as four camera orbs floated around at a safe distance, ready to capture the main event below.

"IS EVERYONE EXCITED?!" The two called out in unison, looking eagerly into the empty stands and the dark seats, all the way up to the far walls as each row was inclined up until reaching the furthest ones back.

In one, singular section sat their inner circle of friends and all those who were actually aware of the happenings as of late. Allix gave her teammate a double thumbs up from her seat beside Ruby, the young reaper giving the two announcers center stage an excited nod for her own support. The rest of the scythe wielder's team sat to their left, Yang and Blake holding two flags each that were fluttering back and forth as they waved them.

One was white with a black outline, a crimson eye of a fox designed into the front and back with what looked like ears protruding from the back end of the flag itself. The other was a dark green flag bordered by a black trim, a pink lotus designed into the front and back of it with a pink stripe running down the center as well.

"KICK HER FLUFFY BOOTY REN!" Nora hollered, hands cupped around her face to call out even louder as she nearly fell over the wall in front of her. If Leo hadn't been at her side, she undoubtedly would've fallen over the tall spectator wall to the ground and stations below. Behind Nora sat Pyrrha with CFVY sat at her other side.

"I can't see anything, but even I know who's going to win this..." said Yang.

"No way, Ren's got this in the bag!" Nora countered, throwing her fist into the air, "Come on Ren, you and Jaune don't have weekly cook-offs for nothing!"

"We believe in you, Ren!" Pyrrha called out as well.

"Oh, please..." Coco muttered, arms crossed and one leg resting over the other, "By comparison, the kitsune holds much more grace and delicacy in her culinary skills than the lotus."

"I don't know, they both seem equally likely to win..." Velvet spoke up from beside her.

"Normally I would agree with you, but experience has forced me to become slightly more biased towards Ms. Kitsukami." Leonard stated, "She has the advantage here."

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Velvet retaliated, turning her gaze to Leonard, "The goal here is to cook Kitsuki a dish crafted in such a way to help her eat and digest it without a problem, but keep it flavorful and pleasant as well. There are a lot of unknown factors here."

"That may be true." Leo spoke up from a few rows down, eyes trained up to the teens in their seats with one hand casually gripping Nora by the back of her collar to prevent her from falling, "Both parties of this cook-off are undoubtedly skilled in their culinary fields. But this is a very unique set of circumstances, and in the end, it can be either one's victory here. Although given Ms. Kitsukami's long history of cooking, the odds are in her favor."

"The squirt's right, but he's a little off about one itty bitty detail..." Yang waved her hand dismissively, twirling the flag Blake handed to her around her fingers as she fixed the white-haired sibling with a challenging smirk.

 _Squirt..? I'm not that much younger than you are…_

"Ren's cooked for commoners, and Inuba's probably had a higher focus on cooking for royalty. There's a difference in their audiences."

"Yang has a point." Ruby perked up, "You don't cook the same dish you serve to a civilian just looking for a nice meal at a diner than you'd serve to a princess and the throne. They're two very different outlooks."

"They're right." Allix added, "Food at a diner is meant to be family friendly, filling, and satisfying. Food for an upper class has a different purpose. They build their food to amaze and tantalize the taste buds, giving them larger varieties to choose from rather than keeping things simple."

"Then I would have to say such assumptions are foolish on all of your parts. Inuba has experience cooking for those of all classes. She's cooked for family, for guests, and friends of all varieties." Leo informed, "Although her type of cooking is absolutely amazing, and of the highest class and quality in terms of skill, that does not mean her cooking is only restrained to one group of people. In short, she is able to cook for all types of people."

All eyes turned to center stage again as a flash of white light emitted from between the two girls staring up into the stands.

"I heard announcers! Where are they and what do they look like?" Ashton's voice suddenly filled the stage, a reflective white suit glimmering beneath the centralized spotlights from above as he swept his gaze around.

He was the announcer for the tournament when Dante and Inuba last visited. A very good one too. Though, he wasn't just your average announcer. This man, Ashton, was abnormal in every sense of the word. The fact he just suddenly showed up meant that he must have felt a disturbance in the world of announcers.

The new arrivals, Ciel and Skyla. He felt…challenged.

"Oh, hi~!" Skyla waved back at him as she stepped to the side, Dante's little sister stepping to the other side as she waved at him as well.

"What's up tuxedo man? Trying to upstage us?" Ciel asked, a layer of intimidation piercing through the tone of her voice.

"Ah, so it's you two..." he realized, white speckled, dark blue eyes glancing over the two young girls before him as he took his stride forward, "I believe it is you who is upstaging me. I funded this room and designed it. Is it not fair to want to announce in it as well?"

"Weeeell..." Skyla drew out as she tapped her head with the microphone, "Is it fair to want a game of checkers when you're hungry?"

"Exactly!" Ciel jumped in, "What you say makes no sense whatsoever, tuxedo man."

Ashton shook his sandy blonde hair as he crossed his arms.

"You have me beat. You're right, looks like I'll have to sit this one out. However..." He leaned down, a smirk chiseled by pride and success stretching across his face as he glanced at each girl individually, "You two need a mentor, do you not?"

"Pfft, I've seen enough of Shaxx's Crucible highlights on my big brother to know how to announce!" Ciel waved her mic dismissively.

"Oh? You know of Lord Shaxx?" Ashton asked, getting a quick nod from the white-haired girl in front of him. He straightened himself back up as his smile grew, "Did you know we were rivals in the League of Announcers?"

Ciel's eyes went wide, "No way! You two know each other?!"

"Of course, we both grew fascinated with shout casting. It was only a matter of time before we developed our own styles and began to compete with one another." Ashton's response was two parts reminiscent but one part frustrated, "I still remember our score. It's 561 to 561, a dead tie."

"You two competed over a thousand times?!" Skyla's astonishment fell off as quickly as her mic hit the ground, but she was quick to pick it back up.

"Would've been over three, but the officials were sticklers about the rules of an official shout cast. Those were only the official ones." Ashton responded, tapping his chin with his finger for a moment before glancing to the two contestants, then to the two in front of him, linking all the stray facts to conclude what was going down on stage this morning.

"I still don't believe it…" Ciel trailed off, sounding a little unsure on whether or not this was all true, "Dude's a living legend."

Ashton hummed, fixing the girl with another of his classic smirks full of pride and self-esteem.

"Young girl, hasn't anyone ever told you," He leaned back and turned slightly, showing everyone his good side as he flashed a cool smile, "all announcers know each other?"

Ciel needed to remind herself later to ask Dante about all this.

"That aside," Ashton continued, giving the two a courteous glance before nodding toward the long table positioned down a walkway at one edge of the raised platform, located beneath an archway overhang with its own set of lighting, "Have you introduced the judges yet?"

"Oh! Right!" The two girls quipped before turning to the stands and making opposite gestures with their hands, falling into a decent synchronization as they addressed the small crowd again.

"Please, welcome our most esteemed judges! On the far left is the weapon forger we've all come to know and love, he's Xera Stark!" Skyla announced, gesturing to the table now as a line of four individuals made their way out from somewhere behind the scenes.

"Next to him sits my very own brother, a slayer of beasts, monsters, devils, gods, and women alike, he's Dante!" Ciel added, causing Dante to pause a moment in his stride as he fixed her with a glare.

She ignored him.

"Next is the heiress herself who's tasted hundreds of dishes in her spare time and the possessor of the Silver Tongue when it comes to taste, she's Weiss Schnee!" Skyla continued, leading fluidly into Ciel's voice.

"And finally, we have a boy who grew up with seven sisters and an overly fond mother, he started cooking at an impressively young age and mastered it earlier than most, he's Jaune Arc!" Ciel gave the final announcement as Jaune stepped out from the final lineup, all judges taking their seats a moment later.

The central seat remained empty.

"Now, as administrator of this esteemed academy..." Skyla spoke out across the dark stands of the spectators.

"We have a very special judge here this morning..." Ciel continued flawlessly.

"He drinks his coffee black and has a knack for being intrigued about absolutely everything…" Skyla continued.

Ciel picked up where she left off, "He's the headmaster of Beacon Academy!"

"Ozpin!" The two announced simultaneously as the clicking of a cane tapped into the tense stillness of the mostly empty room, the headmaster himself making his way to the central seat as he took a moment to look around at all involved parties.

"No shokugeki will be allowed to be hosted by my school," He spoke stoically, resting his cane on the edge of the table as he took his seat, "without me being the judge of it myself." He then gestured toward the two young announcers, "Carry on."

The two girls nodded and turned to Ashton, each getting a supportive double fist bump from him as he nodded to the two competitors, prompting their announcement next.

"As two of you may know, not counting the stalker in the white cloak up in the corner, our contestant in white here is of foxy descent in both heritage and looks. She dukes it out with the forces of evil by day and tends to my brother's hungry stomach by night." Ciel's roundup was proud and teasing as she announced her competitor, gesturing toward the one in question, "She specializes in the art of the heavens and has mastered the skill of using her control over white fox fire to assist in her cooking. She's Inuba Kitsukami!"

"And in the other corner is the tactical genius behind fluffy clouds and the sweet, delectable honey of syrupy goodness. He's leveled his cooking skills since the day he could hold a ladle and hasn't stopped since, cooking for not only his own team but several others in his endeavors here in the kitchens of Beacon Academy." Skyla's own roundup was just as proud as she fixed the crowd with a large smile, gesturing toward the second competitor, "They may both wear ponytails, but I can assure you, this one's hair is more cool than delicate. He's Lie Ren!"

Aside from the light snickers in the crowd and quiet giggles and murmurs, applause erupted from the small student body that was present as the two competitors fixed one another with challenging gazes.

"I believe a good luck is in order." Ren commented, tightening his ponytail before resting his hands on his hips, pink apron shining cleanly at his front.

"You have my thanks, and I return the wishes for you as well. I hope to see us both winners." Inuba responded, giving Ren a polite smile.

"In this kind of situation, it's impossible to tell. I don't even know why we have judges… This is for Kitsuki." Ren replied, letting a small sigh escape his lips.

"Ciel does get a little excited about these kinds of things. She may have gone all out without meaning to." the kitsune replied with an equally exasperated breath.

"I see..." Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced at his announcers, "With the incorporation of Skyla, this outcome is actually expected."

"I have taken notice of their similarities early on..." Inuba noted, "It's quite uncanny."

"You have no idea." Ren's reply came with a mild shiver, but he got over it as he turned to his station.

The two had identical setups, mirroring each other in both ingredients and cutlery, down to the chef's knives used and the pans in the silver cabinets.

They had everything they needed.

"To truly see a test of skill between these two-!" Ciel started another announcement.

"We'll be setting a theme for this face-off!" Skyla finished.

"As unanimously decided by the judges after weeks of debate, a final decision was made just a few minutes ago!" Ciel rebounded once again, allowing Skyla to pick up.

"We know you've been awaiting this day anxiously ever since it was announced a month ago, but fear not, the hype is here and it's higher than ever!" the purple-bandit proclaimed.

The decision was actually decided in a few minutes and the shokugeki was only announced to those in this inner circle thirty minutes before it was actually scheduled to start.

"The goal is simple! See that kitsune sitting in the totally throne-like chair behind our headmaster?" Skyla pointed dramatically toward the kitsune in question, causing her to drowsily perk up her ears at her name being called and curl up into a ball in her large, oversized seat.

"Each dish needs to be tasty, but not knock you out tasty! It has to be simple but still possess a mild flash factor! These are the qualities all the judges will be looking for!" Ciel continued, now also dramatically pointing beside her announcing partner.

"The theme with be this!" Skyla whirled around and snagged something small and white from a carton at one of the stations.

"Each contestant must use eggs as their main ingredient for their dish! It's simple enough to be done in a bland way, but complex enough to be incorporated as the main ingredient into countless tasty masterpieces!" Ciel's dramatically pointing finger now leveled itself on the egg Skyla held high above her head.

"The egg is the most versatile ingredient of the culinary world! The possibilities are endless here!" Skyla added before tossing the egg to Ciel, who caught it in a deft, gentle grasp and dropped it back into its original carton.

"You two have thirty minutes!" Ciel announced on her way back to Skyla's side.

"Prepare yourselves!" Skyla tacked on as the two aligned themselves beside each other once more.

In a dramatic pause, the two looked up simultaneously to the holographic screens above to see timers appear on each one, each shining over a blaze of white and pink digital fire as the clocks displayed thirty minutes across the board.

"Begin!"

* * *

Ren and Inuba immediately began collecting their ingredients, having already thought of recipes they thought would do well in such a particular situation. Each of them only took five minutes to gather everything needed and began working toward their individual goals.

Both contestants pre-heated their ovens and set aside their eggs.

"They appear to be taking the baking route!" Ciel noted, glancing up to Skyla who now stood atop her shoulders to get a higher view of everything going on.

"Oh~ A pastry of sorts, Inuba's already rolling it out in a pan. I wonder where she's going with this…" Skyla pointed out, watching the kitsune work.

"Perhaps something sweet and fluffy? Just like Kitsuki?" Ciel offered.

"Maybe, but looking over there… Ren's dicing up some zucchini... He seems to be taking quite the opposite route!" Skyla noted before hopping down and letting Ciel leap up onto her shoulders this time.

"You're right! They have totally different strategies!" the young girl placed her hand to shade her eyes as she looked out across the stations before her, "I wonder what must be going through their heads!"

"I know! To cook a dish of these mediocre standards, it must be pretty hard dialing down all their recipes for something so simple!" Skyla responded from below in the same amount of excitement.

Over at the judges stand, Dante, Xera, and the other judges watched with keen interests from on high, carefully examining all that went on despite he idle chatter on the side.

"Well… My faith is totally in Inuba on this one." said Dante.

"Calling it before it ends? I didn't take you for the kind of person to make a quick decision like that."

"Yeah, well, my faith in her ability is...astronomical? If that's the right term?"

"I think it is…"

"Yeah, we'll go with that then."

"I hope you won't be unfair with Ren. I mean, you are more biased towards Inuba."

"True as that may be, I will judge Ren fairly and equally. I'm just saying Inuba will win."

Five minutes soon passed and the dishes were in the ovens, Ren's having been placed a little earlier due to his prep-work being rather easy. Two drastically different looking dishes disappeared into each individual oven as the two competitors sat back and waited.

More minutes passed, and Inuba's oven began to glow white. Her eyes emitted a soft, ruby glow from within her crimson irises as she circulated her fire across her dish, bypassing several time constraints in a delicate maneuver of her flame mastery.

"Looks like Inuba's is out first!" Ciel called out, standing on even ground with Skyla once again as they watched the kitsune pull her dish from the oven and rest it on the stovetop.

A saucepan had been cooking something earlier, and Inuba just now reached for it as she whisked some eggs together in a large bowl. She added sugar into the mix early on, but she slowly began to stir in the sauce from the boiling pan as she whisked.

A mixture of cream, milk, vanilla pod and seeds were stirred in as she slowly combined the two liquids.

"It's a custard!" Skyla proclaimed.

"No wonder why she needed that pastry base!" Ciel added, the two now watching as Inuba poured her custard atop the pastry foundation she had pulled from the oven and let that set for a moment, then placed the whole thing back into the confines of the heat once more.

What would've taken another hour of baking was reduced greatly as Inuba began circulating her white flame again.

"Look there!" Ciel suddenly exclaimed, catching Skyla's attention, along with everyone else's, "Ren's pulling his dish out of the oven!"

"What is it?!" Skyla squealed in curiosity, scampering up Ciel's back again as she took her high perch atop the already short girl's shoulders.

"Can you see?" the young announcer eagerly asked.

"It's a quiche!"

Ren set aside his quiche to set and cool slightly as he began mixing together a specialized sauce, something to drizzle over it on the serving platter in order to give it that additional taste.

His quiche's crust was golden brown and he managed to avoid over browning in the time constraints he had, managing to bake the perfect looking quiche in the allotted time as he finished up his mixture of a softly sweet, tomato based sauce.

Something akin to ketchup, but with a much more soothing taste and a tasteful freshness.

* * *

In the next four minutes, the contestants were done.

"Alright everyone, moment of truth." said Dante.

Six servings of each dish were carted up to the judging table, Ren and Inuba standing back as soon as each dish was placed before each judge. Ideally, it was best to serve one and then the other, rather than both at the same time. For now, it was best to do the judging simultaneously in order to make the most accurate comparison possible.

Two dishes sat before each judge, while the remaining sixth serving of each variation still rested beneath silver domes on the serving carts the two had wheeled over. Each dish's plating was equally elegant. Both triangularly cut and delectably served in such a clean, refined way. Drizzles of differently colored sauces slipped thinly over each respective dish, spaced intricately and beautifully to please both the eyes and the taste buds.

"Miss Kitsukami, we'll start with your dish. Please, tell us what you have prepared," Ozpin spoke, interlacing his fingers in front of his lips as he turned his attention to the kitsune.

"I have prepared for you a baked custard tart with a nutmeg pastry, the sauce is a similar blend to slightly enhance the flavor but also sooth any overbearing tastes overall. It's a sweet, soft dish, and the nutmeg will help soothe the stomach with every bite." Inuba replied.

She stood with her hands behind her back, fingers nested together as she let her tail slowly sway back and forth.

"Sounds quite delectable. And you, Mister Ren?" Ozpin asked, turning his attention to the other chef amongst them.

"I've prepared a zucchini quiche for you today. It's drizzled with a delicate, gentle tomato sauce and the content of the quiche itself is light, fluffy, and simple. The ingredients were kept to only a few for this dish in favor of avoiding an overwhelming outcome." Ren responded, standing with his hands straight at his sides.

"Very good." Ozpin nodded, then turned his attention to the dishes before him.

"Inuba, you used nutmeg as a spice for your dish, is that correct?" Weiss asked, drawing the kitsune's attention as the heiress gently picked a silver fork from the table before her and cut herself a small piece of Inuba's custard tart.

"That is correct. It is one of the spices known for aiding in stomach pains, so it may assist in the soothing of the taste in all regards." Inuba commented, watching as each judge replicated Weiss's process and sized up their own bite-sized pieces on their forks.

"Most would say that, but nutmeg also has quite the unique flavor. It may sooth the stomach, but it has that small moment of kick that can set the stomach off quicker than anticipated." Weiss replied skeptically, raising her bite to her small nose to take in its aroma.

"Only when used in unnecessary quantities, Weiss." Jaune commented from beside the heiress, lifting his bite-sized piece to his own nose as he took in its delicate, sweet smell, "When used in controlled quantities, that issue is pretty much taken care of."

"That depends on the palette of the recipient." Xera spoke up from the other end of the judging table.

He had his fork and bite-sized piece balanced in equilibrium on the tip of his finger as he slowly spun the utensil in circles.

"If the one eating the food is sensitive to spices, it takes away most factors and just presents them with what's there. A spice. That's usually enough to turn people away."

"True..." Dante commented this time as he had a slightly larger piece settled onto the end of his own utensil, "However, if one is incredibly experienced in measuring their usage of ingredients with such high precision, it can render most faults completely meaningless."

"Even so, the faults still remain." Xera countered, "They may be covered up through careful calculations and special incorporations of other combined ingredients, but the sensitivity of taste still underlies the entire dish. But, like I said, it really depends on who's eating it."

His eyes glanced toward a soft swishing noise, noticing something long and white whipping about from behind Inuba's apron as he continued to spin his fork. Xera could only shake his head slightly, wondering when the girl would ever learn to hide her excitement, especially with a blush as obvious as that due to Dante's rather subtle complement alone.

"All points have been made, I suggest you let your taste buds do the rest of the talking." Ozpin spoke as he glanced between the four judges at his sides, before taking up his fork and slowly taking his first bite.

The four others did the same soon after.

Silence fell over the room, completely basking it in a level of tension far too unbefitting of a culinary face-off, yet it seemed imperative it was there for such an important endeavor.

That silence was abruptly shattered by the sound of tearing cloth and a loud, satisfied, reverberating manly groan coming from the center of the judging table.

Dante and Xera, seemingly the only two of the group that were sane, looked to Ozpin with both confusion and horror, watching as Ozpin's jacket and undershirt shredded themselves through a physical flex of his blinding muscles, completely tearing his attire into obliteration as a wide, toothy grin plastered itself across his face. A long breath of relief cascaded from his mouth as he closed his eyes and relished in the taste of Inuba's dish.

All eyes suddenly turned to Weiss, who had suddenly scarfed down the rest of the dish before her in a loud display of blissful gasps while Jaune took his elegant time taking his down piece by piece. His eyes were closed the whole time, however, and his cheeks were only slightly flushed.

After recovering, Dante finally had the chance to take a bit, and as he himself had guessed, he was more than delighted with what he tasted.

"It's… It's so fluffy… And sweet! And soothing, and… and… just absolutely delicious!" Dante declared, his piece long since eaten as he slammed his fork's handle into the table in front of him, "Another!"

"The last piece is for Kitsuki..." Xera pointed out, halfway through his own dish as he glanced at Dante, who suddenly looked like a child who had his candy stolen by a man with orange hair and a bowler cap, "Would you like the rest of mine?"

"You're offering?" Dante asked, confusion riddling his face.

Xera only nodded his head, a small thought formulating in his mind about the dish at hand.

"Don't get me wrong, it's incredible in all regards. Given what I know about where she learned how to cook, this level is pretty expected and delectable."

"But…?" Dante prompted, seeing where Xera was going with this.

"It doesn't solve the problem at hand. She's crafted a dish worthy of anyone's taste buds, but I'm starting to think that was never the issue here." Xera pointed out, sliding his dish into Dante's possession.

It didn't last more than half a second.

"Mr. Stark, I request you to make your point upon the conclusion of the judging. We would all very much like to hear what you have in mind." Ozpin spoke up, suddenly fully clothed again and looking as stoic as ever.

It was as if he never went bare-chested in the first place…

"For now," The headmaster glanced forward to a severely blushing Inuba, lost in her own mind and with a rapidly whipping tail she couldn't contain anymore, "Thank you for the lovely dish, Miss Kitsukami. Now, it's time to delve into Ren's dish."

All five judges moved onto Ren's own dish as the three announcers trained their attention on the next set of reactions, empty secondary plates now pushed aside.

"Ren, what made you decide to go with a quiche?" Xera asked, taking up a bite-sized portion of the food before him with just enough on it to allow the fork to balance independently on the top of his glass of water.

"Quiches are known to be light and simple, most being made for breakfasts or early meals. My quiche focuses on the light factor, incorporating whipped eggs to keep the substance at a fluffy texture while also incorporating zucchini for a touch of flavor."

Ren's logic was sound, and in most regards, it'd work perfectly for the situation at hand. Xera couldn't help but return to that underlying thought he had earlier. Ren's didn't fit either.

"Zucchini was a bold choice, Ren." Jaune pointed out, picking up his own bite now as he glanced toward his teammate, "It's crunchy, has a very distinct flavor, and happens to clash with most other flavors rather easily."

"To counter Jaune's point," Weiss spoke up, giving Ren a polite smile, "I admire the attempt at a healthy food here. You've used no ingredients to settle poorly in the stomach, and all of it seems rather simplistic in a way to suggest a careful delicacy."

"Even so, not everyone is a big fan of their veggies." Dante pointed out.

"The rest of the quiche is clever at hiding the distinct taste of the zucchini in most cases..." Xera countered.

"I believe a taste of the dish is in order, is it now?" Ozpin asked, getting four nods in return as they took their bites once again.

Silence descended once more, smothering the room in yet another quiet blanket of anticipation as all eyes were on Ozpin, every single one of them, watching as he chewed carefully, quietly, methodically, reigning in the flavors in the slowest way possible to savor every second of it.

And then it happened once again, this time on a bigger scale than the last.

Ozpin's immense muscles suddenly bulged, ripping his jacket and shirt to shreds as he released another loud, manly groan of pure bliss into the air of the room. Another smile of pure satisfaction plastered itself across his face as he closed his eyes once again to take in the feeling of complete and utter fulfillment.

Jaune immediately scarfed down his dish, sighing in bliss when he was done while Weiss delicately ate through hers in smaller bites, a mild blush settling over her cheeks as she finished the rest of her slice of quiche in due time.

"Where'd your piece go?" Xera asked, eyeing Dante's third empty plate before him as he was still working through his own second half.

"I… I don't know… It was here a second ago..!" Dante exclaimed, checking beneath the table, under his plate, under the other two plates, under his glass, all coming up with nothing.

"Did you even taste it?" Xera asked.

"I did… Bit the entire thing was gone afterwards..." Dante mumbled, wracking his brain for some kind of memory, but ultimately failing to grasp at one.

He was confused beyond measure.

"Here, maybe this time it won't magically disappear."

Xera slid his second half to Dante and the white-haired teen glanced down at the slice in skepticism. Very carefully, the immortal drew up his fork once more and took up a bite of the new quiche before him, drawing it close before slowly transitioning it into his mouth. He closed his eyes, quietly trying to savor the taste. Then...something took over.

By the time he opened his eyes again, the quiche was gone, his fork empty, nothing remained.

"What is this sorcery?!" Dante exclaimed, looking around again at any culprits who obviously stole his quiche again, then fixed his gaze onto Ren.

"That, sir, is called healthy cooking combined with tasteful ingredients." Ren informed.

Inuba was busy getting over a fit of giggles at Dante's antics, not bothered by the level of culinary mastery Ren possessed as everything came full circle now.

Ozpin slid an empty plate forward, clothes fully intact once again as he clasped his fingers together and rested them on the table before him.

"Well, seeing as everyone else had such clear reactions to these dishes…"

He talked as if he didn't have the greatest reaction of them all.

"I believe it is safe to say these dishes were rather…delicious... However, we mustn't forget the purpose of our decision on the matter and what criteria must be met in order to ensure the highest potential for success. Judges?"

Ozpin's critical eyes slipped back and forth as he turned to meet the gazes of each individual judge.

"Which was better? The tart or the quiche?" He inquired, leveling eyes with each person for a few moments before taking out his scroll, "Please forward me your decision and I'll tally up the final verdict with the incorporation of my own judgment."

* * *

"Here we go ladies and gentlemen…" Ciel muttered in a quiet, anticipating whisper.

"The votes are tallying. The tension's rising, building as we await the decision…" Skyla did the same.

The four sent in their verdicts as one, then two, then all of their scrolls were put away, each providing Ozpin with their decisions. Only, he had to stop for a moment and regard one of the four judges at his side.

"Mr. Stark, abstaining from making a decision may be legal for a judge to do, but you only run the risk of forcing a tie here." Ozpin said, staring curiously at the phoenix at the end of the table.

"What? I can't tell you whose was better." Xera replied with a shrug, if only his words were honest.

Ozpin slowly nodded his head before turning to his tally.

"Very well. Xera Stark has abstained from making a decision, leaving four definitive votes overall for this verdict."

His scroll soon closed as he turned his gaze back to the two before him, fixing each one evenly as they stood and awaited the final decision. Their breaths locked in their throats, constricting them as their nerves flared in varying degrees of anxiousness.

"By a vote of 4 to 0," Ozpin continued to switch his gaze between the two, quietly exchanging his glance with each competitor to further push the veil of tension blanketing the room once again, "the victor of this culinary face-off is Inuba Kitsukami."

Sounds of celebration shook the room as the announcers went crazy, yelling strange oddities that others would scream in a video game.

Inuba slowly released the breath she was holding and turned to regard her competition, only to see him on his knees and staring at his hands, a cloud of doom looming over his black ponytail. A similar cloud of doom suddenly loomed over a certain hammer wielder in the stands as well.

Deciding to give him his moment, she made her way over to the sixth dish atop her cart behind her and withdrew the dome covering it.

"Would you like me to serve my dish to Kitsuki? I believe the criteria are met for her to pleasantly enjoy this one."

Ozpin's eyes transitioned to Xera at the end of the table, whose eyes focused on something on the stage as he held his arms tightly across his body, head slightly tilted down in thought.

"I believe Mister Stark had something to say when the judging concluded?" Ozpin prompted, intrigued to see what the phoenix was onto with his comment earlier.

"It won't work..." Xera muttered, "Your dish won't work."

"If you don't mind me asking, why is it not satisfactory?" Inuba asked, gaze falling into a thoughtful confusion.

Xera's words snapped Ren out of his stupor as well, and his pink eyes suddenly snapped up to the teen judge before him in a similar confusion.

"You met the criteria of taste, but there's something else you're all forgetting."

Xera pushed his chair back and stood, glancing back to Kitsuki in her throne and watching her suddenly lock up under the gaze of everyone in the room. He gradually made his way over and offered the kitsune his hand.

"Pride isn't so easily set aside, even in competitions for another's benefit." He pointed out, letting Kitsuki take a moment to hesitate before taking his hand and letting him pull her from her throne, "You're all going about this in an attempt to prepare her something wondrous, yet simplistic. And you've done so in two excellent ways."

He led her over to the judge's table, then past it and down the walkway, pulling Kitsuki all the way to the stations themselves as the rest of the room just stared in silence. Even the announcers went quiet.

Xera let Kitsuki's hand go as he gathered a couple eggs and fired up the stove, letting the Dust in the hot plate begin to burn and heat its surface. He quickly slid a pan into place and got out a heat-resistant spoon to stir with.

"Kitsuki, pay attention to everything that goes in here, it'll be pretty easy. I'm only using one ingredient." Xera commented with a cheeky smile. With oil soon added, Xera cracked three eggs into the quickly heating pan and began to stir them.

He let Kitsuki's golden-orange eyes regard him a few times, and as the minutes past, they soon became more and more transfixed on the eggs in the dish as they went from their previous runny, gooey mess to a folding, golden cloud of scrambled eggs.

With a quick grab for a serving platter, Xera pulled over a plate and slipped the scrambled eggs from the hot pan onto the center of the platter. Then with a quick glance, he found a drawer nearby and withdrew a fork from a collection of clean utensils within it.

"You can add some of Ren's leftover tomato sauce if you'd like, he mainly used tomatoes but he also added a small amount of vinegar, some sugar, and specifically the juice extracted from the tomatoes themselves after cooking them down to a saucy consistency." Xera listed off, drawing up a spoon from the drawer as well to collect some sauce in it.

He handed that to Kitsuki, and after a moment, she added a small amount across the top of her scrambled eggs and turned to Xera.

The phoenix gave her a reassuring nod, and with a tense silence, she slowly took up a small spoonful of Xera's quick dish and took a bite.

Her mind was skeptical about it, but somehow, someway…she found herself trusting the dish moreso than the ones she tried before. It felt safer, almost, if that was the right term for her to use.

She hadn't even realized she was two bites in until she was at three, and the pangs of hunger she's been experiencing were quickly evaporating with each tiny portion of egg she ate.

"Part of the reason why you were taking those dishes with such an exhaustive result is because you didn't know what was in them." Xera kicked up onto the counter and took a seat there, dangling his legs over the edge as he let Kitsuki eat and listen, "You're mind has had a hard time trusting anything since you woke up. And due to its current lack of memories, it wasn't sure what to expect when you ate those dishes. The taste was a high impact enough, but the unknown factors only built onto that. It was enough to knock you out on more than one occasion."

Kitsuki passed the halfway point of Xera's scrambled eggs before she slowly nodded her head, getting a gist of his thought processes and making sense of them in her own mind.

It explained the feeling she had. That safe feeling when she dug into these scrambled eggs. She didn't know what to expect with the other dishes since she wasn't there to see them being made, but with this…

She watched what went into the food she'd be eating. The difference that made was incredible.

"So, I'll be the first to say it," Ren sighed, pushing himself from his knees and onto his feet as he brushed off his pants, "We had it wrong from the start?"

"I wouldn't say wrong..." Ozpin pointed out, a small smile forming behind his clasped fingers as he watched the exchange continue on center stage, "Half-right, would be the better term."

"It makes perfect sense, though, now that we know." Dante spoke up now too, glancing apologetically toward Inuba and Ren, "You two tried your hardest, but even so, there was still something we didn't think of that could've played a large factor in the end. Even I didn't think of it..."

"It's alright." Ren waved off, "It was good practice. And in the end, we solved the crisis involving Kitsuki's sustenance intake problem, or lack thereof."

"He is correct." Inuba agreed, making her way over to the judge's table once again, "We have solved what we set out to do. I believe that is reward enough."

"Are you just saying that because you won?" Jaune asked.

"Actually..." Ren cut in, "I believe this course of action renders the recent verdict unclear now that all the factors have been revealed. Only half of them have been judged."

"Correct." Inuba added, "The outcome of this face-off is moot. We no longer have a clear victor."

She then stood before the judges, dish in hand, and glanced at each one. Ren soon joined her side, dish in hand as well, sharing glances with each judge from Inuba's side.

"I believe we deserve a recount." Ren stated what everyone was thinking.

"We deserve to know whose was truly better in terms of taste now, rather than what was best for the set of criteria you had kept in mind before." Inuba tacked on.

Ozpin's smirk remained as he glanced between the remaining judges one last time, careful not to reveal his smile as he considered their request.

"Very well-"

"Sorry to interrupt." A voice suddenly called down from the stands, and all eyes turned up to the girl in the white cloak.

She stood atop the wall overlooking the stage below, balancing on what served as the spectator's railing as she waited for all attention to focus on her next words.

"As much as even I would enjoy having this continue, Zeridûl's rift has finally stabilized. The Dark Omens have finally revealed storm patterns that have created an opening." Her words lingered in the suddenly still air as she made one final comment, "I believe it's time we stop him for good."

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated 5)**

"Heya folks, we're back for another week of Weapons Illustrated Guide! As I'm sure you've already guessed, today we'll be discussing about Weiss Schnee, Ruby's partner, weapon called Myrtenaster. Ruby, since Weiss is your partner, why don't you start us off?"

"Aye captain!"

 _Again with this captain thing?_

"So, let's start with the basic stuff! Myrtenaster is a standard-sized rapier and primarily that has a hilt that possesses four prongs, which encase the revolver-like chamber around the ricasso instead of a bow type hand-guard that is common among the majority of rapiers. This mechanism she has can be controlled by the sword-hand, enabling her to seamlessly cycle the Dust chamber in combat. She can activate the usage of her Dust by a trigger on the underside of one of the prongs. For reloading purposes, the mechanism can be opened on a hinge like one of those old western movie revolvers, allowing Weiss to replace empty vials."

"Considering she's the most versatile Dust user we've seen so far, along with her using the most Dust types, we'll go over some of the Dust she's used in conjunction with Myrtenaster. So far, we've seen her use yellow, blue, red, cyan, purple, and white Dust. Red Dust, obviously fire. She can make flaming projectiles along with a large flame trail that moves towards her target and explode. Next is Blue Dust, or ice, which is one of her most used Dust types so far. She can create a wall of ice crystals on the ground, form sheets of ice, and with her Glyphs, Weiss can actually manipulate what shape the ice will take. Ice bullets that erupt into ice crystals upon impact, and ice dome shield, a giant sword, the list goes on to what she can do."

"You think she can manipulate other elements to make some really cool stuff?! Like, like a dragon made from fire?!"

"Hey, maybe, we've yet to see. What about lightning Ruby?"

"Oh yeah! Okay, so some of you may not have known this, but remember those Haste Glyphs she used a while back on Blake when we took on that Paladin Torchwick stole? That was actually her using lightning Dust with her Glyphs to boost up Blake like she did! She can also make barriers, and oh! Make cyclones with Grey Dust, which is for wind!"

"So as you've seen, Weiss' weapon allows her for some serious versatility to allow her to change up her style in combat, quickly changing from offense to defense just by the snap of her fingers. Even though her weapon has no alternate forms, none that we know of yet at least, her weapon sort of allows her to adjust her Semblance and give it different aspects for usage, playing into that whole quick-swap between offense and defense."

"Lastly, for a rapier, that things pretty durable, huh?"

"Very. Not only does it dish out sweet damage to Grimm, but it also works well enough against armored opponents, like the Giant Knight Armor or the...ahem...rusty Paladins."

Ruby gave Dante a smack to his right arm, only hurting slightly due to it still being damaged.

"What? I said it once and I'll say it again. Those things are just over-sized junk heaps. Deathmachines, but junk heaps nonetheless."

"Anyway, that's all that we have for you today for Weapons Illustrated! We'll be seeing all of you lovely people next week! Bye!"

"Whew... Now that that's over with, we should head on over."

"For..?"

"The after season party! A successful season deserves a huge party to go with, right?"

"Oh yeah! Totally forgot! Sorry..."

"Ah, don't sweat it." Dante said wrapping his left arm around Ruby, whilst the two walked off the stage.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going to eat a lot of pizza. And bacon cheeseburgers if they have any."

"But...you don't eat..."

"I do. Just not always because it's not necessary. Either way, I've got a craving for food."

"Heh... Well, don't let Nora hear you say that. She'll try to challenge you to a food eating competition again."

"Oh wow... I just remembered that..."

"How did you forget?! You guys ate like five hundred pancakes each!"

"Just another Saturday morning at the office..."

"Sure..." said Ruby with a smile as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

 **Now that the rift has stabilized, the time for comfort has ended. The time for battle has arrived. Our group of Heroes will make their way to Zeridul...but will they succeed in ending his Dark terror that has been looming over Xera Stark's Remnant? Or will they fall within his dimension of Darkness? Find out as we progress further within this exciting arc.**

 **With that...**

 **Don't forget to check out my other new story Knights of White and Black, which is being written in conjunction with Xera Stark's story Rogue Huntsmen. It's totally awesome and definitely a new and fresh way of writing for me. So yeah, please go check it out!**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend! Bye-bye now!**


	13. Chapter 13: Touchdown

**Heya everyone. Sorry for not posting this on Saturday or Sunday. Was super busy throughout the previous two weeks, and honestly, I only finished this this morning after I did my accounting homework at around 4 am. I don't sleep. Not always anyway. So yeah, very sorry, will try to avoid this again in the future. Here it is everyone. Chapter 13. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Touchdown

The Bullhead ships were undergoing a final check before lift off. Everything needed to go semi-smoothly to ensure maximum success. There was going to be an outside team taking care of any hostilities outside the rift. Given Inuba, Ciel and Leo were going to be part of the outside force, the invading force of six would have an easier state of mind inside the rift and would be able to complete their task.

"Everything ready to go?" Dante asked one of the plots.

"Pretty much. I was actually just about ready to make an announcement to the departing teams to come here to hanger and get ready for takeoff."

"Good. The sooner we leave, the quicker we can get this done."

The young immortal had been the only one to move to the hangars early, doing what he could to help the pilots finish their preparations quickly. Now that task was over, he sat down on one of the open doors of a stationary Bullhead and let out a sigh, resting his chin in his left hand as he closed his eyes for a few moments. He opened them and then looked to his bandaged right arm in the black sling and kept his focus there for some time.

 _Six months and only halfway through… To think it'd take this long… I was right. My Aura does have extreme debilitating effects when used directly for offensive purposes. I only made this assumption in the first place because my other powers from before now were exactly like that. But to think they'd have an adverse effect on me… It was either the strong concentration of Aura or something else at the time. Now that I think about it...my Aura turned grey for a few seconds. Now what could that be a sign of?_

Dante's head moved upwards slightly as he felt a small Aura Signature enter within the area. He could only wonder why she was here right now. She should be resting. A smile crept up on the young immortals face as he blurred out of sight in a streak of white and black Aura, moving towards his intended location.

Kitsuki had peeked her head over one of the boxes, searching for the young immortal she wished to speak to you, but seeing him nowhere in sight. She could have sworn he was just here…

"Hello there Kitsuki." He said as he leaned out from one of the boxes near Kitsuki.

She very likely would have screamed were it not for her condition. All that Dante did see was that she jolted upwards and was shivering slightly while her bundle of three fox tails straightened out as her fox ears folded against her head. The small kitsune then slowly turned around to face him, slightly tearing up from the small shock she had just suffered. Needless to say, Dante had felt some small remorse for his childish act.

"I'm so sorry…" he said as he was on his knees bowing apologetically.

"W-Why did you do that..?" Kitsuki signed out with her hands.

"I have some childish tendencies time to time. All for the sake of fun really. Very sorry." He said as he took a seat on one of the boxes.

"So then, why has the great and mighty Kitsuki come far and wide in search of me?"

"I'm not great… Or mighty…"

"Relax, just go with it. Either way, you're here. No doubt looking for me. So, what's on your mind?"

"I… I want to make a request of you."

"A request you say? Okay, what is it that you want me to do?"

"I… I want to come with you all."

"Hmmm?"

"I want to go wherever it is all of you are going."

"Kitsuki-"

"I don't want to stay here while everyone else leaves…"

Dante's eyes widened temporarily before they relaxed.

 _I see… She doesn't want to stay here by herself with people she doesn't know. She'd rather be in thick of danger and be with people she's comfortable with. But does she know where we're going is dangerous?_

"Kitsuki, here's the deal. Right now, we're heading off to somewhere dangerous. Somewhere you shouldn't be."

"I know but-"

"Then there's also the fact you're still recovering."

"I don't want to fight, I just…want to be there with you all."

Dante let out a sigh, realizing he wouldn't be able to convince Kitsuki. But he did think of at least telling her the dangers.

"Kitsuki… Where we're going now is very dangerous. There could be dangerous Grimm, and inside the rift, a potential god in the making due to special circumstances. And you want to come with us because you'd rather be with people you know?"

Kitsuki gave the young immortal a nod twice. Given his gaze, she wasn't expecting much now, except a firm no.

"Alright then. You can come with us."

She was shocked beyond words. Not that she could speak them, but she had trouble signing them out with her hands for a moment.

"W-What are you saying?!"

"I'm saying you can come with us." replied the immortal.

"But you just-"

"I know, I know. But I can't just completely disregard your feelings on the matter. That'd be insensitive of me. Besides, if you go, you'll have to stay in Inuba's more than capable hands the entire time. Agreed?"

"Of course!" She signed out as her tails whipped about.

Before Dante could stand back up he felt Kitsuki's small hands grab his left hand and brought it closer to her, touching the top of her head between her fox ears. She was allowing him to rub her head.

"Inuba said your head rubs felt heavenly. Plus, she said if wanted something from you, I should try asking for a head rub."

 _She's completely right! She could've bribed me with just this from the start! Wah… So fluffy…_

"Attention departing teams, please make your to hangar at this time. All preparations have been completed and we are ready to depart."

"Hey hey hey…" said Dante looking to Kitsuki, "They're singing our song."

"Song? But...that wasn't a song…"

"Figure of speech. Here, we're in this Bullhead, so let's get you settled in. The others should be arriving shortly."

"Is everything going to be okay?"

"Of course. It's us we're talking about, remember?"

* * *

(Dante POV)

And so we were on our way to whatever awaited us. My cloaked colleague was able to get an accurate read of the area where the rift resided in and managed to point us out in the right direction. Currently, RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, Xera, Skyla, Kitsuki, my siblings, my cloaked colleague, Inuba and I were traveling to our destination in Bullheads as the wind rushed by the transport ships, fluctuating between strong and weak wind currents. Needless to say, turbulence was on and off for us.

In our bullhead currently, it was just myself, Inuba, Xera, Skyla, Kitsuki, and Blake. The others went into four other Bullheads and traveled alongside us through the dark skies.

Xera and Blake were busy having a conversation. Given his stupidly red face at the moment, she was pressing the offensive slightly. It was unusual to see Xera like this, so I couldn't help but smile a bit. To my right sat Inuba, her left hand resting upon my shoulder and her right holding my hand as her white flames coated my arm, attempting to continue repairing the long term damage I suffered and was still suffering from.

At this time, my white coat was folded up next to me, leaving me in my sleeveless, collared black shirt. Instead of having buttons, it had a stainless steel zipper that could be zipped down to the center of my chest, a zipper that I was currently preoccupied with as I was moving it up and down constantly, like a child with a toy.

What? You have to try to find ways to amuse yourself with things around you. Or on you. For me, it was the zipper currently.

It was fun.

"It never ceases to amuse me seeing you act like a child at times." said Inuba as she looked up at me.

I turned my head to her, noticing Kitsuki was watching my partner heal my arm with her Cleansing Flames. It looked as though she had questions.

"Impressive, no?" I retorted.

"Yes, very." She said giggling.

I looked to Kitsuki again as she signed at me.

"Why does Inuba have to constantly heal your right arm?"

"I damaged it a while back by being a stupid biscuit. And now I'm still suffering the consequences."

"But you said you're immortal and that you heal virtually in an instant. So why-?"

"Because it was my own power that hurt me. My powers, especially my old ones, are ultimate when it comes to destruction. The magnitude and extreme damage I can unleash is virtually unparalleled. And since one specialty is destruction, it's extremely effective with lingering effects as well. Considering I discharged all that destructive power through my arm, it was inevitable that I'd wreck it."

"You said it's been six months since it happened… Shouldn't it have healed by now?"

"Therein lies another problem. My body grants me virtually near immunity to all types of magic. I say near because my resistance is incredibly high to the point magic used against me does only minimal damage. Unfortunately, my immunity gets in the way of healing magic as well. Despite Inuba's Cleansing Flames being the best healing magic available, it's still only managing to heal little by little. But it's been getting better. Soon enough it'll be all healed up with nothing to worry about."

"You sure your arm isn't going to get in the way?" Xera asked me, as he looked my way, "When we went up against the Leviathan, you Shadow-Skinned your arm in order to use that flashy technique of yours. Even so, it wasn't exactly for an extended period of time."

"Flashy, but extremely effective. Besides, I can use my Shadow Skin as long as I have Aura. The cost of manifesting a complete Shadow Skin is minimal at best, and in the case of an arm, trivial. Thankfully after forming it it doesn't draw from my Aura unless I have to rectify damaged areas. The only small problem is that I'll be using more Aura with my Aura based attacks, like Devouring Light. Also not much of a problem given my massive reserve of Aura."

"And the downside?"

"My Shadow Skin has extremely high defense overall, but in the event of injuries being sustained, it can slowly heal as well. The only drawback now is that when I use it for my right arm, it stops my arm's recovery."

"But you're still halting the healing process for the extent of time it's Shadow Skinned."

"I have advised him against the idea as well Mr. Stark," Inuba said continuing with my arm, "But as always, he doesn't seem to quite listen." said Inuba as she gazed at me to silently scold me.

I wasn't sure if everyone one else noticed, but it was something that turned out to be rather effective.

"But...we wish to do our part as well. You called upon us, and because of that, we will give you our very best. Though the process may be halted for the duration he uses Shadow Skin on his right arm, it will allow him to fight at full capacity."

"We can't just let you guys do all the work." I said.

"All of us will contribute as much as possible." Inuba added.

"Yeppers!" Skyla chimed in as she played on her scroll.

Given the noise and roaring of engines, it was a game involving cars. Oddly enough, there was a soccer ball being bonked in between the cars, as well as rockets on said cars to boost their speed even further. She was definitely having fun demolishing other cars.

"We'll be helping as much as possible as well. While you're all in there, we can expect an eventual onslaught of grimm closing in on the rift. We'll keep them at bay while you eliminate the source." Blake spoke up beside Xera, lifting her head from his shoulder.

"I'm thankful, but this isn't something so easily said. You're all risking your lives as it is, so it's a larger deal than you're leading it on to be." Xera responded, eyeing each us.

"Isn't that what Huntsmen and Huntresses do?" Kitsuki signed out after we turned our heads to her.

"Well, we train to fight Grimm and other threats, but we're also trained to survive. Some measures of war are better retreated from than rushing to our own demise. In some cases, it's just better to back away and rethink a strategy than to take it head on." Xera responded.

Kitsuki's golden-orange eyes didn't change from their calm demeanor or silent resolve.

"Huntsmen and Huntresses do what they can to let civilization continue to survive. From what I read, isn't that the ideal thought process?" she asked, leaning her own head away from Inuba's shoulder as she pulled out her scroll.

"Ideal? Not even close… If anything, foolish would be the better term."

Now all eyes were on me at the moment. They seemed...shocked slightly. As if they would never expect a response like that from me. Inuba was the only one who didn't act surprised. She knew what I spoke of.

Foolish ideals are what start wars and struggles for power and force survival amongst people, especially in times when they all face a common enemy. It becomes a challenge of "Who's idea is the best? Oh, this one might be bad, but we'll use it anyway because we want to and it's what we like best." The worst, in my knowledge and experience, is when political authority manages to drill in their ideals amongst the masses. And eventually, they aren't fighting for their own ideals and goals anymore. They're fighting for someone else to advance their personal agenda.

"You ever really need to ask one question… How far are you willing to go to 'do what you can'? What are you prepared to sacrifice? Victory comes with costs, most of the time anyway. Almost every time, you give a little more. Sometimes…moreso than you ever really need or want to give…"

I saw Inuba's fox ears fold against her head from the corner of my eye, an action that also caught Kitsuki's attention. Amusingly enough, the smaller kitsune stared up at Inuba's ears in confusion before she reached up and softly pulled Inuba's ears back up into standing positions, something that made both of them smile.

"The world doesn't exactly work like that, Dante." Xera replied.

Then that shows how little you know, Xera. And for the most part, the way the majority of the world works. You might have not had an easy life, I'll admit that much, but you've yet to learn the true harshness of Reality. In all honesty, I hope you never have to learn.

"The Worlds give as much as they take, and in all regards, this is the same for everyone that lives in them. The more we give, the more that can be taken away. The harder we try, the greater the downfall. It isn't about putting forth the effort to pursue a risk, it's about putting forth a risk to enforce the effort you need to turn that risk into a certainty." He continued adding to his counter.

"For the extent of time I've known Xera, I've found he's a firm believer in few things, and this is one of them." Blake added, "Risk isn't anything more than a means to an end. And that end, in most regards, is fear and reluctance. Risk is only there to make you consider what would happen should something fail, but it never pushes what would happen if you succeed."

"There are no risks in anything I do." Xera continued, giving Blake's linked arm a small squeeze with his own, "It's either a 100% certainty that I can do it, or not at all. Anything in between isn't something I tend to consider."

Then you must not do much at all then. You expect to gain with such a ludicrous way of thinking? How naive… It's no wonder I had to come here and basically do everyhting for y-

Stop it. Don't be that way. It's not his fault. Not entirely.

I don't know why exactly...but my thoughts of late have been...darker. Am I slipping into my old self again?

"While I respect that idea to some varying degree, I have to tell you that you won't always have the luxury of a 100% certainty. There will be times in your life where you will have to risk more or all, especially in this line of work. You always have to try and be prepared for such instances. Otherwise-"

"I'm more prepared than you probably think I am." Xera muttered.

"We're all a little stronger than what we think we are." Skyla chimed in a she finished one match and soon proceeded into the next, "But that doesn't mean we have to see the world in such a way to leave it as nothing more than the good and the bad. There's a lot more to it than that."

"There are several pieces of all the Worlds that don't make sense to us. Maybe it will in the future, but not now. Besides, I get pretty lucky a lot. I've tried gambling and ended up bleeding the place dry without cheating. So, in that regard, I'd consider myself an excellent gambler."

So have I on numerous occasions, but putting faith behind the idea of luck the majority of the time is unwise at best.

"How optimistic of all of you… Again, I admire that. If anything, you are right Skyla. There is more to it than good and evil. I know that much. To be more honest, I've 'seen' what you mean. But Xera, you can't always rely on luck. Sometimes all you'll have is yourself."

I then took a deep breath as I felt a soothing tingling sensation in my right arm as Inuba continued healing my arm.

"Thankfully though, we have this thing called friends to help us along our way. They help guide us as we guide them. They fight for us as we fight for them. They stand by you as you stand by them. And because of that, we can be a little more at ease."

The lesson I just dished out was something my hardheaded person couldn't, or rather, refused to learn on multiple occasions. Almost everything is better with friends.

"I know the feeling." Xera responded as he reached into his pocket and pulling out a deck of cards, "Which is why I'm glad that you're all willing to help. But in the meantime, can you play Hearts with just one hand?"

"Hearts? Tch… That's a game I never played really…"

That was a complete lie. I have played Hearts before, I just really hate the damn game. It's too annoying.

"Well, it's easy enough to learn. Skyla learned just for the sake of slamming the Queen of Spades down on people and laughing triumphantly." Xera commented, giving the cards a swift bridge-shuffle after taking them out of their black and gold box.

"Oh! Are we playing Hearts?!" Skyla asked as she suddenly snapped her scroll closed mid-game and turned to stare at the cards in Xera's hand.

"This spells doom on many levels for me..." I muttered, getting a small laugh out of Inuba at my side as she continued administering her healing.

"We've played this game before, I think." Blake said, leaning forward to watch Xera mix up the cards in a flourish, "Doesn't the Queen of Spades dish out a ton of-"

Xera cut off Blake with a shush as he started dealing the cards out onto the floor.

"He'll find out soon enough."

And I'll probably curse you forever soon enough.

* * *

Strong turbulence began hitting the airships within a couple miles of the target area. It wasn't until very strong winds began shaking the ships that Dante realized they were now over the ocean. He didn't try to force on his Shadow Eyes to look out the window to confirm this. He could hear rain pattering against the walls of the Bullhead like shards of glass.

"You see that storm out there?" Ace spoke loudly over his shoulder from the cockpit to Dante and Xera.

"It's dark, but there's definitely got to be a landmass out there..."

"Unless your associate was wrong." said Xera.

"She's never been wrong once, so if she says there's an island out there, there's an island out there." Dante reassured.

"Well, if it's there, we'll be flying through that storm, and it's not just one. We're flying through a storm equivalent to four storms kids." Ace informed, taking us lower to just above sea level, "Don't expect this to be a smooth ride."

"So treat it like a roller coaster. Got it." Replied Dante, "I'll stay up here with you and help out with how much I can. With my eyes, I can give us both a read on what's going on out there."

"If you say so, but listen up," Ace responded, taking us into a sharp bank as we swung around a rising crest of crashing water, "Those up there? Those are tornadoes."

"Your point being?" Retorted Dante, earning a chuckle from their pilot Ace.

"We'll be flying through those. And considering they're surrounding the entire island, I hope you both have some iron grips in those hands of yours."

As soon as they cleared the mountain of ocean water, dark gray vortexes began tearing into the sea from all sides of the island before us. Dante knew counting them would be pointless. What mattered most was getting through.

There weren't any wide openings, and as for the openings that were slightly managing, they opened and closed in mere seconds as the tornadoes fluctuated and swirled seamlessly inside and through one another in a wide perimeter.

"I'm glad we didn't take a boat..." Xera commented, leaning down to glance at the sky.

It was pitch black, dark clouds illuminating constantly from red lightning streaking across the skies above. It was nearly impossible to hear the thunder with how much wind and water ripped at our hulls. Thankfully because of that, Dante was shivering less between lighting strikes

"Don't worry kid, these engines were designed to be put through the worst. Unfortunately, they weren't designed to survive being torn to shreds by strong enough winds." Ace said.

"Believe me, that's not why I'm a bit antsy…" said Dante.

"You two better hold on tight then, because we're going in hard, fast, and with all the momentum we can muster."

"Do what you need to, we'll be fine."

Dante held on to one of the handles tightly as the tornadoes drew nearer. He didn't hold it too tightly, for he would have crushed it.

"I just hope the others will be fine..." Xera muttered, planting his feet into the ground of the ship as the ship flew over a rising tsunami.

"Relax, they're in safe hands. We're pilots of Beacon Academy. We're as good as they get."

A small army was being brought to deal with Zeridûl. Something that reminded the young immortal of Leónidas and his 300 Spartans. The odds currently stood that less than half of us would make it through to the other side. But if Ace's words held any meaning, those odds were sure to go up.

The composition of teams was as such. CFVY, SNAR, JNPR, RWBY, Skyla and Xera. As for Dante, he brought along Inuba, Leo, Ciel. Since they weren't entering the rift, they would definitely keep things under control outside and help everyone else that needed it. Destiny and Kitsuki were the singular additions, leaving the final group to come along be Ozpin, Glynda, and Caza, one of the other professors.

Virtually the hope of everyone at this point was that all five Bullheads carrying all those people would make it safely.

Ace banked his ship around the next wave and reached up, flicking off all interior lights before locking the stabilizers in each wing, then flicked on the communication between ships.

"Delta, Faux, you're on me. Take to my wings and divert only when necessary. Ike and Brado tag up and keep close behind. I see a series of openings, so eyes up and follow my lead."

He brought his hand back to the stick and yanked it back, forcing the ship to climb in altitude to barely slip over a suddenly cresting wave.

"Keep a tight formation and rely on your own judgment calls. And whatever you do,"

Ace had flicked one more switch as they approached the ferociously swirling wall of tearing winds. The Bullhead's thrusters suddenly cut out, leaving the ship in suspended air for a few moments.

"Don't die."

The whole bullhead lurched forward as the thrusters roared with a new hum, shaking the ship in a tense, rising growl as they burned to life, accelerating at high speeds. A digital display suddenly overlaid the bullhead's cockpit windows, rendering in the majority of the storm before it as numbers and lines came to life across the glass separating us from the outside.

A sweeping wave of light suddenly slipped across the screen as four triangular, lime-green blips appeared on screen with names depicting the four pilots he addressed earlier. Suddenly, Ace took a hard dive to build even more momentum on the returning arc.

This entire thing seemed like a series of seemingly impossible obstacles, but Ace took the ship in a determined dive around the lower base of a massive vortex of air.

The fact a human pilot was able to maneuver so fluidly and skillfully through such a maelstrom was something that impressed Dante greatly.

Somehow Ace managed to tear through the tornadoes that seemed berry likely to damage the hull, and slipped around others to weave through clashing winds as he rode all directional currents with trained dexterity.

This was beyond impressive. It was actually a bit scary.

The four blips in formation behind us were wavering, taking different routes to account for wind differentiations and slipstreams as they sailed through the eyes of several tornadoes and rode the winds.

"Ike, Brado, you're diverting course. Something throw you off?" Ace asked, tapping into the intercom as he brought us around the next bend.

"We don't know! Something black rose out of the water between us and struck our hulls, we're definitely off course now!" a male voice responded over the mic, loud and clear for Dante and Xera to hear.

"A Grimm..?" Dante wondered.

"Got it, I'm adjusting my course to pick you up. Don't go against the winds."

Ace tore the stick to the side and steered the ship in the direction of the blip at the furthest right of the didigtal monitor.

"Whatever it was, let's hope the thing's not fast enough in a storm like this to catch our tails." Ace growled.

He took the ship through the next few tornadoes and banked around several more, riding an upward gale of wind to take the Bullhead to the level of the one that strayed from the original course.

"Brado, adjust altitude to reduce your depth by thirty feet, we're at your six. We'll be passing overhead. Take up the rear and follow once we do." Ace ordered, flying in close as the ship shook and rattled before dipping slightly in elevation and lowering.

Ace immediately flared thrusters and took the ship over Brado's bullhead, taking the lead once again as he made an immediate bank around the nearest vortex and changed direction.

"Ike, you're next." Ace called out, heading in the direction of the green blip nearly a thousand feet away due to straying off course.

"Negative, Ace. We're stuck in a series of merging tornadoes. There aren't any openings to get through, we're gonna have to wait it out." Ike responded, another male voice, maintaining a respectable amount of confidence.

"Waiting this storm out will only make the situation worse." a female voice spoke up this time over the mic, crackling from the tearing winds around them with minor interference.

"Delta, there is no getting out of this one. Keep back, all of you. I'll figure something out." Ike replied, before a sudden shudder broke through the mic and Ike's blip on-screen suddenly got thrown into a tailspin.

"Shit, Ike!" the male voice we heard earlier yelled out.

"Give me a damn minute Brado!" Ike growled back, straining his voice as Dante and Xera watched the blip's whip around in an uncontrollable spin.

They noticed Ace's glove tighten on his stick as they entered another dive, his jaw tensing as the blip continued to spin out of control. It was a pilot's nightmare. It was a miracle to pull an aircraft out of a spin like that, let alone do so before crashing into the ground.

The four of the bullheads were narrowing in now as the fifth blip, Ike's bullhead, began to slow in its perpetual spin.

"Stabilizing..!" Ike's voice rang out through the mic, and we watched his bullhead slowly come to a gradual stop, "We're good. But whatever that was…it was big...and it was scaly..."

"Did you see it?" the last voice spoke up a new voice.

It was feminine and monotonous, but had an air of calculation to it that Brado and Ike didn't.

"Yeah Faux, I got a full tailfull of it as it slammed into my right wing. I think we're up against a Storm Drake..." Ike informed, the sounds of his sputtering Dust engines sounding through his mic as we narrowed in on his location.

A Storm Drake?! You've got to be kidding me… thought Dante.

"Those things ride and chase storms. Keep an eye on your radar Ike."

Ace took his ship around the next tornado and revealed an incredible wall of wind beyond it, accompanied by several turning vortexes of violently bending winds acting as a shield around it.

"I was paying attention to it. This thing slipped through my sweep." Ike replied, causing Ace's grip to tighten further on his controls.

"We're going dark." Ace declared, "We'll get to you and find our way out of the vortex. Until then, stay put and away from the water."

"Easier said than done."

"Ike-" Ace growled.

"I got it." Ike replied, his voice crackling over the mic, "Just don't blame me if we're all stuck in this mess."

And then he went silent. Everything went silent.

Ace took his ship into a climb before reaching up and hovering his hand over several switchs across the controls above him, waiting for something as he approached the nearest wall of wind.

"The rest of you..." he spoke, clearly and with authority, getting three affirmatives from the other side, "don't reactivate your engines until you've stabilized, or you'll rip your wings from your hull."

With that, the mic was cut out as he slammed the switches beneath his hand into the off position, cutting power to engines one and two, and making three and four go dark as well. The entire ship was now suspended by nothing more than metal wings in the air.

"Hold on tight you two, we're letting the storm carry us in." Ace muttered, causing both Dante and Xera to tighten their grip on their supporting handles as they began to drift.

"And they always ask me why I hate flying on aircraft…" Dante muttered, earning a chuckle form Xera.

* * *

The whole ship slowly began to turn, the direction of forward slowly pulling more and more to the left as the bullhead's nose rotated to the right. The horizontal axis was shifting slightly, following the pitch by taking a minor turn as well.

Two bullheads to the right were doing something similar, each one with windows as black as night and engines cold and devoid of light. They were entering spins as well as the wind around them all tore against the water-ridden walls.

The world shuddered around the ships as the wind and the rain slammed into the metal hull even harder, a wailing wind ripping into their hard surfaces as their spins intensified threefold. I felt as though the tail had yanked them around, throwing them into a faster spin as they passed through the tornadoes and followed their mixed currents.

An immense gray wall was all that could be seen, no sense of depth nor direction. Ace's hand hover d back over the engine switches, waiting for something to tick as he trained his eyes on his compass. Everything was shuddering and shaking violently.

But then, like clockwork, the world suddenly grew tense and silent as Ace's fingers twitched. A dull ticking sounded out, muffled by the winds yet apparent in every way. Its noise was quiet and constant. Time seemed to move agonizingly slow for Dante as he watched Ace's fingers twitch while the compass spun out of control.

Time resumed flow as the pilot suddenly slammed the switches back into upward positions and yanked the bullhead's control wheel. The engines sputtered to life instantly, firing glowing blue bursts of light into the wall of gray wind around the ship as it surged forward.

The ship crashed through the veil of wind and corrected pitch, moving from the sudden plummet toward the crashing waves below as the Bullhead climbed back up toward the center of the tornado's epicenter. The digital array suddenly filled the screen again, flicking on to show our singular blip and Ike's just ahead. The rest remained dark still.

Ace waited, turning the ship on its axis to see the wall before it.

"Do you think they-?" Dante trailed off, but his question, despite unfinished, was loud and clear.

"They'll make it." Ace replied, gloves tight on the controls.

Ten seconds felt like an eternity. Twenty felt three times that, and thirty was just unbearable. Everything felt quiet all of a sudden, despite the howling winds coming from every direction. The tension rose, lingering in the air for several seconds longer before one Bullhead suddenly crashed out of the wall of wind before them. Behind it, two more blazed behind the veil of gray, shining in blue hazes of light as they burst through as well.

Everyone had made it through.

"Congratulations... Now, how do you want to lead us out of here, Ace?" Ike asked over the mic, his blip falling back into formation on screen as they all hovered at the center of the surrounding tornado.

"We build momentum along the interior wall." Ace replied, eyeing the massive, thick, gray vortex around us, "Once we build enough, we'll throw our ships into a hard bank and break through the encapsulated tornadoes. We'll be able to build enough speed to carry us the rest of the way to the island if we time it right."

"'If' we time it right." Delta's feminine voice spoke, something of a lighter, sweeter tone, "How do you plan to time this one, Ace?"

"Sorry to break it to you man, but build too much speed and we lose our rudders. Build too little, and we get thrown into an irreversible course that'll send us straight into the water." Brado informed as well.

"Not necessarily. We also run a high chance of getting thrown into one another and igniting our engines in volatile combustions." Faux added.

"Not helping Faux..." Delta spoke out.

"Ace knows what he's going guys." Ike's voice sounded out now, cutting through in a static strain as he quieted the rest down, "But he's the only one who can time this. I trust in him, so you should do the same."

"We've always trusted him with our lives." Delta affirmed, voice going soft, "And we'll gladly keep doing that for as long as we can."

"You have our backs Ace." Brado added, "And we have yours."

"I can attest to that." Faux chipped in as well.

Ace was running calculations. His timing for a human was very impressive, his judgment moreso in such situations. If he was going to do this, his execution needed to be flawless.

"Form a line." Ace ordered, hands suddenly moving again as he checked his dials, "Everyone nose to tail, hover just short of contact. We need to stay linked as close as possible to get this right."

The ships at the right and left suddenly dipped back, and the blips onscreen fell in line behind one another before pushing forward to form a line of glowing green arrows, nearly connecting together through contact.

"I'll call out every move I take. You all do the same. And, at the end of this, remind me to buy you all drinks."

The pilot took the wheel and tensed the muscles in his arm, a small smirk forming on his face in the reflection of the glass. The chuckling over the mic was evidence as to why.

"All units, accelerate to ten knots over five seconds on my count," Ace continued, brushing his thumb over the control stick beside him, "Three… two… one… accelerate."

He slowly pushed the lever forward, timing the buildup of acceleration over five seconds to move approximately 11.5 mph. The rest did the same, none of them disconnecting whatsoever from the line that was formed.

"Take it up to 35 knots over ten seconds and adjust longitude by a negative roll of 15 degrees on my mark." Ace continued before counting down from three once more and banking the vessel slightly while increasing to just over 40 mph.

They were approaching the wide wall of the tornado now, its pulling winds becoming more apparent, shaking the hull of our ship again as we got close.

"Take it to 30 degrees now on my mark."

They were soon banking even more as we got closer.

"45 degrees on my mark."

They were at the wall now, it's gripping wind tugging at the vessel as the tip of the right wing just barely sliced into its stirring surface.

"The winds carried us into a new velocity. Take it up and accelerate to 400 knots over the next ten seconds, we'll continue from there at a gradual rate of 15 knots per second. Accelerate on my mark." Ace ordered out, all five vessels of ours remaining in a tight chain of blips on the radar as we rode as close to the wall as we could get.

The wind helped accelerate the ships even faster, adding more and more miles per hour into their gages while the knots passively went up on their own.

"Accelerate."

Ace pushed the lever forward, the Bullhead pulling into a higher acceleration that kept climbing, taking them to the 400 knots mark and beyond as they continued to climb. Ace's vessel stayed at the wall of the hurricane, all roll changes being declared before performed as he built up speed.

The ships were quickly approaching 700 knots, about 805 mph. The numbers were slowing in their climb, but they kept rising as the ships rode the winds of the innermost wall of this tornado.

The noise of the rudders shaking tore in from outside, the shaking of the wings suddenly becoming more apparent as well with each 15 knots they accelerated.

Everything was beginning to violently shake with the speeds they were achieving. The hull wouldn't take too much more of it.

"At 861 knots stop accelerating, we take a hard bank right on my mark and carry through the wall at a positive 10 degrees, then level out once through."

Ace tapped the dial of his compass and paid it special attention, keeping an eye on the cardinal directions as they approached the velocity cap he declared.

The shuddering in the wings was getting worse, and as soon as they reached 861 knots, Ace stopped accelerating and fell into a sudden focus again. The dull ticking second hand on his watch could seemingly be heard again. It was softly tapping through the tense air as the world slowed down, entering a slow crawl as the ship grazed the vortex wall with the edge of their wing.

That was when Dante watched Ace's finger twitch, tapping the edge of his wheel to the exact tick of his watch, waiting as the wind was reduced to the feeling of a gentle winter breeze.

"Mark."

The world suddenly resumed as Ace banked into the veil of wind, moving back into the currents of the tornado as he crashed into its wall and pushed right through it. He merged with the strong confines of the tornado as he leveled out before banking slightly further, countering its inward pull as he and all the other ships slipped through its outer reaches with ease.

It was then the whole bullhead violently shuddered, each wing threatening to bend and snap as we crashed through every tornado along the way. Each swirling vortex of air was split in two as they passed through, leveling out moments later as they kept pushing onward. A red glow illuminated the air above and shook the storm in a sudden thunderous roar, something that couldn't be heard in the midst of the storm before.

The island was within reach.

The ship's radar was going haywire, flicking on and off as the digital display faded and nearly disappeared. The vessel shook, shaking beneath everyone's feet as the rest of the bullhead rocked from the throws of crashing wind.

The whipping wisps of gray across the glass before the, suddenly grew thin, and before they knew it, they had crashed their way through the final layer of tornadoes and entered a stabilizing cruise just beyond the innermost layers of the entire manifestation of storms.

They had made it.

* * *

As the digital display flicked back on, four blips on the radar flew closely behind Ace's leading vessel, and before long, each one was flaring as the mics were starting to overload with calls and cheers.

Ace stayed silent, letting everything slowly simmer down as Dante noticed a significant drop in his Aura. Whatever he had done, it used a portion of his Aura to do it. But however he did it didn't matter. He got all ofthem through, that was all that mattered in the end.

No questions needed to be asked.

"Ace, we're turning the deal around, we'll be the ones to buy you the first drink tonight." Ike commented over the mic, clear relief in his voice as he laughed.

The others did as well.

"Only the first one?" Ace questioned, reducing the speed to a safe cruising velocity to get us the rest of the way to the island.

"All of them." Delta responded, getting a soft chuckle out of Ace.

"Sounds like a fun time." he replied, before flicking off engines three and four and saving their fuel for later.

"Hey, uh, sorry to break the mood here," Brado spoke up, the pitch in his voice getting abnormally high and a little shaky, "but, what the hell is that?"

"I was just about to point that out too." Ike commented.

"I need to get my eyes checked..." Faux muttered.

Before them all was a floating tear in the fabric of reality.

Above the center of the island was a Rift filled with a dark, pitch-black void of stars. The black void was full of white and blue glints of light, reaching a depth none could even conceive as everyone stared into its broken abyss. It was a jagged, vertical slit that opened through the air above the island, remaining there in a stationary silence. It ominously fluctuated ever so slightly along its gaping borders, the length of it absolutely enormous as the bottom tip of it just barely hovered over the surface of an island of spikes. The other end reached into the dark clouds above, and from it leaked a crimson energy that sparked and crackled, surging into the night sky and into the storm clouds around it.

That was the cause of the storms.

"Look as though Zeridûl's set himself up for an extended period of time. It doesn't look like he's planning to leave his dimension any time soon." Dante spoke up at Xera's side, letting go of the handle as he leaned forward toward the glass.

"If he's looking to build an army, he probably plans to stay awhile." Xera replied, "He probably doesn't expect anyone to be able to get through the storms encompassing his island."

"Well, considering we just did, he's in for a little surprise," Dante replied with a smile.

"Whatever the case," Ace cut in, lowering the altitude, "I'll be setting us down on the western shore of the island to start running repairs. That's the flattest region I can see."

"Sure thing, do what you need to." Xera responded, letting him take them down.

It was made of black ice, hardened beyond compare and seemingly unbreakable in a dark and lethally dangerous way. Spikes, spines, and spires littered its surface in every reach of its structure. Its walls were raised into icy outcrops on all sides, batting away the intense surges of water from each direction.

"The island's pitch-black... Didn't you say Zeridûl's ice was only born from Zerath's affinity, not his own power?" Dante questioned, giving me a confused glance.

"That's what I thought…" Xera replied, keeping his eyes forward as the island grew nearer.

The waves were noticeably calmer inside the storm, but they were still harsh and volatile. The air was calmer as well, considering wind wasn't tearing at the hull anymore. The only light to illuminate the island was from the crimson glow at the top of Zeridûl's rift, basking the ocean and the black reaches of the island below in the very same glow Xera and Dante remembered seeing from his red sun. The same sun that corrupted Xera's brother's mind beyond recognition and shredded every sense of his being down to the last shard of his memories.

It was back. And this time, it was real.

They descended to the far side of the island with the other bullheads following close behind, sweeping around the incredibly large landmass beneath us as Ace rotated the thrusters and touched base with the icy ground below. A few moments later, he cut the engines and opened the bullhead doors.

"If I were you, I'd take this as quickly and cautiously as possible." Ace advised, flicking off several more switches as he finished landing procedures, "We don't want to be here for long."

"Understood." Xera replied, turning to leave the cockpit with Dante.

"Alright everyone, roller coaster ride is over. Come back never." said Dante motioning everyone out of the Bullhead.

He saw Inuba staggering forward and muttering in a dazed state, almost tripping forward out of the Bullhead if Dante had not caught her.

"Woah there! You alright?" he asked.

"I'll be fine… In a few moments at least…" Inuba replied still dazed, "I think I now share your dislike for flying on aircraft…"

Dante chuckled at her statement as he steadily helped Inuba out of the aircraft and onto the island of black ice.

"Looks like you had a decent time getting through. So, do we just go through the rift?" asked Dante as he turned his head behind him towards the girl cloaked in white.

"Yes. Although I will take some extra precautions. Before you enter, I will mark you all with tethers to help guide you back through. Once Zeridûl is defeated, there is a high chance the dimension will start collapsing in on itself immediately after he has been defeated. Be careful. You will be enetering his World now. He will have full control inside compared to when in Zerath's mind."

"Yeah yeah, I got it already…"

Dante finally let go of Inuba once he was sure she could stand on her own feet again.

"Now then...lets clean up this mess."

* * *

 **(Omake: Counseling With an Immortal, Part 4 - by OS Worldmakers)**

"Alright then... Now that you're here… Fire! Don't use it here ever again." said Bone White, the immortal counselor as he looked at the ashes of his coffee table, annoyed that in her stress, Inuba burnt it into nothing.

"I get you're under a lot of pressure, especially about Dante... But please, don't take it out on my-"

The flooring between the table disappears in a burst of white foxfire as Inuba looked at him with empty eyes.

"I'm very sorry about the furniture..." she replied in a deadpan tone.

"Sorry about the furniture my a-"

He sniffed, his face shifting into horror as he realized the rug also caught the white FoxFire. Desperately, Bone took off his shirt and tried to beat the fire out.

"I'm so sorry!" said Inuba.

She clenched her hand and the flames immediately extinguished themselves.

"Okay, your mind is on Dante, huh? First of all, let me get this out into the open. Do you realize that even his body knows you two should be together?"

His shirt went back on. But he soon realized that he didn't have a shirt anymore.

 _Dammit..!_

"I mean, he takes a few lethal blows for you. Okay, more than a few. Like all of them. He cooks when you don't, and he pets you. So, argue why you didn't confess again?"

"Well…"

"For heaven's sake, you do realize there's something called 'polygamy', right?!"

"N-No! He mustn't! I...I want to be his one and only..!"

Bone scratched his black hair.

"And have him break the heart of his current girlfriend? Inuba...that's a bit selfish..."

"It might be to you...but...you don't understand the situation."

"And what do I not understand?" he asked looked at her, regarding her carefully.

Beautiful, yes. But she faded into the background like anyone else.

"That you also like being just a servant to Dante, because that's the closest you'd ever be? Try me."

She leaned in closely and whispered to him the current situation.

"No, no, no! I'm not talking about when you nearly went into heat when you saw Dante looking hot in swim shorts!"

"No! Not that!"

She leaned and whispered again. He listened again, frowning.

"What? Run that by me again. After seeing the original Hero of Remnant and reading chapters of Veil of Aether, I still don't know."

Yet again she leaned in and whispered to him, which was far more complex than she made it out to be at first

"Okay... Though I think you have issues if you can't explain to the reader. Eh, your choice. You'll pay for it."

He went into the kitchen, boiling some water before he turned back towards Inuba.

"Coffee or tea?"

"Tea, please."

"Green or herbal? Peppermint is nice at this time."

"Peppermint would be nice for once, thank you."

He took out a peppermint plant from the counter and picked a few choice leaves before placing them carefully in the cup and pouring hot water into them.

"No sugar or cream?"

"No thank you."

He then placed a coaster underneath the cup and slid it across the varnished table along with a napkin.

"You can enjoy the tea as I embarrass you to assess how heads over heels you are over Dante."

"Isn't your purpose to help rather than embarrass?" asked Inuba.

"This is my Omake. I do what I want with it. Not to mention doing so helps you realize a bit more about yourself. Friede may've been real deep in weird sex stuff, but he knew a bit. So...which of Dante's clothing do you like the most?"

"Do you mean what he has in general or what he usually wears?"

"Doesn't matter. Go ahead, fantasize."

"If I have to say, I do like his shirts... Back on Primoridal, whenever he was at home or anywhere in public, he wore these very humorous shirts that had puns or jokes or displayed something artistically humorous. That...and...well..."

"Still not better than no shirt at all, eh?"

"There have been occasions where I haven't seen him without a shirt..." she as her face reddened.

"And no pants, either... It's called a hot spring." he said continuing without a care in the world as he picked up a gallon of water.

"That's..! Well... I-I haven't seen anything below the waist..."

"I have no doubts in my mind whatsoever that this has happened, but if you're fantasizing about becoming one with Dante, virginity doesn't exist. Not to mention in all the times Dante has walked in on you, you haven't thought once to accidentally do the same to him? Not even peeking over the wall of the high spring to look at him, which is perfectly acceptable somehow?"

"I-I haven't! I haven't seen him once! Even if...I did try once...or five times..." she finished a bit softly as her fox ears folded against her head in embarrassment.

"You'd probably go into heat and pounce on him then, huh?"

"N-No! I would never do such a shameless thing unless..! Unless...he and I were already…"

Bone white let out a sigh as he stood up and approached one of the windows.

"In that case..."

He then opened the window and judged the distance of his target in Vale, comparing it to his own mental map.

"I'll send you to the nearest natural spring then and MAKE THIS HAPPEN PERSONALLY."

"Wait, what do you mean..?"

"Hold onto your robes, child. You'll be flying. I'll be THROWING you there. Oh, and don't worry. Dante will be there too. Unless that's not what you want...?"

"I wouldn't mind that..." she said moving her hands to her already blushing face, "Wait a moment… D-Did you say throw..?"

Bone White grabbed Inuba by the shoulders and spun once, tossing her into the air at a speed around 100 mph. He then whipped out his Scroll and sent a text to Dante

"Dark Entity at the hot springs perving on some chicks. Go get 'em."

He then saw numerous responses from the other young immortal, but ignored them.

"I should walk there to see if she properly landed in the right section of the Hot Springs…"

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 5)**

"Yo yo yo! It's your favorite hostess in all of Creation, Ciel! And her not as cool brother Leo!"

"H-Hey..!" said Leo.

"Relax. I was kidding. You're cool too Leo. But I...am the coolest!" said Ciel leaning into a forward lung with her right hand pointed towards the sky.

"Can you please proceed to the segment?"

"Aw, what's wrong Leo? Not feeling up to it today?"

"No, it's just that we're pressed for time. We have that certain 'thing of a thing' to do as you called it?"

"Oh yeah! That! Alright! So then, what about we talk about the Semblance of my bestest buddy in the whole of Creation Skyla?"

"Ah yes, Ms. Xerious' Semblance. A curious one might I add…"

"So here's the basic run down of it… If you've been paying attention at times whenever she's used it, it'd almost hit you like a truck! If not, I shall reveal to you her secret! Her Semblance-!"

"Is Hyper-Acceleration of particles." interrupted Leonard.

"Hey!"

"Science specific words haven't always been your forte, Ciel."

"Yes they have!"

"Really then? Can you say Hippopotoimonstrosequipeddaliophobia?" spoke the brother rapidly without botching a single word.

"Uh…"

"I figured as much. Now, you may be wondering what hyper-acceleration of particles is in ms. Xerious' case. It's actually fairly straightforward. Through touch, or through channeling through her weapon, Skyla Xerious is able to hyper-accelerate particles of her choosing to produce...explosive results."

"Ever wonder why ice cream shops blew up when my big brother went to Xera Stark's Reality last?" added Ciel.

"The answer is simple. Ice. Her ability to hyper-accelerate particles is noticibly faster when used on ice and water. It also produces bigger explosions in that regard."

"In other words, she can give you an atomic high five if your hand is wet. Or if her hands wet. Either or."

"Her control over her Semblance isn't exactly what either of us would call perfect. Hence why so many ice cream parlors have suffered explosive demises whenever she's entered the premises."

"You can say she's got an...explosive personality!"

"That was dreadful. Truly."

"Shut it. Now, you may be thinking, 'Oh, what a sweet and simple Semblance!'. It's anything but that. We're only telling you what we currently know at the moment. In fact, Leo here managed to estimate her capabilities in the future."

"I will be the first to say that ms. Xerious' Semblance is a lot more complex than it seems at the moment. And more versatile as Xera Stark has proven and will continue to prove with the copy he created of her Semblance. Of course, ms. Xerious will be the prime producer of results that we will record whenever she uses her Semblance. Whether she has issues with control or has momentary slip ups is unknown at the moment. But heed our warning carefully ladies and gentlemen… No matter how cute, cuddly, and innocent she may seem...she is very capable of destroying your entire being with only the usage of her thumb. Do not underestimate her."

"That, and she's a totally cool best friend! And an awesome pillow fort maker!"

"Ah yes, you two had a sleepover of sorts a few days ago."

"Yep. And we ruled as queens of the domain! Hahaha!"

"Yes… Well, I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. We look forward to seeing you all next time!"

"Bye bye now!"

* * *

 **Well well, it seems as though everyone made it to the island in once piece. But will they all be leaving in one piece? Time will tell. The true battle...begins next chapter. Don't think Xera and I left the outside all nice and toasty while the six inside the rift will be having all the fun. Oh no, the outside team will be making an effort as well. As to what that is...find out in the chapters to come.**

 **Really, that's all I have to say, so with that...**

 **Don't forget to check out my other new story Knights of White and Black, which is being written in conjunction with Xera Stark's story Rogue Huntsmen. It's totally awesome and definitely a new and fresh way of wrting for me. So yeah, please go check it out!**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend! Bye-bye now!**


	14. Chapter 14: The Entry

**Heya everyone. Sorry this is getting out later in the day. I haven't been feeling all too great since last night and it carried out for pretty much all day so far. Regardless, I worked on the chapter, however long it took me. So, here you all are. Chapter 14. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: The Entry**

«»

Bitter cold. It was to be expected.

Sort of.

Dante turned around to face the direction they came from, still seeing the storm in full blast. Oddly enough, it couldn't be heard at this distance.

Things were far too calm at the moment.

"Well, this place isn't creepy in the slightest bit. No sir, it isn't..." Ciel said as she walked about, constantly turning her head to take in her surroundings.

"Far less troublesome than what I expected…" said Leonard.

"And what were you expecting?" asked Ciel.

"A force of some sorts to prevent us from entry." replied Leo as he nodded his head up towards the sky.

High above the sky at the center of the island floated the towering, eye-shaped breach of Xera's reality. Its size was much more immense now that everyone stood under it.

"To form such a large landmass of ice...it's something I've seen only ms. Stratos perform once." remarked Inuba as she too examined her surroundings.

Freya Stratos, one of Dante's old allies during his time in Primordial. As far as the young immortal was considered, she was the strongest user of ice magic ever to live. Mainly it was because her power was fueled by the conquered soul of a powerful ice Dark Entity, making her ice into Black Ice, the strongest and most powerful form of ice to ever exist. Nothing could melt it, much less scratch it unless there was someone with more powerful Dark Entity powers than Freya. The things she could do with her ice was outrageous...

Dante took a moment to look over an edge to one of the ice pits below. There was no climbing back up if you fell. Not without cutting your hands and feet at least.

A quiet tap of a cane slipped into the veil of dull echoes, catching the attention of the students.

"I believe time is a factor here?"

Ozpin's stoic voice was graced by a momentary flash of red light and a following crack of thunder. His silver hair fluttered in stray strands against the swirling air, but his eyes took in everything before him in a calmness that rivaled the eye of a storm.

"You kids better get up there. Are you sure six is all you're capable of?" Caza asked, stepping up to Ozpin's side as she placed a delicate hand over her holstered revolver, "No more than that?"

"With each additional party, it gets more difficult to maintain a tether to the real world. The more numbers we include, the higher the risk one may not reemerge." the girl cloaked in white responded as the team entering inside gathered around her.

"Then we leave it as six." Ozpin replied, taking a glance to Glynda as she stepped up to his other side, "We'll remain here and ensure nothing will enter inside or possibly even attempt to close The Rift."

"If anything goes wrong, I expect you to withdraw all of the students from the dimension with or without their consent." Glynda stated.

"The withdrawal must be mutual for there to be any direct effects. I cannot simply pull anyone back without them willing it." the girl responded.

"Trust me, we'll be willing it!" Skyla called back, giving the three authority figures a wave from the raid party.

"Then be on your way, and do be cautious. From the information I've gathered, this is the weakest he will ever be."

Ozpin ushered the girl forward, and she took a step back with a slight bow and a nod before turning toward her group of six.

"I take it we're not jumping..." Destiny commented, nodding up to the rift in the sky.

"We're not jumping." Xera replied, "The distance between the rift and the highest part of this island is well over 150 feet."

"Shouldn't be an issue." Destiny returned, letting her white book withdraw itself from her holster as she summoned Soarix, her eagle, "I can take one other with me, any more than that will weigh Soarix down too much."

"I'll go." Ruby volunteered, stepping toward Destiny as the wolf-faunus helped her onto her summon's back.

Weiss was noticeably standing as far away from the bird as possible. Now that Dante thought about it, it very likely had something to do with the Nevermore Weiss and Ruby hitched a ride on during initiation.

"Still afraid of clinging to the back of an avian creature there, ice queen?" someone's fiery voice cut in as Weiss jumped, a hand tapping her shoulder.

"I believe that's none of your concern, Yang. I'm perfectly fine with sitting on the back of a bird!" the heiress quickly replied, taking a step back as she faced her teammate, "Besides, this one's not a nevermore."

"Close enough, don't you think?" Yang replied with a small smirk.

That smile quickly lost itself as she took a deep breath and spoke to the heiress once more.

"Make it back, will ya? And make sure my sister stays safe in there."

"Yaaaang, we'll be fine!" Ruby called out from her mounted position, small hands gripping the feathers in front of her.

"You better be!" Yang replied, giving her sister a wave.

"I'll do my…" Weiss tilted her head, pausing for a moment before rewording her response, "I promise I'll do what I can."

"Good." Yang returned, giving the heiress's white hair a quick toss, "I'll see you when you get back. And you too sis! We'll make cookies!"

"Woo! Cookies!" Ruby threw her hands in the air, nearly falling off the back of Soarix. A swift grip of her cloak from Destiny kept her from tumbling.

"Hands on the feathers, little red. We'll be taking off soon."

The wolf faunus let go as soon as the girl regained her balance, giving Soarix's feathers a small pet.

Weiss gave Yang her own wave goodbye before her icy blue eyes cast their gaze to the rest of the party, searching for her own viable entry into the rift.

* * *

"Look at them… Their first trip to what's likely Hell, and they're all acting like it's a family trip to a family amusement park… Did we bring the soda? I can't remember." said Dante as he stood next to Inuba.

She giggled at his joke as she walked closer to him

"It certainly seems like that is the case."

She looked lower to his right arm, seeing it twitch slightly. She then looked up to him and saw him wincing slightly.

"Is something troubling you, Master?"

"Not entirely. I mean, I'm not sure of what it is I'll find inside, so I'm a little concerned." said Dante as he turned his head towards Inuba, "Our friend in the cloak mentioned something that's been on my mind for sometime now. And I've been thinking about it ever since we saved Zerath. I never actually told you what set off my EndStage months ago. But to put it simply...I found a Gem under the school."

Inuba's eyes widened in shock momentarily before she spoke again.

"Y-You mean...one was there under the school..?"

"Yup. Fancy that… Seeing it was there, I tried to destroy it, but it backfired on me and started EndStage. As you know, we managed to eliminate it from me after Beacon fell, which also resulted in me injuring my arm. I don't think I destroyed it that time. Considering what our cloaked friend said, I'm thinking it must've fell here through some sort of spacial distortion after I tried destroying it. And somehow...Zeridûl must have found it."

"But that means-!"

"I thought the same thing. But the Gems weren't meant for Dark Entity or Angel hands, only to be used by the Ancients. But...there's a loophole for Angels in order to use more of its power than what they already can. Humans. I don't know exactly how or why, but humans are able to access the powers of one of the Gems more than Dark Entities and Angels, whereas an ancient using it can use it to full potential. By taking a human vessel powerful enough to withstand his powerful before utilizing the Gem, Aultus was able to bypass the restrictions of his Angelic nature and was able to use the Gem to its near full potential. Unfortunately...we both know what happened after that…"

Inuba's fox ears folded against her head as she clutched the center of her chest, where once a wound used to be. A wound made by Aultus that had killed her so long ago. It was through her connection to Dante's soul, and her everlasting devotion to him that that her spirit had endured, and shortly after, allowed her to reform her entire self. She had been saved. And when she could, she had chased after him once again, reuniting with him and continuing their journey together where they last left off. There were stil thing left undone and unsaid.

"Do you understand now why I was hesitant to bring you with me inside The Rift?"

"Y-Yes…" responded the kitsune softly.

He was thinking that memory of my death would greatly hurt me if I had gone in and saw the Gem… Oh Master…

It would be a lie if she tried to deny her heart ached at the moment. Not just for herself, but her beloved Master as well. He too was still hurt by what had happened to her so long ago. But he was the one going inside the rift. And he would be the one to see it. That was if 'it' was in Zeridûl's hands. She knew that if he saw 'it', he would be reminded him of that time.

Inuba knew that Dante would always say that she was the strongest out of the two of them. But she always thought it was the reverse. He was bold. He was courageous. He was enduring. He never gave up. He was as thoughtful as possible. He was generous. He was caring.

He was far stronger than she could ever be.

It almost always confused her whenever he would say she was the better of the two.

Her current thoughts were cut off when she heard him sigh, seeing that he had looked up at the rift.

"Well...let's get this over with then…"

Inuba was just about ready to let him go, but she wanted to do something, anything to put him at east before he went inside the rift. She thought of at least a few ways to do so, not all of them appropriate at the moment, but given the situation at hand, she had to settle with a simple solution.

"Wait…"

He halted in his tracks immediately after hearing her voice and turned around.

"What? You're not worried are you?" he asked with a half smile.

"I am…" she responded almost immediately, forcing him to drop his smile, "You do so much… And you act as though nothing affects you but...you hide it so much that it's almost impossible to tell until it shows how it's affecting you."

"Inuba…"

"I'm always worried… Especially if I feel as though I haven't done enough for you, or couldn't do my best to help you. That's why…"

She began to approach him once more, gently grasping his completely bandaged right arm and taking care to remove it slowly from the sling around his neck. Inuba then raised up his hand under her own, and placed her other hand over the top of it as faint white flames emerged, blanketing her hands and his whilst slowly creeping up his arm.

Inuba finally brought the young immortals arm closer to her, resting his hand it the center of her chest, while her two hands now covered his right hand. She saw that he had averted his eyes, trying to maintain his composure and smiled as she closed her own eyes.

"Let strength be granted upon this Soveirgnless Soul, so that he may smite the evil that plagues us all. Grant him guidance and clarity so he may see through the long Dark. Let him surpass all those who have come before him. Let him prevail...so that he too may know peace of mind once the Dark has passed."

The flames sank into the bandaged arm slowly until no traces of white flame could be seen.

Inuba let go of his hand, and the young immortals arm felt...better. Far more than just better. He could move it entirely now. Granted it still ached slightly, he could fully move his arm, hand, and fingers freely.

"Unbelievable… My arm actually works now..!"

"Incredible… It worked…" said Inuba staring at his arm.

"You mean this was something new?"

"Entirely… I only thought of it just now… I wasn't sure it would work, but I hoped that it would."

"It feels a lot better…" said Dante clenching his right fist a few times, "Thank you."

"It's always a pleasure, Master." she said bowing to him.

"Inuba…"

"Y-Yes..?"

"Never say that you don't do enough for me. You always manage to go above and beyond and do more than what's needed or necessary. Thank you."

"Y-You're welcome…"

"Whoa, is the storm clearing?!" Sun suddenly asked, feeling a buzz rush through his golden monkey tail.

"No dude, i-it's totally not c-clearing up..." Neptune responded shakily, arms wrapped tightly around an icy pillar far away from the island's edge.

"Really? I swear it just got warmer or something..." Sun replied, letting his open shirt drift slightly in the warm wind.

"You two are imagining things. And Sun, aren't you already weather resilient?" Yang pointed out, poking his bare abs for a moment.

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm weather resistant alright." Sun threw his arms out at his sides, tilting his head up as he took in a deep breath, "This? This is nothing."

"Alright, we should be on our way now." the cloaked girl said, gathering the attention of the six before her, "Xera, you can fly so you'll need to carry Weiss and Skyla into the rift. Inuba can as well so she'll follow closely with Dante, but she won't be entering with you."

The girl kicked up into the air, the bottoms of her shoes glowing white as she rose up further, cloak waving in the wind as she extended her hands to the teens below her.

"Go."

The smallest of tugs suddenly pulled at their aura, but the foreign feeling quickly disappeared as soon as it arrived. With that done, Soarix leaned back and unfurled its wings, taking off into the air a moment later with Ruby and Destiny on his back.

Xera held out his arms, reinforcing them with his Aura as he gripped the forearms of Weiss and Skyla at his sides, their hands doing the same with his.

With his grip locked, his wings shot out to full wingspan before catching a fabricated updraft and throwing him into the air. The temperature in the atmosphere suddenly rose drastically, the air directly around Xera even moreso as he adjusted its levels to force an even greater updraft beneath him.

Lastly, Inuba took Dante's left hand and kicked up into the air, the bottoms of her soles blazing with white flame as she streaked into the air behind the rising party.

The air around them became colder as the rift came into view, approaching them as quickly as they approached its gate. Nothing but blackness and scattered, blinding lights stared back at them in a seemingly clear, empty void. Or so it looked.

As soon as they leveled themselves with its center, they gazed in to find a rocky outcrop on the inside. It was weathered, gray, brittle stone, and it reached the bottom of the gate as if it were acting as a bridge for anyone to enter.

"That's our landing zone!" Destiny called out, flying close to the rift's large opening as she looked inside, "I can't see anything past it!"

"It's all we need! Get inside for now!" Dante called out from behind, Inuba pulling him above the rest of the party as the two flyers up front moved forward.

After a moment of hesitation, Soarix entered a dive and swooped into the darkness, followed by Xera as he slipped inside the veil of blackness as well.

All of them were still visible on the other side, as if they did nothing else but step through a window, as Dante watched them all touch base on the rocky ledge on the other side.

"Hold on tight, Master. And don't break anything when you land!" Inuba said, kicking back in the air before beginning to spin.

"I'll try not to..." Dante replied, giving the kitsune a thankful smile, "I'll see you when I get back."

"Promise?" Inuba asked.

"Promise."

Inuba spun one last time, her fox tail trailing behind her before slinging Dante forward with a sudden burst of white flame at his heels, some of the people from below hearing a very hearty "yeehaw" in the worst southern accent possible as he flew inside.

* * *

Everything inside looked like an endless void of space, filled with stars as Dante soared through the vast space. He was further behind the rest and needed to catch up. But where were they..?

He could see an end to the vastness of the space around him, spotting them all on the edge of a cliff.

 _Perfect._

The young immortal began noticing he was losing speed and momentum to carry him through. It was moments like these he wished he could fly again.

He thought hard about what to do to push him forward, and soon found his answer. Dante drew his sword and moved it behind him before placing both feet on the opposite sides of his sword's guard and grasping tight of the handle with both hands.

 _This is possibly the stupidest idea I've ever come up with. Of all time. I really hope this works…_

"Devouring Light!"

As he screamed his techniques name, a massive blast of white and black Aura bursted forth from the young immortals blade in a focused, beam-like blast that rocketed him forward at high speeds.

"This...is...awesome!"

He was flying at speeds faster than what he imagined as his Aura continued to propel him forward, like a moron on a rocket powered pogostick that was flying through space. Spotting the stone bridge he was approaching, where everyone else landed, Dante now had two new problems that needed a solution. How was he going to stop and how was he going to land?

* * *

"Hey… Anyone see Dante?" asked Skyla as she looked around them.

"He was behind us. I'm sure of it." stated Xera.

"Did that idiot seriously get lost?!" shouted Destiny.

A few seconds of silence between concerned friends was interrupted when a white and black Longsword suddenly planted itself blade point first in the ground between them all. Soon, Dante appeared before them in a streak of white and black Aura, kneeling on the ground as he grasped his sword.

"Nope. He's present and accounted for." Xera said, "What happened to you?"

"Um… I lost momentum and was starting to fall...so…"

"So..?" continued Destiny.

"I used my Longsword as a pogostick, and used Devouring Light to make it into a rocket pogostick."

"Woah!" shouted Ruby and Skyla in unison, awestruck by such and ingenious plan.

"You can't be serious?!" asked Weiss.

"No, I'm serious alright. See, I'm masterful when it comes to plans. Especially when making stupid plans that surprisingly work sometimes. Rocket pogostick was one of them."

"You used your most deadliest technique in the history of deadly techniques as a propulsion system…and your sword as a base?" asked Xera.

"Correction. A pogostick."

"Okay. Well, we should get a move on then."

"What, that's it?! We're not even going to talk about such a reckless plan of action?!" said Weiss.

"I'm here, aren't I?" said Dante as he began walking ahead of the group after sheathing his sword.

"That man is a lunatic…" replied the heiress.

"Hey, don't fix what ain't broke." said Skyla as she began walking.

Dante continued walking ahead of them, but soon touched his head with his hand. It ached slightly. He soon looked behind him to see Soarix suddenly evaporate, dispersing into fragments of Destiny's Aura as the girl lowered to her knees, hand pressed against her chest.

"I-Is anyone else…" Skyla's voice choked out from behind me, and I quickly turned to watch her fall to the ground as well, "h-having…a-a hard time…breathing?"

 _What's going on? Why are they..?_

Everyone besides Xera and Dante were affected and fell to their knees as well, trying to catch a breath.

The air!

"Xera, got anything to fix their circulation of air?"

"It's the air? Alright, one second then."

Xera raised up both arms as they flowed with fire, which soon reached out in a bright crashing wave of fire into the forms of everyone on the ground at the moment. The Phoenix Faunus' flames lingered, flickering off their skin as they melting into everyone's Aura. Whatever it was circulating through their lungs had been expelled by Xera's Affinity.

"Those flames are attuned to your Aura Signatures now, so they won't go out unless your Aura runs dry. If that happens, I'll have to supply the energy needed myself to keep them kindled," He informed them, carefully watching as everyone began to breath normally again.

"H-How does that," Destiny pushed herself to her feet, brushing down her knees as she stared at us, "make sense?"

"My Affinity has a healing property to it. But the fire also has a high aptitude to burn away toxins and viruses, and whatever else that can harm the body. It keeps me from getting sick, but I found that it can help others, too."

Destiny took a second, but she eventually gave him a sure nod. There was too big of a party to take things as quickly and urgently as Dante and Xera did in Zerath's mind. They realized rushing in wouldn't be something smart to do, and that they would rather make sure everyone is safe.

"We should go. Just be careful, we'll need to watch each other's backs in here."

"Who's taking the back?" Dante asked, walking up to Xera's side.

"I figured you and I would take the front, making sure we had a strong frontline. Anyone who's more of a supportive role would take up the center, leaving the back for someone capable of sensing anything off." Xera replied, turning to regard Weiss and Destiny.

They were the main supportive roles, and thankfully, they understood from just a simple glance.

"Ruby and I can be the caboose." Skyla offered, pointing to the back of the pack.

"Yeah, we can keep everyone covered. Besides, I need a little range if you guys encounter something up front." Ruby added, agreeing to Sky's terms.

"Are you sure? I mean, with my Semblance I could cover us from all sides." Dante asked.

"Sky's more than capable, if that's what you're worried about." Xera said, giving Skyla a confirming nod and letting her pull Ruby along with her, "Thanks, both of you."

Skyla flashed them a thumbs up and skipped the rest of the way to the back of the group. Somehow, I knew we'd be fine. With a sniper's trained eye and Xera's partner keeping watch over them all, everything would be fine.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but isn't she a little… What's the word I'm looking for…" Dante wondered, keeping his voice low, "Easily distracted?"

"She may seem that way, but I trust her capabilities with my life."

"Well, if you put it like that," Dante took a minor glance over his shoulder, then turned to face ahead of us, "then I trust her too."

"Do we have snacks?!" Skyla's voice called out, immediately getting a momentary dip of the head from Dante, the poor immortal seemed tempted to take back his words all of a sudden.

"Sky, this is a dimension in another realm. We're here to hunt down and bring an end to an evil being that's been tainting our world for far too long. We're on a mission to destroy him," Xera called back, giving her a wave over my shoulder before turning around, extending my arms, "Of course we have snacks."

Are you freaking serious?! We have gone in to some twisted Dark Realm to go kill a potential god in the making...and they brought snacks. Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

"Yayy!" Sky cheered, throwing her fists in the air.

"Me too!" Ruby called, holding her hands out as well.

"Really?" Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as Destiny hid a small smile.

The heiress glanced back and saw Ruby giving her, and Xera, an excited nod.

"Fine, I… will admit, it'd be nice to be supplied."

The Phoenix Faunus threw a couple granola bars at them before moving on, beginning their first few steps up the hill. They fell into a decent formation as quickly as they started moving, and continued in that way.

The ground felt brittle, dusty almost. It was pale and weathered, appearing almost dry and white in contrast to the Darkness surrounding them. The light from the stars was enough to illuminate the dimension, or whatever this place was. It gave off a deathly surreal atmosphere, as if we were drifting, but stationary in a vast abyss of lifeless space.

There was no way they were alone, but it felt like that.

"This place looks oddly familiar to me…" said Dante.

"Familiar?" Xera asked.

"It...almost looks like the Dark World…"

"The Dark World..? How similar are we talking?" asked Xera.

"Very. If I didn't know any better, it's almost as if he's recreating fragments of it. The entrance, for instance, it was exactly the same as when I entered through the last time."

"You think he's recreating the Dark World in his own image? With his own rule?"

"From what I learned a while back, the Dark World sustains itself through negativity, Dark Essence, and in most cases, evil, or sin. Considering a multitude of Dark beings live in the Dark World, they basically feed it enough of their own Aura to the point where it became self-sustaining. A dimension requires a lot of energy to…well...exist."

"To start a dimension like this, how much energy are we talking?"

"A lot more than you probably think is possible, but that's only needed for the creation. There is a point in time where a dimension can gather enough energy to keep itself infinitely powered, since it'll eventually start producing the necessary energies it needs on its own. If he's doing what I think he's doing, then Zeridûl may very well be attempting to create his own Dark World. But…there's something else that's been bugging me for a while now…"

"Is it sorta bad? Or really bad?" Xera asked with concern.

"Honestly, I shouldn't say unless I know for a fact that what I'm thinking is the case. A dimension of this caliber coming into existence so soon? It's just too quick and convenient. But I've had wrong theories before… Unless I know more, I'm keeping quiet about this theory of mine. Dangerous secret and all that."

"If it's detrimental to any of this, just…don't keep it to yourself for too long. I might not know the full extent of whatever it is you're concerned about, but if it's as bad as you make it sound, I don't think that matters." Xera responded.

The Phoenix Faunus knew he was hiding something, but not just something. A secret too dangerous to even bring up and be wrong about. Something that could possibly insinuate something far outside our capable levels of understanding.

"Xera…" his voice grew serious, moreso than his usual, "If you knew for a fact that something existed that could make your deepest wishes or desires come true…how far would you be willing to go to have it in your possession?"

"I would assume all the lives in the worlds, if someone wanted something like that." He replied, his walk slowing slightly.

"And if this thing could actually return the dead without the price of sacrificing others? What then?"

"Something that can cheat death like that, with no cost at all, sounds like a dream in and of itself. There are certain unsaid rules in Existence, or so I like to think. One of them is keeping the dead, well…dead. Anything past that is breaking that person, returning them as something more faded than when they were alive."

"And if this thing bypassed every law or rule imaginable, making the person whole again without any issue? You'd be tempted even the slightest amount, yes?"

The young immortal knew it was wrong to be suspicious of Xera if he ever found out what was possibly further within this realm. But he had to be sure. From experience, Dante knew The Gem has a way of calling to people, drawing them in closer in order to make their wishes come true. The Gem was neither good nor evil. It was a thing. A tool. A tool that could manifest people's desires. A tool that could be used for evil, like the last one was.

"I know what you're insinuating..." Xera sighed, "but no, I'd never be tempted for something like that."

"I don't know whether to believe that or not. But listen carefully and listen well. All it takes," he raised up his still bandaged but now functional right hand, pinching his index finger and thumb together, "is that single shred of temptation to get you to act without thinking about anything else. And with what I have in mind…it acts upon it in such a way that it empowers you to follow that desire all the way to the end. Do you understand now why I want to keep quiet about this?"

Dante turned his head back slightly, looking at the others following closely behind.

"There are some things in life that just…happen. For me, if I were ever offered a chance to bring my mom back, I wouldn't need to think about it, even for a moment. I'd be killing her again if I brought her back to life, but in the worst way possible. I can't do that to her… She'd never be okay with that. But...I know what you're getting at, and I know how temptation can lead to something beyond corruption. Whatever this is, whatever it's capable of, it feeds on will that's easily persuaded or turned. It draws on all the negative emotions we look at as sin. It's of Dark descent, isn't it..?"

"The opposite actually… It's something in between."

"Whatever made it is one thing, but how it's used now is another. If this thing can take the smallest of temptations and turn that into burning desire, then it can be used to drive anyone to the point of no return."

"That's unless the person holding it knows exactly what it is and how to use it. Then...it becomes a tool. A tool that can be wielded with such ease it's honestly a little terrifying."

"You think Zeridûl somehow found one of these…" Xera realized, his words lingering in the still air.

"I don't know… Which is why I'm keeping quiet about it for the most part. Ever since stepping foot in here, our friend in the hood allowed Inuba and myself to sense these…disruptions, or fluctuations. There have been many fakes over the years, and each give off the same sort of presence. The only way to know for sure is if it's in my hands."

"You make it sound like someone can build something like this, and actually have it work to some extent…"

"It can be built. The materials are…rather easy to obtain. The only difficult part is the amount required to make one."

"And here I thought it'd be nearly impossible to make, considering what it can do..." Xera muttered.

"Nothing is impossible… So long as you have the right thing and amount to pay."

"Impossibility is only relative, but it sounds like your logic revolves around cheating the system. Something like that, that alters reality, really shouldn't be obtained through any remotely normal means. And yet, you say someone can do anything if they have something to trade for it."

"As unfair as you imagine it to be, it exists. Whether to provide some twisted amusement for a being of greater power…or simply a being benevolent enough to provide you with options no one else can. But these options are never free. Truthfully though, it's more of a question of equivalent exchange. Give something of equal value to get something of equal value."

"Sooner or later, something's going to break if that system remains in place. A trade of equal value can be anything, and for anything, but it's always at the will of the being on the other side of the exchange. How many beings exist that have this power?" Xera asked.

"Currently? As in on their own with their own power?"

"Yeah."

"Two. The Creator…and Dakini."

"Your goddess…" Xera realized, recalling a certain memory that was hard to forget.

"They called her Demon Fox Goddess Dakini, known for her wrath and fury on the battlefield that surpassed any and all that stood before her. Her power is great. What most people don't know is that Dakini isn't simply a powerful goddess, but also a wish granter. She accepts almost any type of payment you can think of, anything tradeable or able to be exchanged that is equal to the value of what you want or desire. It's how she's able to grant the wish at all. Say you want three hundred dollars cash. You give her something of that value, and your wish is granted. Say that you want to save someone's life from certain death. You either give a life or your life in return, or-"

Dant suddenly raised his hand to his head and winced slightly. It looked as though he was having a headache, trying to remember the last detail, but falling just short of it.

"You okay?" asked Xera.

"Y-Yeah… I'm just drawing a blank right now..."

"You're not one to feel pain, I don't think that was just drawing a blank there."

"Okay then smarty pants, it's more like I'm trying to remember a detail, but there's a block there. And it feels like I'm constantly running into a wall…"

"Then stop thinking about it for now. I'd rather you keep your mind here and intact while we do this. You can keep trying to figure out if Zeridûl is using what you think he's using, but for now, we're in a place known only to him, and him alone. He has power here. We need to not forget that."

"I know that. What are you, my mother now?"

He seemed…unusually irritated than his usual self.

"You look nothing like me, so I think that's proof enough." Xera replied easily.

Taking everything into account though, Dante felt off to the Phoenix Faunus. He had known him for, what, only a week or two total in terms of total accumulated time? That's more than enough to get a grasp on how he'd ordinarily respond, let alone act. Dante wasn't acting like his usual self… There was something weighing down on the him. One glance around, and I was starting to wonder if this dimension was that factor.

*munch munch munch*

The two heard someone bite into their granola bar and turned around, seeing Skyla at the back of the pack snacking on her sweets already. The audible "hmph" she made with her next bite only brought a giggle to the girls around her. Somehow, she was lessening whatever tension there was around us, and reducing it to bearable levels. Xera was thankful for that.

As was Dante being here for only a few minutes and he already felt a bit more irritated and on edge than usual. But Skyla managed to ease that tension with her sillines.

The silence around them no longer felt so heavy, and when they reached the peak of the sloping bridge, what they saw made them stop in plac. Everyone else made it up as well in the next few seconds, falling in line with Xera and Dante as they all gazed out from the top of the pale hill.

A black citadel in the sky sat nestled in the sky, hovering over the landmass below.

The bridge the group was on led down to what looked like a floating mountain, if only they formed upside down. Dark, icy crystals made up the structure beneath the floating landmass of pale stone, jaggedly reaching far into the abyss below and sharpening into a point at the mountain's tip.

What they now saw was a city. If one were to take everything they knew of Mount Olympus and corrupted it, molded it into spires of tall towers and sharply pointed corners, then take the elegant, Athenian architecture of the Greeks and twist it, burn it, and freeze it, and the result would the new world before us. Torches were ablaze on rooftops and in windows of different levels, glowing in crimson lights across the massive, elevating expanse of the city before us.

The lowest levels, where the bridge connected into, seemed to be the residential district, given the smaller buildings making up the majority of the front part of the mountain's base. Elevated by central stairs, running from somewhere in the center of this district, was another layer of the city.

Larger buildings were built there, all in the same black marble stone that made up the rest of the city. Buildings of greater size resided there, only suggesting a commercial or industrial district for the working-class.

Beyond that was a third level at the furthest part of the mountain's reversed base, making the city feel like a sloping hill of buildings that lead up to its highest peak of importance.

The palace, or whatever he happened to call the structure up there.

It was the largest building, by far, and it was built at the top of an immense staircase in the distance. Its flames were the brightest, its pillars the tallest, all reaching the furthest into the dark sky above.

This was a city of demons…and they were going to the top of it.

"Welcome..." A voice cut in before any could take another step.

It was an unforgettable…condescending voice. Its dark, icy undertone came from everywhere, causing the loose stones across the bridge beneath us to drift as it drew through a slow, immense pull of reverberation.

"Welcome to my kingdom...my new world." Zeridûl's voice continued, as the burning lights of his kingdom suddenly blazed in tall columns of red flame.

 _So...he knows that we're here now…_ thought Dante.

"One of you is false, the other a betrayer. Two of you are weak in resolve and in power, while the other is a being built by ignorance, but the last of you… you intrigue me."

The stones beneath them began to chip away as the bridge began to erode away.

"You bring with you an immortal and four friends, all willing to risk themselves for the betterment of your world, a world hardly worth saving." Zeridûl continued, his voice getting louder as it bared down on us, "Why would all challenge a being you can't possibly defeat?"

The warped gravity began to deteriorate, reducing its hold but only slightly. The bridge continued to fall apart.

"You should be trying to preserve your lives. And yet, why march to your own demise?" Zeridûl asked, the world seeming to shake around us as the bridge crumbled beneath our knees.

"Haven't you heard?" Dante growled back, his one good arm digging into the stone below as he forced it down, crushing it beneath his fingers as his legs sunk into the cracks, "I'm a godslayer."

He forced himself to stand, legs enduring the increase in gravity as he forced a step forward. The ground gave way beneath his foot, crumbling to dust and forcing him to remain in his place.

"A godslayer in your reality, perhaps..." Zeridûl responded, voice ripping through the ground and causing the entirety of the bridge behind us to shatter, "But here...you are in my domain. You live beneath my rules now and my laws. I am the overseer of this Dark Reality, and you willingly entered of your own volition."

An echoing, wailing howl suddenly broke through the air at their backs, and with an incredible effort just to turn his head enough to see what it was, Dante could see the rift attempting to close itself. Its borders were nothing more than a sliver of the stormy sky outside before it started to struggle, refusing to seal completely.

"Hmph… She'll grow tired soon enough." Zeridûl spoke in disregard of the matter at hand, letting the rift's entrance remain like that, "After all, I never intended to build my army entirely from scratch. I have…company that I'm expecting. The gate was open for their arrival…not your entry."

He was expecting something. The size of the gate, when the group first got on the island, was massive. It spanned the entire reach to the clouds above…

What was he drawing into his realm?

No, what was he pulling in to force everyone outside to face on their own?

"No matter."

Zeridûl's voice reduced the underside of the rest of the bridge to nothing, all of it eroding away to a thin, brittle, narrow pathway to his city's front gate. That was when the gravity receded.

"It seems as though I'll get to have my fun before the end. Out of everyone," his voice slowly receded as well, no longer descending from the space around them, but directed down from the city's highest structure, "you two are the ones who can actually put up a fight."

The gravity dispersed completely, the silence soon filling the air once again as the pressure on our bodies returned to normal.

"I await you at the peak of Eryndûs..." he called down one last time, "I wonder who will last longer. You…or your friends."

And then his voice faded, leaving then in silence once again.

"Forget what I said earlier..." Xera growled, rising to his feet, "We need to hurry."

It wasn't a mission to end a life anymore. It was a mission to save as many as possible.

* * *

 **(Omake: Counseling With an Immortal, part 5 - by OS Worldmakers)**

Inuba safely landed in the hotspring waters, lingering underwater for a moment before rising back up and exhaling.

"He... He really threw me..."

She tugged a bit on her shirt considering she was drenched to the bone from the hotspring water, her clothes tightly hugging her alluring form.

"What will I do now..?"

 **(Inside the Office of the Hotspring...)**

"Hi. Thanks for reserving this private spring."

Bone payed up a handful of lien and then bowed. Out of the side of his eye, he noticed Dante walking in. Stealthily, he kicked the teen into the spring...right on top of Inuba. Because he could.

"Who the heck just kicked me?! And...what is soft and plentiful feeling in my hand..?"

Bone tossed a towel and some rose petals to scent the water before hiding. He then went back to the front desk to ask if he could provide "service"

"I-Inuba?!"

Dante only realized now he was atop her, one of his hands firmly holding on to one her large, ample breasts. Her face was a crimson, as she muttered softly to herself, soon looking away in a submissive manner that spoke the silent words "Do what you will with me..."

Dante's own face was red, his mind a complete blank as he tried to tell his mind to let go and stand. But this did not work. Not at first until a few seconds later he slowly let go and tried standing back, up shaking. Restraining himself in such an instance like this...was very hard for him to do.

At this moment, Bone White had broken in, clothed in a chef's apron and a red hat, a uniform for teppanyaki. He brought with him a hibachi grill, along with various ingredients, carefully avoiding the spring water.

"'Ello, you two. I will be your personal chefs for this meal. You may call me Bone White."

"Y-You again?! I knew a situation like this had to be your doing! Wasn't last time enough for you?!" he asked as he held Inuba in a princess carry, the latter muttering to herself.

Dante looked down momentarily, but immediately looked back up when he noticed his partners white, sleeveless kimono had become completely transparent, revealing much that wasn't necessary.

"What? Wait, it's you again? I needed the job. I seriously didn't expect to see you here. What'cha like to have to eat?"

Without missing a beat, he powered up the hibachi grill with fire Dust.

"Don't act all innocent! Who else could have concocted such a plan in under a minute?! Telling me there's a Dark Entity here only to find my partner in such...conditions... Now you're here with a grill?! Where did you even find that?!"

"They have services like massages, food, and...other things. Like triple-X rated stuff."

Upon hearing that, both partners blushed even more furiously then they already did. But only Dante had the courage to ask what he did next.

"Is the grill part of that last part somehow?"

Bone raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on how romantic you want it. Otherwise, I just make a meal and put on a show."

He stared at them.

"What, you thought I'd say yes?"

"Yes! Because its you!"

"Then I'd be fired. I need the Lien."

"Like you'd care really!"

"Money's important in modern society. I have to care about it."

Dante and Inuba glanced at one another before he stepped out of the hotspring with Inuba, putting her down on her feet soon after.

"If this is one of your weird tricks, I swear, when I see it happen, we'll be gone."

"Hey, still have to cook for you two lovebirds. Which meat you want? We've got chicken, beef, pork, and fish, along with choice cuts."

"Chicken." said the two in sync, looking at each other momentarily before looking away.

He pulls out a whole chicken, skinned and already prepared.

"In that case, take a seat and watch the show."

Tossing the chicken up into the air, he took out a sharpened knife, its keen edge glinting in the light. A sliver, fluid blur later, all of the meatfell onto the grill.

Dante took off his coat and draped it over Inuba's shoulders.

"Here... You can use this." he said.

"T-Thank you, Master..." she said as she took comfort in the new source of warmth provided to her.

Bone spurted oil onto the grill and snapped his finger so fast it caught fire.

"How did you even get here? Did he kidnap you or-?"

"No, nothing like that Master. I went to speak with him and then he brought me here. Coincidentally, you happened to be here as well."

Dante shook his head as he sighed, rolling his eyes as he did so. Inuba glanced at him and smiled, giggling to herself slightly.

"What?" asked Dante.

"Oh, nothing really..." she said smiling. "Just...being here with you and having fun is enjoyable."

"What, you call having fun under the supervision of this guy fun?"

"If you two want, I can blindfold myself. Not like I need 'em to do this." replied Bone.

With a whole chicken breast left, he tossed it up into the air. At the same time, he spun a knife and let the edge saw through the meat into precise horizontal cuts as it spiraled forwards before Bone caught it.

"Hey, at least I know a few tricks. Entertain yourself. I've got some alcohol."

With his sandaled foot he balances a whole bottle of sake, because jeez, this is a Japanese-themed restaurant.

"You can keep that sake. We're not old enough." replied the young immortal.

"Sparkling water or cider, then?"

"Water for us."

He flipped a carafe in his hand, not letting a drop spill out before he poured two glasses of water before the soaked teens.

"Then again, you are at a hot spring. Some authors have said drinking the waters would help you, but that's BS."

"Really?" asked the young immortal, "And here I go through the effort to praise humans for their intelligence at times..."

Inuba giggled at his comment.

"One can dream, Master."

"Yep. At the time, spring water had a lot of minerals, some not so good for the body. One person I met said it tasted like 'bloody water'."

"Oh, how nice."

He placed an onion and began slicing it into loops, which he let fall on the grill and roll in loops, before picking up oil.

"Mr. White? Where exactly do you hail from?" asked the kitsune.

"Outside of the 10 Prime Worlds, out of the Creator's sphere of influence in the multiverse. It's a long story, involving an alternate theory. Want to hear it?"

The onion loops became one cone that Bone poured oil into, before he lit it up with a snap of his finger. An onion volcano.

"Sure, why not?" said Dante.

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated 6)**

"Far too many movies to watch over the weekend..." said Dante.

"Yeah, but at least that movie with the dude with metal claws was cool! No, wait, not cool...but totally awesome!" said Ruby.

"Yeah, it was okay."

"Okay?! He has metal claws! That are practically indestructible! Wait...do you have metal claws?"

"Nope. Just my indestructible black bones."

"Awwww..."

"Anyway, welcome back to Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide. Considering we talked about Skyla Xerious' Semblance last time, this time we'll be talking about her weapon. Ruby?"

"Right. So Skyla hasn't exactly named her weapon yet. She's stuck between Melodious Strike and Amethyst Corse. So the official name as of now isn't clear. But as for what her weapons actually are, she wields two katanas of average length with a purple ribbon wrapped around the right handle and a pink one on the left. They also give her some nice extra grip to each katana."

"These ribbons can be unwound in combat and span several meters, allowing her to push her Aura through the material of each and manipulate the light ribbons into doing things she wants them to do. Her main combat style revolves more around the use of these highly durable ribbons than the actual swords themselves."

"Each ribbon is made of a highly tensile metal-threaded alloy of cloth, malachite, Aura, and conductive alloys. They can resist all forms of Dust and can also channel electricity and heat, acting as conduits for each energy respectively in the event she needs to reroute an incoming attack of that extent."

"Short, sweet, and simple. Even so, its a wonderful weapon to be used by agile types and has some nice damage dealing capabilities from a range. It's almost like Blake's Gambol Shroud in that respect but just bit more versatile in some of its capabilities and actions. But from personal experience, do not underestimate Skyla, especially when she's using her weapon. She'll make the fight done and over with before you even realized what just happened. Just like this one standing next to me." said Dante as he patted the top of Ruby's head, something she clearly enjoyed.

"T-Thanks for being with us today!"

"We look forward to seeing you again next time. So, what we do now since we're done with the segment?"

"Oh! We can go see that cool zombie movie Rezident Vile!"

"Ah, I did want to see that for a while now. Alright. Let's skedaddle then."

The duo soon exited off the stage, ready to see a new zombie movie they were both excited about for some time.


	15. Chapter 15: The Beast of the Labyrinth

**Heya everyone, how's it going? Sorry if this is a bit late in the day, but if you read KoWaB, you'd know that right now as I'm writing this A/N, I'm on my way back to college after a fun spring break with friends, where we ended it with going to Disneyland on Friday. So I'm still a bit pooped.**

 **Before we go into the chapter...**

 **OH. MY. GOODNESS. Nier: Automata. Holy gods of the old and new was that game amazing. I know said the same about FFXV, but...dear me, Nier: Automata went above and beyond, and honestly, a lot more than FFXV did for me. Considering most, if not all of you, know by now that I am a really crazy dude when it comes to finishing games at times, I only recently platinumed the game. But here's the quick details.**

 **Basically, by the time I got back home, I had only just finished my first playthrough and went on to the second to get ending B, which is basically the same as the first if you catch my drift. So, halfway through the 2nd play through, it's about midnight. I wasn't all too tired. In fact, not tired at all. So basically (warning, uncharacteristic language incoming), I reached a point and said "Fuck it. I'm going to completely and entirely finish Nier: Automata." And by that, I meant get all the remaining trophies, collect everything, get all the endings, you name it. Basically, I devoted an all nighter to one hundred percenting the game in its entirety. And it was worth it. Granted, I got a bit depressed due to some grimm stuff happening in the storyline of the game, I still pushed on nonetheless. Seriously, I was getting depressed.**

 **Basically, after starting the second playthrough at around 7pm, I finished up and achieved my goal at around 10am. It was not easy. But still, worth it due to the true ending credits, the true ending, and the absolutely amazing song with the final and true credits, and so forth and so on if you finished the game completely like I did. But, keeping to the tradition of the first Nier game, I sacrificed my save data to do two extra things. Things which I'll leave to you to figure out if you either delide to buy and play the game or look it up.**

 **To put it shortly, Nier: Automata, in my personal opinion, is and has been the most amazing video game I've played in all my years of living so far. The characters (both playable and non-playable), everything from their personalities, to their voice actors, to their clothes and so forth, was awesome and fit together very nicely. The gameplay mechanics (fighting, movement around the world, quests and the such) weren't overly complex and fairly simple to understand and get the hang of. The storyline was incredible and breathtaking, especially since it's basically a new storyline after each play through until the third playthrough. The combat system for all three different characters was eyecatching, fluid, and dynamic. The music was outstanding and fit all the different situations and areas very neatly and closely. All the different skills acquireable was always interesting and creative, especially with the different skills you could mash up to fit your play style, and just as amusing to do and find were the joke endings. Each one was pretty funny and sometimes cracked me up entirely.**

 **Most importantly, you do not have to play the first Nier game (simply called Nier) to understand what the heck is happening. You can just jump in and play. But if you did play the first Nier, you're definitely going to recognize a few things and be jaw dropped.**

 **One thing that really got to me was the real/true end credits song. After everything that happened in the storyline of the game, hearing that song filled me with so many different emotions at that time that it was just...indescribable. You'd have to play the game yourself to understand. Plus, you get to do a really cool thing during the true and final credits while listening to that masterpiece of a song. I won't say what it is; find out for yourselves if you buy the game or look it up.**

 **Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way saying any other game or game series, like Dark Souls and FFXV, wasn't good or can't compare, but truly, in my opinion, Nier: Automata is a masterpiece in its own right and is an excellent game overall and really really really fun to play. If you were on the fence about it, don't be. Buy the game. It is worth every cent. For those of you hearing of it only now, look it up and be amazed.**

 **(P.S, The first Nier game is actually really good and really impressive. I suggest playing it if you have the time or watching gameplay/cutscenes of it on YouTube if you'd prefer that instead.)**

 **I'm sorry for totally nerding out here, but I just really really felt like it needed to be talked about. It was one of those things where you have to spread the message to the whole wide world. But small freak out aside (I'm aware it wasn't a small freak out, a rather massive one, but let's say it was a small freak out), you came here for a chapter and chapter is what you'll get. In addition with the mini-review of Nier: Automata (sorry, not sorry). Enjoy the chapter everyone.**

 **Chapter 15: The Beast of the Labrynth**

«»

"Ruby, tag up. You're with me." Xera said, "We're running scout, the rest will follow up. Keep scrolls on at all times, we'll use them for information transfers."

"Are you sure you can keep up?" Ruby asked, stepping up to Xera's side, "You were pretty slow the last time we raced."

"I'll manage." he replied, "And Dante?"

"Hmmm?" the immortal asked.

"Don't hold back on anything you run into." Xera stated, taking a glance over his shoulder to see him give me an affirmative nod.

"Don't blame me if we end up passing you then." Dante warned.

"The faster the better." Xera commented, turning his gaze back ahead of them as he took a step, "We're running through this place as fast as possible. Ruby, engage what you can without breaking stride, I'll do the same. Our goal is to spot the quickest way to the summit of the city."

Xera then drew his blade from his back and dipped its tip to the ground, enwreathing it in a heavy sheen of fire as it trailed a bright orange glow.

"And whatever you do...don't slow down for anything."

"I was just about to tell you that." she said with a subtle smile, trying to keep things as light-hearted as possible.

"The rest of you will follow Dante's lead, he'll be the frontline. Skyla, I need you to make sure nothing collapses in on your flank." Xera called back.

"You got it!" Skyla called back, giving an emphasized wave of her arm, "Nobody will plunder our booty! I'll make sure of it!"

"I believe you don't need us to tell you to be careful." Destiny spoke up.

"No, but we'll be going too fast to be cautious." I returned.

"I know we have a lot riding on this..." Weiss spoke up now instead, "But just because we have a time constraint, doesn't mean we have to throw caution to the wind. I have faith in everyone outside this rift to take care of themselves."

"They'll be fine. They have more than enough to fend off whatever Grimm that come their way. Afterall, Inuba and my siblings are out there. They'll be fine." Dante added.

"I don't doubt that. But it's best we don't linger here for too long."

The bridge beneath them suddenly bathed itself in a golden glow, and a twisting glyph expanded beneath Ruby and Xera, the very same glyph replicating itself along the bridge.

"Then let's get going." the heiress urged as she lowered Myrtenaster to her side, "We can do this."

And with that...they all made their move.

* * *

Warmth…

It didn't feel righta place like this. The air shouldn't have been as warm as it was currently across the jagged expense of black ice that formed the island.

Ciel let out an audible sigh from the cliffside she sat on, catching Leonard's attention.

"So boooooooooooored..!"

"It's better that way, Ciel."

"Dude, we've done like almost next to nothing so far. All we're doing really is just sitting around."

"Still, it's good for us. The less fighting for now, the better."

"I guess…"

Leonard looked down towards his sister and noticed she was fiddling around on her holographic Scroll. No…she was playing a game…

"Are you playing Phantom Souls?!"

"Yep."

"With online connectivity?! Out here of all places?!"

"Uh-huh."

"What in the world…"

"Hey, big brother did modify our Scrolls to be uber Scrolls. So…"

"Y-Yes, but...to have such amazing connectivity…"

"Hey, if you want, I'm right at a FirePit close to the boss, so you can join too."

"I'll pass…"

"Your loss."

Directly behind them, Inuba and Kitsuki's sat a distance away discussing with one another.

"I see… That is why you haven't confessed to him yet…" signed out Kitsuki.

"Yes…" said Inuba softly.

"But you shouldn't wait. You should tell him after all this is over."

"It wouldn't be fair to the other person he is with at the moment. So that is why I must wait for now."

"But you shouldn't be fair with this! You should be as selfish as possible given the circumstances! If not...won't your heart heart so much?"

Inuba's own fox ears folded against her head as she looked away for a few moments.

"That may be...but I must do it the right way. That...and I do not wish for him to hate me…"

"But after everything you've told me, he can't possibly do such a thing."

Again the elder kitsune remained silent.

"Maybe… But I would still rather avoid the risk…"

"He is nice... Though...I felt something within him... Something...Dark..."

"Master was not always as kind as he his now. He has suffered greatly over the years. And that suffering made it very hard for him to retain any semblance of humanity..."

"He told me he wasn't human...but he tries his best to be like one." Kitsuki's signed out with her hands.

"Ineed. Regardless of this fact, he does his best to be human. To have a heart and soul... It's one of the things that makes him such a great person."

"You appreciate him so much..."

"He changed my life. And the life of many others along our journey together. It would be hard not to."

"Is that why you love him so much?"

Before she opened her mouth to respond, Inuba paused for a moment as her face reddened.

"Well- I... I love him for many other reasons besides that...b-but yes...I do..." she said only managing to mutter a few words.

"I read recently that when two people really love each other, the woman of the relationship would like to make babies with their intended. Do you wish to make babies with him?"

Inuba, and her fox ears and fox tail, immediately perked up after hearing that as she began muttering very quickly, slapping her hands over her face to hide her shame while small wisps of white flame cloaked her slender frame and flocated up into the dark and cloudy skies.

Despite this, Kitsuki could have sworn she saw Inuba drool slightly at the idea…

"Hey, uh, does anybody else see that?!" Sun called out, tail clinging to the column of a pillar as he leaned out toward the sea, "Somethings rolling in!"

"P-Please don't say that!" Neptune called up, clinging to his pillar tighter, "I was just about to calm down, too!"

"You're doing fine bud!" Sun laughed, but his eyes were fixed on the encroaching cloud of mist.

"Is that fog?" Jaune asked, ice crunching beneath his feet as he stood.

Off the banks of the island and down over the crests of the crashing waves rolled a white mist, seeping over the dark expanse of the ocean like a plague among villagers. It rolled and climbed, riding the ocean's tide as it slipped over its frigid expanse.

The mist was coming from the storm to the north, filling the ocean almost in its entirety with a new sea of layering white. Its covering was approaching the island like an encroaching tidal wave… silent as it expanded to engulf its furthest banks.

"No..." Ren said, leaning away from the pillar as he stepped closer to the edge.

White wisps of mist slipped over the ridge they stood upon, crawling onto its surface as it fanned over the entire island, leaving behind a black, pristine sheen upon the ice it touched.

"It's steam..." the easterner realized, brushing the back of his hand into the mist flooding over the island of black ice.

"Steam?" Pyrrha asked, brushing her greaves and boots through the mist, "How can that be? We're near the southern pole."

"I don't know," Ren replied, gritting his teeth, "But it's here and it's not an illusion."

"These things are never easy, huh?" Jaune reiterated, lowering to a knee as he let half his body enter a sweeping wave of steam, the mist only seeming to grow more encroaching, "I guess this is only the beginning."

"Visuals are getting worse!" someone called from within the rising veil of white, the voice sounding like Sun, but his figure was getting more and more obscure, "Even from up here!"

"Then get down from there monkey!" Ciel called up as she closed her screen, waving her hand before her face to clear up a small amount of vision, "Something else is coming!"

"These signs do not bode well… The presence I feel is very strong..." Leo sighed, standing amidst the steam as it rolled over the ridge before them, "Something stirs in the water..."

"Please tell me it's just the fish..." Ciel replied, pushing her way to her brother's side.

"We have yet to see any fish anywhere within the vicinity of this island. So, in that regard, I do not think it is just a fish." he admitted, staring out into the expanse of the ocean.

The silence of the island became deafening for merely a moment, stifling the entire party atop its icy surface in a thick, tense anticipation. Nothing stirred, only the briefest of red flashes bathed the ocean in red and the distant, muffled cracks of thunder were all that occurred.

"It's gotten quieter..." Coco stated in a quiet murmur, standing from her seat at the ridge's edge, "Velvet, wasn't the wind more prominent a few moments ago?"

"It was." Velvet replied, pushing herself to her feet at her partner's side, "It's...changing... The currents of the wind have changed."

"Changed how?" Coco asked, glancing toward Velvet.

The girl's ears twitched as her eyes turned upward, then Coco's eyes fell on Fox behind Velvet. The blind teen pointed skyward, showing trails of the steam around them slowly rising into the air above them.

"An updraft?" she asked, shifting her glasses ever so slightly to cast her glance back down, "You mean to tell me, there's been a change in the temperature of the atmosphere?"

Fox nodded his head, only emphasized when Velvet did the same with a flick of the ear.

The air was growing stiflingly warm.

"Ren-"

"Jaune, quiet..." Ren held up his hand, ushering his leader into silence as he turned an ear to the ocean.

"What?" the blonde whispered, getting no response.

Ren lowered himself to the ground, bringing himself to his knees as he placed his ear to the cold, hard, icy crystals beneath him. His pale pink eyes slowly closed as he focused his senses and listened.

Jaune stayed silent as Pyrrha and Nora stood idly by, refraining from moving.

"It's getting louder..." Ren said, keeping his eyes closed as he pressed his fingers delicately into the black ice beside his head, "The water…it's…"

"Boiling." Ozpin finished, silently making his presence known at the center of the dispersed teens along the island's surface.

"How is that possible?" Yang asked, gesturing a hand out to the cold waters around them, "This place is literally an icy fortress!"

"Something beneath the surface is causing the waves to swell and the temperatures to rise. You can't see it, but there's an incredibly large wake behind the center of this white mist."

"How large?" Glynda asked, turning her attention to the Headmaster.

"Large enough to overtake any sea vessel we have ever sent out on any voyage on this planet." he replied evenly.

"That's… That's not possible..." she returned, shutting her scroll, "Our sea vessels have exceeded the size of even Atlesian warships, you cannot mean this thing is bigger?"

"You and I both know what this is, Ozzy." Caza stepped forward, steam slipping over the rim of her cowboy hat as she placed a hand on Ozpin's back, "It's why all southern trade routes have been shut down. The casualties and the loss of cargo were too high to keep trying…"

"Menagerie suffered greatly from that blockade." Blake spoke up, ears folding beneath her bow as she stood beside her blond, hot-haired partner, "Their trading routes were diverted and most ties to the mainland were rerouted, forcing any trade with Vacuo to be through land."

"Have you ever wondered why the Council made that decision?" Caza asked, getting a small shake of the head from Blake.

"I just know what it resulted in…and the problems it caused," the cat faunus replied.

"That is because the details of the occurrences were unknown, only starting up at the start of last year," Ozpin informed, pressing his cane into the ice at his feet as the air grew warmer, "Whatever was causing those trade ships to be destroyed…there have never been any account of a single survivor from all 7 voyages through this sea since it appeared."

"Not a single one?" Ciel asked, only receiving a solemn nod from Glynda at the Headmaster's side.

A gloved hand slammed down on the metal wing of a bullhead, "This is why we should stick with air travel over sea travel."

Ace's grumbled voice carried itself easily across the quiet conversations going on throughout the island, his repairs only stalling briefly before he resumed fixing his engines.

"As such with most societies." Glynda spoke back, but more broadly than directly, "Air travel is much more expensive and less efficient than sea travel. It carries less and expends more fuel, it is not a viable course of action for a thriving civilization."

"Whatever the case may be," Ozpin responded, gesturing toward the center of the encroaching mist, "We may finally resolve this mystery…so long as we live to tell about it."

A deep, contained rumbling was beginning to overtake the silence of the storm. Shards of ice began to tip and shake, quietly stirring across the expanse of the black island as this rumbling grew in volume. Ren's claim was becoming more and more apparent, the noise getting louder as this mist grew thicker and the air hotter.

Bubbles were rising to the surface at the ocean's crashing edge, releasing pools of steam into the air above as the water reached temperatures beyond normal.

The ocean was boiling, scalding the outcrops of glassy ice at the island's banks in harsh hisses of evaporating water.

Yet the ice never melted.

"Remember what I said about not coming back up if we fell in?" Coco asked, her voice shaking slightly in the heat of the rising wind.

"Y-Yeah…" Velvet's response was a weak hearted whimper, only eliciting a gulp from Coco herself.

"The climbing isn't an issue anymore…" CFVY's leader slowly stepped away from the edge and pulled Velvet with her, bringing them both closer to the center of the island.

Water was never meant to exceed the boiling point for so long, but this was the ocean they were in, and the amount of water was as vast as it got. There was no coming back after a fall from this island's edge.

A wailing howl came next and all watchers could only stare as the steam suddenly shook and dispersed in the distance, only to collapse back together as the guttural cry died off. And then the island shuddered, rocking from an impact below the depths of the ocean before them.

"Prepare for battle." Ozpin stated, grip tightening on his cane, "We will not fall today."

* * *

"So, what have you and Foxy been up to before coming here?" Asked Destiny.

"Not a lot really. We uh...we got sent out on a mission that was taking us to Mistral, and eventually we bumped into my siblings along the way for the first time ever and an old friend."

"Wait, so you only just recently met your brother and sister?"

"Yup."

"Huh… How about that…"

Dante and his group dashed past the dimly lit hallways below, each lit by flickering blue torches. They had been running for a few minutes now, and they had yet to find a single enemy along the path. Did he not have time to add a population the city yet? Much less enough energy stored to do such a thing so soon after creating a realm? Perhaps his power was weak currently?

No, it was best not to make such simple assumptions and rush forwad so quickly.

"We've seen not a single enemy the entire time… Are they simply letting us waltz in?" asked Weiss.

"Possibly… In my experience, highly powerful beings think it would be a waste of time to simply send smaller soldiers along the way to deal with a small invading force. Usually, they send out their lieutenants or their generals to certain parts of the field in order to get in our way. Sometimes, it's up to them if they want lesser soldiers in the area." said Dante.

After mentioning this, Dante's Scroll momentarily let out a double chirp-like tune before a holographic screen popped up with Xera's name.

"Dante, meet us at the stairs. There's no opposition here. Or anywhere for that matter..." said Xera over a call on the immortals Scroll.

"I noticed things were pretty quiet on our end, but what of the base of the stairs? Is it guarded?"

"There's a building at the top of the stairs, but nothing at the base." Xera pointed out.

"Either way, be careful." Destiny cut in, "We may not see them now, but there's a high probability that there will be opposition here, especially at choke points we're forced to pass through."

"It's the best possible place to station guards." Weiss added over the scroll.

"We'll peek inside."

"Just a peek!" Skyla's voice sounded out, "Nothing more, okay?"

"Got it."

"If he goes too far in, I'll pull him back myself!" Ruby said, "I won't let him be a lone wolf!"

"You make it sound like I'd run in without a second thought..." Xera commented.

The call ended and Dante nodded for them all to continue forwards, forking off slightly to the left.

 _He's got a knack for running into danger when he thinks it's necessary... Even when it's not… Then again, that could be just me who thinks that. Oh well…_

They made it silently to the stairs, dashing up them as quickly as possible. Theothers behind Dante were busy discussing about how Skyla had been one of the many who haven't seen Xera's wings. For the most part, the immortal had tuned out of the conversation, keeping to his own thoughts as they ascended the stairs. He was concerned with what lies ahead. That and...his thoughts were constantly drifting through Dark and rather painful memories, at least, those that he could remember. He couldn't help it.

He turned his head slightly and saw that Skyla had been carrying Destiny as she ran.

"Put her down Skyla, we still need her." Dante said.

She did as he asked and dropped Destiny.

"S-Skyla, w-what was that about?" Destiny asked, noticeably sounding faint from her end, "And what do you mean by war?"

"I'm his partner...and..." the girl in question trailed off, her voice growing a little quieter, "I still haven't seen them..."

"I-I'm sure you'll see them eventually, maybe even close up as well." Destiny sounded like she got her bearings back, speaking softly to Xera's partner, "Just give it time."

"He can hear you, you know." Dante said.

A few seconds later, they had managed to regroup with Xera and Ruby, who had stared out in the distance.

The entrance to the temple was massive, and from its highest step they could could all see the entirety of the lower realm behind them. The broken bridge could easily be made out from uptop, and beyond that, the sliver of the rift even moreso. Everything was visible clear, like the night of a full moon in a cloudless sky.

The pillars built to support the roof above them, and the archway encompassing the entrance at the front, was all just as black as the architecture below. The tall columns had twisted grooves spiraling up their towering lengths, reaching far above the group. And so they stood there for some time, watching before moving forward once again.

* * *

The steam only thickened as the crimson sea boiled beneath the stormy, gray sky. Heat radiated from the white mist in heavy amounts, but the effects were dulled by the seemingly still-frozen black ice of the island beneath them.

It wasn't melting, only remaining a perpetually cold surface beneath the feet of all its inhabitants. Its cool touch warded off the steam's hot grasp, but vision remained a consistent issue.

"Mister Azil, would you care to fire up your engines as soon as you can?" Ozpin asked, turning his stoic gaze to the veiled bullhead at the plateau's ridge.

"I can. At its lowest setting, it'll still provide enough directed thrust to remain unmoving but blow away the steam in the area around us." Ace replied, voice muffled by the confines of the opened engine in front of him, "I'll inform the rest of my team."

"Be advised, you should work as quickly as possible. We will need clear vision, or we're at a disadvantage." Ozpin urged, only getting an affirmative grunt in return.

The storm was only growing dull in the background, hidden now beneath the rupture and the rumble of the stirring water around the island. Everything was turning unnaturally calm as the ocean's waves crumbled beneath the rising heat, leveling into a flat, shaking expanse of smooth, blood-red water.

"I don't like this one bit..." Ciel spoke quietly, her white hair kicking back against the hot updraft from the outcrop below her, "I'm sensing something large... Like larger than the island large, but can't tell exactly what it is due to how much heat it's giving off."

"It's difficult, but it moves as fluently as the water it bathes in." Leo responded, his eyes tracking the scarlet water and the subtle ripples rolling toward him, "It's very likely a creature of the depths. Which raises the question…" he turned his gaze momentarily to his sister, leaving the waves to lap softly against the icy wall below, "What brings it to the surface?"

"The beckoning of a sepulchral bell." someone spoke up behind them, the siblings turning around to meet the slightly covered gaze of Caza Miralla, "It wasn't mere curiosity that brings this creature to us."

"Zeridûl calls for it." a fourth voice joined the three, Inuba soon stepping around from Caza's back and falling in line with the professor beside her, "I can sense a small resonance emitting from the red glow in the sky above us."

"It's acting as a magnet..." Leo realized, "How distant does its ring reach, Ms. Kitsukami?"

"I'm unsure, but all we know is that something's coming. So, we must prepare for it." Inuba replied.

"Speaking of which..." Caza cut in, placing a hand on her hip, "I have a feeling you two should step away from the ledge. It's not an ideal location to be standing. At least, not for the next thirty seconds."

"Thirty seconds?" Ciel asked, shifting slightly in her spot as she inched away from the ridge at her feet.

"Twenty-seven now, so get a move on kids. I don't have Lanza with me for air support, so all I'm relying on is my own senses for the time being." Caza reached forward and tugged the two before her by the wrists, pulling them back and away from the water's reach as Inuba followed.

"How do you know we should move away from that spot?" Ciel asked, getting her wrist back after the professor released her grip.

"Just a feeling." Caza replied, tipping her hat down as a splash of water cascaded up from the ocean below, "A really, really strong feeling."

Without so much as another word uttered, the ice they stood upon mere seconds ago erupted in shattered shards. Glints of light scattered into the air as a shadow swept down from somewhere high above, crushing that small area before disappearing back into the mist. The shadow was tall, reaching several hundred meters into the sky, and its size was strangely long, tall, with a width that spanned a couple meters in diameter. It was hard to determine with how fast it receded.

"Sheesh… You have a good sixth sense..." Ciel whistled, watching the glinting lights fall slowly to the ground as the mist swept in once again.

"Keep away from the ridge!" Sun called out from Ciel's other direction, his exclamation immediately followed by the heavy crash of crushing ice.

Rock scraped harshly against ice, brushing and dragging across the island at every front of the ice's landscape as Ciel sensed heat begin to fester in the air before her. Shadows loomed in the white veil of steam rising from somewhere below, reaching somewhere far above her.

"Inuba, keep that heat at bay, will ya?!" Ciel called back, catching the kitsune's glimpse with a quick glance over her shoulder as she summoned her skeletal scythe.

Immediately, Inuba began to siphon the heat out of the air as the temperature began to recede back to bearable levels, enough for the rest to avoid a constant drain on their Aura in an atmosphere few could survive in for long.

"I sense tension..." Leo suddenly spoke up, drawing his hand cannons and snapping them forward, chains rattling behind the whip of his arms as he turned them upward, "The air… It's getting forced aside…"

He fired a quick volley above him, splitting the mist in small, tight tunnels before the white steam quickly filled the voids his bullets left behind.

The shadow only picked up momentum.

"Ciel!"

"On it!"

Ciel dashed to his side and dragged her scythe into an upward swing as the shadow crashed downward. Steam split and dispersed, Ciel slamming her weapon into a long, hard, black expanse of cracked, scorched rock and stone simmering with volcanic heat. The shaft and blade of her scythe halted the enormous appendage above her, cracking the expanse of ice her feet stood upon before she tensed her legs and arms.

"Back off...you overgrown…fugly!" Ciel called out, forcing her scythe further upward and pushing the expanse of black stone off the island in an air-dispersing swing.

Several more crashes burst from shrouded areas of the island, other students immediately rushing to dodge or run from countless other impact zones as Leo sensed another begin to fall on their position.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out, dashing through the mist as the cracking, timbering sound of a falling pillar howled through the air above her.

She threw herself into a skidding slide across the ice, grieves bouncing and scraping as another immense formation of black, smoldering rock crashed down behind her.

"Jaune, where are you?!" She called out again, momentum carrying into a mad dash toward the pillar they last stood near, where they were separated.

That same pillar was now crushed into a toppled pile of black, icy rubble.

"We're over here!"

Pyrrha caught Jaune's voice and dashed toward it, sliding to a stop as soon as she nearly crashed into one of three shadows in the mist in front of her.

"Is everyone alright. Is anyone hurt?" she asked quickly, scanning Jaune, and the rest of her team, with her worried emerald eyes before realizing all of them were slowly shaking their heads.

"We're all fine, we just-"

"Heads up!"

Nora threw Jaune and Ren aside as she drew her Magnhild back and jammed its cylindrical edge into the ground. Above them fell another strike, falling quickly as it crashed through the air in a roar of cracking stone and splitting air.

Ice ruptured beneath her as she gripped the silver reaches of her weapon's shaft and ripped it upward, tearing it in an overbearing uppercut that struck the underside of the black stone above her in a resounding clang.

Her metallic ring cracked through the air and rushed across the water, shaking the ocean's surface as the attack of whatever grimm before her rebounded back into the mist, quickly retreating again.

"We can't fight like this!" Jaune growled, crawling himself from his slide he was thrown into before finding his way to his feet.

Pyrrha quickly helped her leader up, brandishing her shield for now as she kept her awareness sharp. She was on the defensive. There was no way for anything else with these visuals.

"How do we clear the mist..?" he continued, eyeing their surroundings before raising the tip of his sword toward the groaning, creaking amassment of noise at the plateau's ridge, "That thing, whatever it is, there's no way we can beat it in a place like this..."

Crashes and sharp yells of exertion swept across the island in torrents of barrages, shaking the island in trembles of heavy impacts that struck down upon it in several other areas.

"Down!" Jaune suddenly felt his knees buckle as Pyrrha forced him to the ground, Ren following suit as Nora rushed forward and got beneath the redhead's rising shield.

The two of them fell to a knee before putting their strength behind the protection of Akoúo̱ they held together.

Above them and across the entire expanse of ice in a line from the water toward the island's center fell a weight of stone and ruin, crushing down on them as the entire area cracked and shattered. Heat flooded down from the black reaches of the living stone, glowing orange veins and cracks emitting harsh lights in the misty shadows of the air around them.

Whatever it was, the appendage began to warp and crumble, crushing inward atop Pyrrha's shield as she and Nora were slowly forced downward from its strength alone.

Jaune and Ren got beneath the shield now too, forcing it upward as the black stone continued to crush them into the ground.

"I-It's…not…" Jaune growled, breathing hard through grit teeth as more and more of their muscles were giving way to the mass weighing down on them, "b-budging!"

"Sun, follow up!"

Ren's momentum alone brought him into a low, scraping spin before he leapt up and toward the black stone crushing down on JNPR, his fingers digging into the cracks of the molten rock as he threw his other hand into the air.

Twin gunshots followed his initial leap as Sun's glove-clad hand slapped into Ren's as soon as it was raised, pulling the two forward before the monkey faunus raised his nunchucks above him, golden chain held out.

"Neptune!" Sun called upward, catching the glimpse of a silver line in the air above him as a glowing blue polearm descended and swept through the mist.

Neptune's blade caught Sun's golden chain before the momentum of all three of them connecting in the same moment, with Nora leaping in after Ren and slamming her hammer into its side, gradually forced the whole appendage to roll.

"J-Just tell me when to open my eyes!" Neptune called down as the entirety of SNAR, now with the upward push of JNPR, pushed the formation of rock over and onto the ice behind the two teams.

All of them got clear as soon as it began to recede back into the treacherous waters below.

"You did good bud." Sun smiled, slapping Neptune on the shoulder as the poor guy crawled back into a ball on the ice beneath him.

"G-Good..." he whimpered, polearm clattering to the ground, "Just don't throw me without warning like that again."

"Sorry, had to." Nora apologized sympathetically, crouching in front of the blue-haired teen before patting his head.

"Sun, any idea what's out there?" Jaune asked, pushing himself to his feet as he offered his hand to Pyrrha, ice heavily crushed beneath her armored knees.

"Eh, probably something big..." the monkey offered, getting a deadpanned look in return, "Hey, you asked for what I thought."

Jaune pulled his partner to her feet before brandishing his shield, "In any case, we're not getting anywhere if we can't see what we're up against or where it'll attack next."

"Someone's about to fix that problem..." Ren stepped in, pointing his human hand in the direction of a quietly growing hum of softly glowing thrusters burning in the mist.

"Engines hot in three-" Ace's voice cut through the radio of all four other bullheads, switches quickly snapping into new positions as the glows began to brighten, "two-"

An unnatural breeze suddenly kicked into high gear, brushing lowly across the island's cold surface as the white veil cast upon the ocean's waters began to swirl.

"one-" five synchronized roars suddenly growled to life, "Thrusters engaged."

A rushing gale of air suddenly burst across the plateau of ice, sweeping over the expanse of the black island and throwing loose shards from its highest ridges.

The mist blew apart and dispersed, numbly ripping into streaks and dissipating into the air, vanishing to reveal the cold, stormy sky above and the blood-red waters below.

And with it unveiled a creature that survived the slow decay of time, one that dwelled in the furthest reaches of the ocean, a creature of a molten core and a scorched stone hide.

"So..." silence befell the island as the creature's red gaze pierced down from the mass of black before them, a hollow tap of a cane dropping like a pin in a sea of silence echoing quietly beneath it, "Our enemy brings forth the nightmare that haunted the age of sea voyages across the southern oceans long ago. The very same creature to fall into legend...and slowly to myth."

Ozpin's coat kicked in the wake of the rushing winds billowing from the engines around him, silvered hair whisking around his face as his eyes stared up into the blood lusting orbs narrowing before him. Each burning gaze shining in dark residence atop a clenched mouth of a thousand teeth.

"The Drael Kraken..." Ozpin's voice carried itself across the water, finding its mark as the creature at the island's edge let out a sickening, burning wail from its gaping maw, unleashing a heat only magma could fester, "You were the cause of over sixty lost ships and claimed the lives of nearly two thousand sailors, only to disappear into silence."

Appendages, massive tendrils of molten stone, cracked and bent as the creature pulled back, wrapping its arms around the island's plateau as it slowly emerged from the crimson waters it boiled. Heat ripped through the air in waves, all feeding into Inuba's white flames as she kept its surface temperature from ever reaching its normal, volcanic heat.

"You've slept and evaded death for far too long." Ozpin spoke lowly.

His voice evaded his usual stoic undertone, if only for a brief, passing moment.

"A volcanic Dremoha will not be our end." Ozpin's cane sunk into the ice at his feet, emitting a green wave of shining aura as his eyes flashed beneath his silvery bangs, "It is here we make our stand."

His gaze slowly turned back to Glynda at his side, cane twisting as he pulled it from its icy confinement.

"All of us."

* * *

Darkness.

Nothing but a black haze stood before them all, looming within the large room that spanned the length of the entire building we walked within. Black marble clicked and tapped at the groups feet, each noise riding across the floor and shooting into the shadows around them as the city's lights faded from their view. With each step they took, the darkness seemed to grow thicker the further they ventured.

The glow emitting from Xera's flames began to sputter and slowly fade, the shadows wrapping around them to prevent its light from revealing anything more than the few feet in front of him and everyone else around him. Not even Xera's faunus night vision could pierce through the Dark, as if a magic wouldn't allow it to be pierced so easily by any normal means.

"Hang on, I might have a solution to this."

Dante held out his arm and closed his eyes. Colorless, reflective hexagons quietly shimmered around us for a few seconds as he branched out his white and black Aura. Thin threads of his Aura began to quickly swirl around everyone's head before vanishing. The young immortal turned to see if his plan worked, and smirked slightly when he saw that the whites of everyone's eyes was now black, but their irises remained their respective colors, the only difference that their irises emitted strong, pulsating glows. Dante's irises remained the same as they usually did when he used his Shadow Eyes; a white, pulsating glow.

Everyone's eyes fell out of focus for a few moments, forcing them to blink to adjust to the new vision before everything sharpened. They could see through the darkness around them in grayscale color as they looked around, each person noticing that all edges and gaps where highlighted in white glows.

The shadows suddenly didn't feel so consuming.

"Been working on some new tricks I see..." Destiny commented, looking around at the center of the group as Dante lowered his left arm.

"I'm always trying to learn new things. There's never a time when I'm not." Dante responded.

Everyone's heads soon spun forward, seeing a throne room bathed in Darkness coming into view. An empty expanse of black marble and red carpet draped across the floors on both sides of the hard pathway to the throne's steps. Large pillars stood tall at the edges of the path, towering high toward the far ceiling above to keep it from crashing down to ruins.

The walls were engraved, intricate detailing of images and languages none had recognized, save Dante, that ran across every wall and around every pillar as black gemstones glistened dully within the designs. Supporting arches connected the pillars and walls high above, building the room into new depths, creating new levels of Shadow and Darkness . None could see all the way to the ceiling, and they could barely make out the walls, but at least they could see clearer than before.

Some had let out breaths, noting the air suddenly grew cold. And for a moment, their hearts felt as though they had seized momentarily beneath a sudden pressure around them. Immediately, all eyes searched for what it was, but they saw was a deepening Darkness. Shadows crept in from the building's walls, fighting against the sight Dante had enhanced for them all as the blackness of the room began to grow heavier. A dull, echoing footstep forced everyone to a halt. Another fell, louder than before, louder than their own steps as each small noise they possessed suddenly grew silent.

"Six of you..."

A voice came from the darkness in front of them, no more than a few meters away, yet all they could see was a wall of black shadow. It was a low, deep, and resounding voice, the very tone of it echoing powerfully in the Dark throne room they found themselves in, bouncing between pillars and walls.

"You wish for entry into our citadel, our city..." it continued, the steps drawing nearer as the dull crack of something hard, something metal, struck the marble at its feet, "You pose a challenge to our King, and with it, you intend to overthrow him."

The silhouette of a large, black figure began to slowly fall into focus as it approached. It was tall, reaching nearly three to four times my own height as they stared up at its bulky mass. His skin was black, almost blending into the Darkness around them, and his build was muscular in every way. He was an entity of strength, hulking in size and weight, bearing down in a seemingly powerful presence with his voice and shape alone. Thick black loincloth wrapped around his waist and draped down in several folds, nearly reaching its seemingly humanoid knees. Its entire build was humanoid, running down to his feet and up to his shoulders. Its head was anything but human.

The only thing any could think of was that it was the head of a bull, with gleaming red eyes shining behind a snout constrained by a black ring. His fur was black, ears large and cut, and his mouth remained shut, breathing softly from his nose before his gaze turned to regard us all.

"I will not permit you beyond this point..." he spoke again.

And it was then they saw something fall, a Dark reflection glimpsed by the light of Xera's struggling flames as something hard struck the marble ground. He held an ebony ax, its shaft as tall as he was and its single-edged blade enormous. The back of the weapon, behind the back edge of the blade at the weapon's top, spanned a thick, cylindrical counterweight. It looked nothing like a hammer, if it were for that purpose at all. The base of the shaft had another counterweight, this one much larger than normal, despite the already larger staff the ax had altogether.

"I don't suppose you'll let us through if we said please?" Ruby asked, small voice loud in the dull silence of the room around them.

"I cannot with your current intent, little one..." the beast responded, remaining unmoving in his presence before us.

"Your 'King' has been playing a dangerous and rather unacceptable game with the lives of many so far." Dante called up to it, struggling to come to any conclusive solution in this scenario where negotiation would ever work, "Let us through...and we can end him. That...and we won't have to take your head."

"I honor my king's orders with my life. It is my duty to prevent you from continuing." he replied, turning his red gaze to Dante as he stepped forward.

"We can't exactly go turn now...can we?" the immortal said, drawing his white longsword from its sheath, "You want a fight? Then stop wasting our time, and sten forward so that we may kill you."

The minotaur's gaze narrowed as it released a harsh breath through its nostrils, the Darkness around us intensifying before it nodded.

"So be it."

He stepped back and vanished, shadows festering once again in the corners of the room as his voice lost all direction. Where his tone used to be now originated from all around the,, carrying in from every direction as his presence disappeared entirely.

"We fight until one side falls..!" The beast's voice echoed from each wall, its source impossible to track in an environment like this, "May your skills be worthy enough to slay me. If they fall short…"

The voice paused, its echo fading all of a sudden as a deafening silence engulfed the room again.

"You. Will. Die."

Dante barely reacted in time to the voice appearing suddenly at his side, as an invisible swing of a black ax swept through the air and cleaved forward at an accelerated speed, stopping only with a harsh clang as Dante blocked with his sword. With some struggle, Dante let out a shirt grunt and pushed back the minotaur back into the Darkness.

"Focus. All of you." Dante turned his gaze back at all of them, the shadows in their vision suddenly beginning to recede, "The Darkness is playing tricks on your senses. Push it out of your minds. Once you do, we have a Minotaur we need to cut down."

Xera's eyes sparked with flame as he heard Dante's voice, kindling like embers now. The fire of his Affinity kicked in soon after, warding away some of the Dark shadows touching his skin as he shook his head. He enwreathed his blade in flame to dispel it from its weighty Darkness, drawing it close now as he turned to the others.

"That was always the plan."

"Good..." Dante replied, "Now...let's make it happen."

* * *

 **(Omake: Counseling With an Immortal, part 6 - by OS Worldmakers)**

"From my understanding, there used to be a single universe. One is all, all is one. It was created by ideas. Concepts. First was Existence and Nothing, then the rest followed. Through that came God, the Buddha, Allah, etc. A manifestation of order. He or she made the world, etc, etc, then the universe split into the multiverse as we know it. How that happened, not even I know properly." said Bone White.

"Different terms to some degree, but we get it nonetheless." replied Dante.

"I came from one of the earliest of those universes... one where you built your own strength. I died a million times before I become immortal..." He placed on vegetables like carrots, cabbage, and a few tomatoes. Because hibachi is American, "And then I lived till now. The end."

"So you're almost like the Chosen Undead of Lordran and Drangelic, and an Unkindled One of Lothric. Only you became immortal in the end. That must have sucked."

"It sucks when you put time span into perspective. You measure the length of a universe in cycles, which basically measures existence without going insanely deep into conceptual logic. Different universes have different cycle length, so entities that live longer than a universe give estimates between the lowest and highest possible cycle count. However, they usually are as long as around 15 billion us, I'm around... a thousand cycles old at the least?" Causally, Bone began preparing rice, "Basically, I've seen too much."

"That much is apparent..."

"And mind you, not everyone who's survived that time is necessarily powerful. Some hide out in different dimensions, which could merge with other universes. Some are just good at living through the end of the world. I'm of the second kind. I'm just space to the powerful beings... who measure their power in omnipotences."

"Never really had appreciation or respect for deities or gods. Well, except for two of them." said Dante.

"Neither do I mate, and I used to be one of them. Good thing I retired."

The meal was almost done.

"How long have you been on Remnant?" asked Inuba.

"Long enough to mess with the original Four Maidens and... I think turn Vacuo into a desert? I was drunk back then, but I don't remember on what."

"You destroyed a kingdom because you were drunk?!" asked Dante with complete surprise.

"Well, okay, I wasn't really drunk. I was in depression. And no, kingdoms. Back then continents were much more factional."

"W-Well... did they do something to add to or cause your depression?"

"Sabaku broke his promise. I don't take that lightly."

"Wait wait wait! Are you telling me you're the guy I heard about in the Legends responsible for that big mess centuries ago?!"

"I think you need to read 'The Monstrosity' before you say that."

"That was you as well?!"

"Let's see... Iron bones, acid blood, laser-beam eyes... Duh!" replied Bone with a wave of his hand.

"Did you go on some ultimate, multi-year bender or something?! Geez!"

"Welcome to the world of endless possibilities, where there's an infinite number of BS floating around. Don't blame me. Blame Existence, if you must."

"You can't blame the world for everything."

"You're right, I should be blaming myself for making it that long time ago."

He finished the meal, piling on the rice, chicken, and assorted vegetables before sliding the dishes towards to the duo along with some sauces.

"Wow, this looks great..." said Dante looking over it all.

Bone took out a lemon and cut it in half, before taking a wet towel and wedging it between its folds as he scraped off the bits of food left on the grill. He then began scrubbing it.

"It tastes delicious as well." said Inuba as she ate alongside Dante

"No kidding... But I still think the meals you make are the best." said Dante as he took another bite after saying so, not noticing Inuba's fox tails swishing about happily.

Fumetsu just raised an eyebrow before resuming cleaning.

"Well, thanks for the meal." said Dante.

"No problem."

As the two ate together, he dragged the grill away, undoing his chef's uniform at the same time. A sad smile revealed itself, unknown to the two.

"It's all up to you Inuba. Just do it. Take as much time together with him..."

From wherever gods knew where, a ring of intertwined branches, metal, plants, and gems appeared. He clenched it, his creation of old.

"Gabriel... and Di..."

He let out a sigh as he left the duo and continued marching forward.

"Maybe I need counseling..."

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 6)**

"Heya folks! It's me, Ciel!"

"And Leonard."

"So, today we're going to be taking a rather different approach than usual..." said Ciel.

"So far, we've focused on the Semblances of the more heroic type characters." said Leonard.

"But! What of the Semblances of the dastardly and daring?!"

"The Semblances of the antagonists you mean?"

"Uh, duh! What else could dastardly and daring mean?"

"Fair point. So then, today we will be discussing about the main enemy of this arcs Semblance, Zeridûl."

"This one's definitely a doozy ladies and gentlemen. And pretty dangerous. But first and foremost, remember that whole spiel we gave you a while back on Affinities when we talked about Xera Stark?"

"Zeridûl also posses an Affinity in thanks to him taking possession of Zerath Stark, Xera's older brother. Zerath posses an Affinity centered on ice and the creation of it. Only now, it has a special addition to it."

"Thanks to that creepy dude Zeridûl being a Dark Entity, his powers influenced the Ice Affinity in order to allow him to make Black Ice, the strongest type of Ice Magic that's out there. And if you recall, Black Ice can't be melted, or so much as even scratched unless Light Magic is used, or if magic of the same nature and type is stronger than the wielder." said Ciel.

"But given Zeridûl's power has only influenced the Affinity to make Black Ice, it isn't actually Black Ice, only a weaker version that is capable of being broken. Still powerful nonetheless." said Leonard.

"Now! What about his Semblance? An easy one to explain, but still very dangerous. Back then, we used to think that by keeping his eyes focused on an enemy, he can negate an Aura or Aura influenced attacks entirely. So that basically means if he was making eye contact with you like the eye of Sauron, you've got no way to use your Aura or any Aura based attacks."

"But, recent events have proven it to be slightly different than what we first thought. Making eye contact was simply a habit of his, and instead, his Semblance of negating Aura or Aura based attacks is radial based, where it works in an area of 25-50 meters around him, which is one of the reasons it is so dangerous. Another effect that makes it as imposing is that the effect of negation increases the closer in distance you are to him. But in the case of maximum effect, it would have to be within 5-10 feet from what we were able to determine."

"So the farther the better really." added Ciel.

"An imposing enemy paired with an imposing Affinity and Semblance... Truly someone of treacherous power..."

"Yeah, but big brother and the guys that went in with him will find a way to kick his ass."

"Hopefully that will be the case... Well everyone, that is all for today." said Leonard.

"See ya next time!" said Ciel.

* * *

 **My oh my, this are getting intense again huh? A giant, axe wielding minotaur?! What the what?!**

 **This Minotaur is one of two sort of "bosses" Xera Stark and I made, the other boss a pretty interesting fight if I do say so myself... After that, we have one, final obstacle in the way before the endgame match with Zeridûl. And trust me, you don't want to what happens then. Or now for that matter.**

 **Right then, again, sorry for the freak out with Nier: Automata. Just had to do it.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. ****Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. And trust me, you'll love it. **

**Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend! **

**Bye-bye now!**


	16. Chapter 16: A Game of Shadow

**Heya everyone, sorry for being a little late today. Woke up a little late today. Haven't been feeling great. But other than that, here's the chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16: A Game of Shadow**

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Metal scraped loudly against the marble at their feet, cutting into stone as it swept harshly across its surface in a circle around them. The Darkness surrounding them was thick enough that even sparks were minimally visible. Between them now stood a massive Minotaur that wielded an axe blade of Darkness that could crush them at any moment if they weren't careful.

Eryndûs… A floating citadel of Shadow and flame. This was their battleground. This was the war-ridden road of tension and lingering dread they traveled upon, hoping to eventually reach the end and finish if the source of this Nightmare.

"Hey, think you and Destiny can ice the floor and make some hollowed out structures?!" asked Dante.

"What's the plan of attack?" Weiss asked, the tip of Myrtenaster gleaming in the darkness of the room.

An icy blue glyph soon circled her carefully placed heels, humming into a tense rotation as the girl beside her withdrew her pale white summoning book.

"Oh! I know! We're building a snow fortress!" Skyla exclaimed, her voice only slightly cut off by a sharp clash of metal resonating at their front.

"Not exactly!" Dante called back, clashing with a heavy strike from the shadows into the ground and slashing forward.

"Seriously, what are we doing?" Weiss asked.

"We're building a fortress..." Xera realized, turning to see Destiny's eyes glow as soon as her summoning words were spoken, "But it isn't simply an ice fortress. They're structures that lights up like the northern lights. More light for us to see around in the Dark."

"I see…"

The heiress realized what was planned and jammed her rapier into the ground, willing her glyph to expand as a rushing sheen of ice rolled out from the glow at her feet.

"Tohma!" Destiny's voice echoed out, calling the name of her summon as a mist of white and ice shimmered before her.

From its reaches emerged a white polar bear, shining with thick, ice-forged armor. A glacial helmet hid the animal's face behind a visor, only revealing crystal blue eyes behind a mask of white and shimmering pale blue.

"Freeze this place from the ground up. Make it your glacial playground." Destiny breathed out, her purple eyes emanating a faint blue glow as Tohma turned to the room, a trembling growl creeping from the bear's throat before it took in a long, cold breath.

Weiss's glyph immediately surged outward, expanding before multiplying as several more glyphs appeared across the floor of the sunless room.

"I'll amplify anything Tohma does with my ice Dust, just get it done! And fast!" Weiss muttered, holding her stance as Tohma lowered to the ground, its arms growing tense.

"Weiss, readjust your glyphs to incorporate fire resistance as well!" Xera quickly ordered, glancing her way.

"Fire? Are you worried it'll melt?"

"I am." the phoenix replied simply, pulling a slow nod from the heiress before him.

The bright blue glyphs around them suddenly shaded over in a hue of red, melting together to span out across each of the illuminated motifs across the floor of the dark room. Each one bled into a light red, almost breaching into the realm of pink before stabilizing.

The heiress could only let out a tightly held breath.

"Rawr?" Skyla asked.

Xera gave his partner a nod, "Rawr."

The room suddenly erupted with a blistering blizzard, bursting from the widening maw of Destiny's Tohma as the bear released an icy breath into its surroundings. Ice shards and frozen wisps of wind whipped through and around pillars, slipping into the darkness around them and dulling the sound of clashing within the shadows.

Once stifling air was torn away, broken by a high, glacial wind and ripped apart by a new presence in the widely spanning room. And as that air grew ever colder, ice and frost began to build, forming physical structures all around them.

Areas between pillars froze together, creating walls of thick, hardened ice while the rest of the room began to grow plentiful in spires and columns. New spikes rose and new formations of rock-like faces generated in Tohma's chilling roar.

"Shouldn't we be colder?" Ruby asked, eyes and ears still tuned into the sound of Dante's sword clashing with the minotaur's heavy axe.

"Rubes, you're on fire, it'd be weird if you were cold." Destiny pointed out.

"Oh…" Ruby pried her scythe from the cold ground and wrapped it around her side, cracking its slide and slamming it into place, "Right, uh, I'll just do stuff, now. Yeah."

A concussive blast later, and she was joining Dante in the fray, going back to back with him.

"Listen carefully. This guy hits harder than anything you can imagine. He gets you, it's over."

"So don't get hit. Got it!"

"Not just that Ruby…" he added as they slowly circled and looked around, "He takes a swing at you, you dodge out of the way."

"But, what about you?"

"I'll be fine. By the time he's taking a shot, I'll already be aware and block. Unlike you, I can take the hits."

"A-Are you sure?" she asked Dante, both concerned and unsure of his plan.

"I'm sure. Just like I'm sure right now."

"W-What?!"

Ruby felt the wind rushing at her and ducked down to avoid the axe swing, allowing Dante to quickly spin around and swing his Longsword to halt the axe in place. Ruby had quickly repositioned herself behind Dante before using her Semblance to dart upwards into the air, and rapidly spin around in a vertical motion that turned her into a sawblade of sorts that cut into the obscured Minotaur, forcing it back from Dante.

Ruby had then landed next to Dante and took a stance once more.

"I think we got this…"

* * *

"Looks like they're keeping him busy..." Xera spoke up, turning back to the two supports and his partner, "Skyla, run interference. Try to trip this thing up as much as possible and hold its swings along with Dante. Just be a nuisance as much as possible. And don't get hit."

"Aye aye, I shall do the annoying stuffs!" She chirped, springing into a quick salute before dashing off in a trail of her own ribbons.

The room was still dark. But in thanks to Dante's shared Shadow Eyes ability, her vision was greatly improved in the Dark. But the air around them, the shadows sinking down from the invisible ceiling above... It all still felt too heavy.

"Destiny, can you call Kimura out?" Xera asked, turning back to her to catch a confused nod.

"I can, but he's the worst pick in this kind of environment. What do you plan to do with him?"

"I need his fire. He doesn't have to stick around after that." Xera explained.

"If you say so..." Destiny conceded, turning to a new page and speaking another incantation.

"I-Is this why-" Weiss's strained breath crystallized in the cool air in front of her before she pulled her rapier's tip from the icy ground, taking a stumbled step backward, "y-you needed fire resistance in the ice?"

"Precisely." Xera confirmed, his words falling as the ice cracked in front of Destiny and fiery claws tore out of the ground.

Three heads and a blaze of scorched, black fur ripped itself from the clutches of hell and landed harshly on the ground next to them.

"Kimura, listen to wha-"

"Just breathe fire, that's all I ask." Xera interjected, turning his eyes to the clashing noises in the dark.

The beast narrowed his eyes, but his will conceded to the will of his own master. And with a short glimpse to the one who summoned him, he bowed his head and reared back onto his haunches.

Three maws soon opened, drawing in whatever stale air resided within this throne room before furnaces ignited within the pits of its own throats. Bright red glows soon festered, burning brighter than its gleaming eyes as simmering heat flooded out of its opening jaw.

It then sunk its claws into the floor and tensed all muscles forward, leaning into a three-sourced torrent of burning orange flames.

As soon as it did, Xera took his grasp on the fire surging from the creature's maw and redirected it into streams. The beam split, and as the geyser of fire grew stronger, the streams slipped into splitting lines and pierced the icy shells riddling the area around them.

The Darkness of the room suddenly receded. New light finally reached its ageless spatial body before pushing it further away, chasing it off by the light of racing flames.

Those flames found new homes within the icy constructs all around them, sifting through glacial crystals and fire-hardened ice to nest themselves within the structure of each standing obstacle.

And without another second passing, every single piece of ice riddling the throne room they fought in began to shine, like living flames in a night skyline.

It was in this light they finally saw their adversary's movements.

He was fast for someone his size.

The Minotaur's movements were swift, concise, and lacked the buildup most needed to swing the blade of an axe. He was beyond the true understanding of momentum, and whatever force carried his strikes forward was undeterred by the hefty weight of his iron blade.

The beast dipped back to avoid a swing to his neck from both Ruby and Dante, then re-entered combat, taking strikes at the only three that faced him in the shimmering light of their makeshift torches.

"Something as big as you shouldn't be so fast!" Skyla yelled, angrily trying to follow after the Dark Entity as he weaved around the ice structures in his way.

This was good good for the group since the obstacles made his movements more predictable and more counterable.

Immediately, Dante appeared in his way and took the slash of his axe with his sword, stopping it in a harsh clang as a burst of rose petals slipped around him. A deep gash suddenly tore across the minotaur's chest, yanked diagonally upward and straight through his left shoulder.

Dante followed Ruby's attack immediately, tilting his sword back for a moment to send his enemy's weapon into a momentary grind before swinging up and driving the creatures axe overhead.

He entered the minotaur's range and fell into a slide, dragging his blade straight through the tendons of the minotaur's left leg, throwing his left side off all the more with whatever pain they needed to put him through.

Both wounds seemingly went unnoticed.

"You're clever ones, aren't you..."

The Dark Entity pushed away from the wall of ice next to him and slid forward, spinning on a dime and turning to face both combatants behind him.

Two ribbons quickly wrapped around his forearms and elbows, their material latching onto him like coiling snakes from somewhere behind the nearest ice pillar.

"And you?" he tugged, pulling out the girl behind the pillar, "You think yourself mighty enough to-?"

Skyla yanked on her ribbons and pulled herself toward the creature before them, going airborne as soon as she left the ground and forcing him to take another step back.

She gave the Minotaur happy wave as he tore his axe through the air, cleaving it toward her side but stopping just short of it, an iron grasp yanking his arm back.

Mighty was an understatement.

Skyla entered his range within an instant and latched onto his waist, taking hold of his shoulder to turn her momentum toward his back, swinging around from there before climbing aboard.

"Yip yip!"

"Take this!"

Dante's own voice emerged up from below as his sword plunged into the minotaur's stomach, twisting it deep into whatever flesh he could cut through with a glimpse of flashing white passing through his irises.

An unbridled light suddenly emerged from the hilt of his sunken blade, focusing a beam of his white and black Aura through the entity's body. The focused Aura blast slammed through ice behind the minotaur as Skyla smiled gleefully, tugging her ribbons upward.

"Reach for the sky!" she said in a cowboyish accent.

The minotaur's arms were pulled skyward against whatever eternal strength he possessed, all before Dante ripped his blade to the right, carrying both energy and steel as he tore it through the creature's side.

The minotaur let out a gurgled growl, his crimson eyes briefly flashing in their own scarlet light, "Insufferable little-"

"I know, I'm annoying." Skyla smiled, kicking away from the minotaur before he could reach up and grab her, yanking his other arm up and slamming part of his gripped axe-shaft into his face.

As soon as Skyla was clear, a concussive shot rang out through ice and marble. Burning flames flickered for a moment as Ruby's boots skidded across the ice, the barrel of her scythe smoking in the wake of a high-caliber round making its own introduction to the entity's head, only to miss.

The bullet slammed into the drawn patterns on the opposite wall, drilling into black stone before embedding itself there. The minotaur had vanished, leaving behind a fading wisp of shadows in his place before the ice Skyla was about to land on shattered.

Cracks shot out from the immediate area and the small girl suddenly felt the crushing blow of a fist burrowing into her side, her small form sent across the room.

"RUUUUuuuuuuuuddddeee-!" then she crashed into the far wall.

A satisfied smirk crossed the minotaur's black maw. He didn't know why, but that was incredibly satisfying.

* * *

"Leo! Use Graviton Restraint!" Ciel called out, rushing forward under the siege of tendrils slamming down across the island.

Each scorched appendage had the surface area to crush a full team in its width, causing the ensuing barrage from the Kraken to shake the entire island of black ice.

"I'm not a pokémon!" Leo replied as he sprinted ahead of Ciel, firing off shots of super densified white and black Aura from his handcannons.

"Do it! It's highly effective and you have advantage!"

"Fine!"

Two white hand cannons rose as Leo took aim, chains rattling in the kicking winds of engines far behind him, "But this is not because you told me to!"

"That's not what I'll tell everyone else!"

Instead of beams this time, large speheres of black and white Aura fired into the dark sky, moving past the Kraken's falling strikes and slipping through gaps in its salvo of smashes. The two spheres met a distance beyond the creature's apparent eyes before the clusters of Leo's Aura suddenly burst with white Aura, tethers of its own glow snapping down and connecting with two tendrils from the grimm's two sides. Four arms grew restrained by magnetized streaks of white Aura, slowing the movements of each appendage touched as their molten lengths all pulled toward the orbs themselves.

"Okay!" said Ciel as she appeared before Leo in a streak of white and black Aura, "Now use Tackle!"

"I refuse."

"W-What?!" Ciel stopped dead in her tracks before turning fully around, "H-How could you say no..?"

"That move has always been illogical." Leo reasoned, taking a moment to fire a bullet surrounded by a beam of his Aura above Ciel's head, knocking a tendril off course and letting it slam into the ground next to her.

She only just stared back at him, unfazed by the crushing attack that nearly took her head.

"B-But…" she sniffled, "i-it's cute when you headbutt things…"

"Not the time, nor the place, sister..." Leo responded, watching as the stone tendril next to her rose and began to withdraw.

"Little girl wants to see something get tackled?!" Yang yelled from Ciel's far side, the girl's head turning to the charging blonde as Yang leapt into the air and slammed her gauntleted fist into the rising stone tendril.

Hardened rock shattered as she drilled her arm into the Grimm's armor, cracking it in an impact of icy Dust before the whole appendage was thrown into the ground.

"How 'bout that!?" Yang exclaimed, landing in a roll before she turned her gaze to the sky.

Above her, Blake fell from a clone-volleyed height with a sharp, icy spear Yang broke off earlier from the island's several spikes.

The raven-haired girl jammed the sharp end of the large javelin into the cracked surface of the tendril Yang threw down, piercing straight through the molten black flesh beneath before spearing the whole appendage to the ground.

Ice chipped as the tip of her spear met the island's cold surface beneath before Yang gave Ciel a small salute.

"Mind doing the honors?"

"Ohohoho, with pleasure!" Ciel smirked, sliding her foot back as she jumped, flipping up through the air before she brought the back-end of her scythe around and descended in a tight spin, then struck the end of the embedded spear with the full force of a ballistic missile, hammering the tendril into the ground while nailing it in place.

"Given this creature's size," Leo interrupted, firing bursts of his aura-encased bullets across the island to strike away other offending tendrils attacking his allies, "we will need more than one spike."

"Way ahead of you buddy."

Yang cracked several more areas of the tendril before her, striking its slightly restrained body of black stone as she ran down its length.

Blake and Ciel were running back from the center of the island, where broken spires and nests of razor sharp spikes littered the jagged ridges of its several layers. Blake dragged two along the ground with her ribbons, their ends skidding and bouncing against the ice below. Ciel ran back with five somehow, and they seemed to be larger than the ones Blake was pulling back.

"You know, I'm pretty sure you're cheating..." Blake exhaled, reeling in her black ribbons as the two dashed along behind Yang, finding places to plant their spears as the tendril began to thrash around.

"Cheating? Oh kitten..." Ciel drawled in emphasis, dropping all five of her spikes to the ground before snapping her fingers, a black, circular pocket dimension opening up below the clattering pile at her feet.

She then raised up her scythe towards the sky as ten, large black portals formed in the sky above.

"This is cheating!"

Ciel quickly lashed her scythe out towards the colossal creature, unleashing forth ten large spikes of ice from her portals.

Blake couldn't roll her amber eyes any harder.

* * *

"You good?" Xera asked, pulling his partner out of the confines of the cracked, blackened wall.

Her converse sneakers hit the ground softly with a stumble, but otherwise she gave him a confident smile.

"Yup. I think I'm doing a good job being a nuisance..." she smiled bemusedly, brushing off her skirt as the fire-lit sparks of battle clattered from the other side of the room.

"He's entered a stronger state..." the phoenix pointed out, glancing behind him to see Dante, Ruby, and Tohma interchanging blows with the black minotaur.

Every time it could, Tohma encased another limb of the entity's body in ice. But that only proved to slow him down only slightly, each encasement of ice seemingly breaking faster than the last.

"Can you keep the fortress lit and fight at the same time?" Skyla asked, standing back up straight and balanced again.

"As long as I split my focus, I'll be able to keep the room lit as long as I do." responded Xera.

"That's what's important right now." she stated, falling into a run as she pulled Xera's arm with her, "Hey, Weiss-cream, mind if we ask a favor?"

The duo skidded to a stop beside the heiress, her attention lying on the combatants in the fight as she focused on summoning glyphs to support them. Whenever a dodge was needed, she made it easier due to a directed glyph. Whenever added force was needed to a strike, she applied that as well. But more importantly, she was keeping them mobile and elusive. Any kind of hit would be bad this early on.

"Weiss-cream… I'll try to remember that for the next time I need to address you," Destiny said, giving the heiress a teasing glance.

"Please don't…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So? Wanna be part of the cool club and do something awesome?" Skyla asked, poking Weiss's shoulder as Destiny returned her attention to the actions of her summon.

"As long as it doesn't require licking me Sky…" Weiss responded, giving the girl her brief attention.

By now, she was used to the nickname, but she knew Skyla would change it up on her eventually. She had multiple nicknames for everyone.

"Awe, but that's an important part of it!" Skyla complained, but she quickly pointed one of her blades forward toward the minotaur across the room, "We're going to build a cannon and we need your help."

"I take it we need her momentum lock glyphs?" Xera asked, catching on to the plan his partner was hatching.

"You got it, and a whole lot of em."

"That can be arranged." Weiss stepped back on the marble ground and adjusted her footing, giving the two a quick nod, "Whenever you're ready."

Skyla could only smile, "Let's see just how quickly this thing can move."

She reared her arm back and hurled her right katana into a column of stone to their left, embedding the sharp tip of her sword into the pillar before doing the same in the opposite direction. Her pink and purple ribbons softly sifted through her fingers as she pulled them taught, tying their ends together once she did.

"I didn't know your ribbons had elastic properties..." Xera commented, walking in front of the combined ribbons as he drew up his sword and connected it to the panel at his sweatshirt's back.

"They come with a few perks." she replied simply, then began pulling the ribbons backward along the central marble pathway.

"Weiss, start layering momentum glyphs along a straight line and direct them all forward. It's essentially a big ballista." Xera elaborated, pushing the central knot of the ribbons back from in front of Skyla as the two worked to stretch the makeshift contraption.

"Got it." Weiss affirmed, closing her eyes for a moment before raising her rapier. She ushered her blade forward for a moment before she pulled it outward, the first of many small, slowly circling black glyphs forming behind Xera as they advanced.

"I'll assist as well while I have a moment." Destiny's voice filtered in now, her heels clicking forward as she made her way to Skyla's embedded blades.

Her violet eyes flashed a soft blue for a brief second as she tapped into her summon's abilities, a pale blue hue shimmering over her skin a moment later as she touched where the katanas were dug into the stone columns.

Ice formed and spread upon contact, securing the blade even more into the pillar before her. And as Skyla and Xera advanced, she did the same to the other side.

"How far back?" Xera asked, the tension of the ribbons growing exponentially with every step, but the two kept going.

"A few pillars at least? What do you think?" Sky asked in response, casting her gaze off to her sides to count the structures they've already passed.

"I'd say four, five might be pushing it."

"You think?" Weiss cut in, summoning her eighth glyph now in the horizontal line trailing behind Xera's back, "Four glyphs are enough to accelerate an object to the speed of sound. This is going twice that. Are you sure whatever you're firing can withstand that kind of force?"

"More than sure." Xera replied with certainty, his eyes keeping track of the distance they were pulling out to before he stopped his partner with a nod of the head, "This is far enough."

Ten glyphs now stood between their new position and the crossing pillars they started at.

"You said four gets an object to the speed of sound?" Xera asked, ducking beneath the ribbon and standing close to Skyla's side, his hands gripping the central knot now alongside hers.

Weiss nodded with a soft hum to confirm.

"That'll take us just below Mach 3, about 850 meters per second..." Xera calculated, staring down the line of circling glyphs in front of him before he shrugged his shoulders, "Give or take a meter or two."

"This isn't for me specifically, but you know, for, uh, less knowledgeable people..." Skyla interjected, "how fast is that?"

"That's approximately 1900 miles per hour, or in terms you'd like to hear." Xera sent a humorous glance to his partner beside him as he reached a hand back, disconnecting his longsword from over his shoulder, "A 12.7x108mm Anti-Material bullet travels at 1840 mph, which is the largest bullet made so far."

"Come again?"

At this point, Xera was only purposefully getting more technical to push her, "Think big sniper, but bigger. And powered by a large explosion."

"Ahh!" Skyla slowly nodded, "I got it. Yeah, that's what I was thinking the whole time."

"Sure."

Xera slowly lowered his black sword into the strong pull of Weiss's momentum locked glyphs, each set to a certain directional force and layered one over the other. All of the ebony motifs fell in line in a straight-shot of glowing glyphs, like the rifled barrel of an artillery cannon.

Only, this projectile had a different purpose from the usual catastrophic impact of artillery.

Once the blade was in place, he took a tight hold of its handle as Skyla repositioned, taking a stronger grasp of her ribbons as the two held the tension of their ballista together.

"Destiny, can you get Tohma to tell Dante and Ruby about this plan?" Xera asked, turning his gaze to the summoner.

It may have been a powerful sword-cannon, but it wasn't directable.

They could only fire in one specific spot with particularly minor readjustments, which meant they needed the ones ahead of them to get the minotaur into position.

Their line of sight was a straight-shot to the throne… all they needed was to time the release. The positioning fell to those two and the bear.

"Already on it. Dante's smart, so he'll be quick to react to this." Destiny replied, closing her eyes again as she tapped into her mental connection with Tohma on the battlefield.

"We only have the one sword." Xera stated, eyeing up the end of his blade and the throne beyond it, "Looks like we need to make it count."

"Don't worry, it's just like pin the tail on the donkey. Only from a distance." Skyla commented.

"Riiight, yeah, this is exactly like that."

"What? There's only, like, two differences."

"I see a lot more than two."

"Okay, maybe four."

"Skyla, it's not even the same game at this point…"

* * *

"Yatsuhashi, keeping that kitsune over there safe?" Coco asked over her shoulder, her heeled boots digging into the ice as she pulled the rotating barrels of her golden gatling gun around.

The bullet chains in her drum magazine immediately started revving, rapidly feeding into the chambers of each quickly spinning barrel as she unleashed a barrage of bullets into the black mass of stone around the grimm's eyes.

Each glint of light tore a sizable chunk of stone from the creature's body, drilling into its armored shell with every hit.

"He can't! She's terrified of him!" Velvet spoke up, rushing in from the active bullheads and sliding to Coco's position.

"Well it's not like Fox will play nice with her!" Coco growled, the rapid concussive stream of projectiles spitting out of her gun causing her feet to slide back on the gritty ice.

"It's not his fault, he's just…"

"He's Fox, I know." Coco replied, the rotation in her barrels slowing for a moment as she threw a glance at Velvet, "Can you do it?"

"I can try, but aren't I of more use here?"

"Don't burn yourself out, Velvs. You already used your weapon recently on the Leviathan, I don't want you pushing it and having to rebuild the whole thing from scratch if it fails." her leader replied curtly, throwing her gaze into the sky before dashing back.

She snatched the rabbit by the waist and dipped out, leaving the blast zone of a quickly descending tendril as it smashed into the ice she was firing from.

"Go to her, I'll be fine." Coco ushered, placing Velvet back on her feet before turning around. A delicate hand rose to fix her skewed sunglasses, a smirk forming as soon as she did, "This hentai nightmare doesn't stand a chance against all of us."

Velvet nodded, getting out of the area with a blush intact as she moved back to the bullheads. Another salvo of bullets fired off behind her, Coco's gun revving up once more as she swung her way into a bullhead's back compartment.

"Yatsu, go help Coco. We'll be fine here." Velvet quickly stated, walking her way into the bullhead and to the two inside.

Kitsuki sat buckled up in one of the seats, her three tails bundled up around herself as she sat with her knees bent up against her chest. Her arms tightly held them there, and with every flash of red lightning illuminating the sky, she visibly flinched and quivered all the more.

Her guard stood by the open door of the large compartment, hanging onto a handle above his head as he glanced down to Velvet as she passed. He gave her a silent look, something that questioned her of someone else.

"Fox is already out there. He and Coco are holding off just outside. They're working to whittle away at the flesh of this thing and its tendrils, but he can't do much." Velvet informed, kneeling down in front of the kitsune before glancing to her teammate, "Coco's managing to dish out a lot of damage though. Her armor piercing rounds are doing a number to its main body."

Yatsu nodded, his even eyes turning again as they glanced out into the fray.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." Velvet reassured, then shooed him off with a few flicks of her hands, "Now go and join them."

The tall fighter slowly let go of his handle and stepped out of the bullhead, casting one more glance back to Velvet before drawing his single-edged claymore. Its copper gleam brandished itself in the light of the island's red energy before he took off, disappearing from the rabbit faunus's sight.

"Okay…" the girl slowly exhaled, turning her attention back to Kitsuki.

The kitsune had her eyes snapped shut, lips trembling from the outside world as he tails tightened around her. She was acting like this well before the Kraken showed up. Velvet reached forward, softly brushing the other girl's white hair out of her face.

"It's the storm, isn't it…?"

Golden-orange eyes cracked open for only a second, closing quickly afterward as a flash of red lightning illuminated the compartment they resided in.

It was. And for some reason, the kitsune was afraid of it. But to act like this? Velvet quietly hushed the girl and brushed down her shaking tails, trying her best to comfort her.

"Here, I have something that can help." she quietly whispered, pulling a compartment around from her belt and carefully opening it.

This wasn't just a simple phobia. Something happened to the girl, Velvet withdrew a cushioned pair of earmuffs, custom made for most faunus with two sets of ears. She adjusted it for a few moments before gently resting it over Kitsuki's head.

The soft padding across its band helped hold down the kitsune's ears, negating most of the harsh noises filtering through the furry appendages while also sealing over her human ears.

As soon as it was in place, the kitsune's shaking began to settle.

Something happened to her, someone did something to her… and it severely hurt her. And whatever it was, lightning was involved, Velvet slowly breathed out as she came to that realization, giving the girl in front of her a sad smile.

She hated stories like that.

The sound of a harsh clash shook the walls around her in the next moment, and after a quickly held breath, Velvet's ears picked up the noise of several chunks of brittle stone clattering to the ground.

Yatsuhashi had joined the fight.

* * *

Dante flipped in the air and landed on his feet, skidding to a halt as he used his left hand to slow himself down. Another swing from a massive axe made its way overhead to try and crush him, forcing Dante to dash sideways and dodge momentarily before jumping atop the axe.

The minotaur quickly raised up his weapon to launch Dante away, but this proved to only benefit the young immortal by giving him a boost to his jump. Dante flipped backward and swung his sword, discharging an arcing wave of his white and black Aura into the face of his massive foe, resulting in a small scale explosion that engulfed the creature's body in smoke.

Damn… That didn't do as much damage as I hoped it would… His skin has some Aura resistance to it. My Devouring Light attacks are doing damage, but not enough to get through his skin. I either have to make larger Aura Wave attacks or go for a piercing blast, direct body contact. That worked last time, but he'll be more aware this time. I could use… No… I'll save it for when I need it.

"Ruby?"

"Um, aye sir?" The red reaper zipped to the immortal's side, cloak kicking behind her in a wake of rose petals.

"Just Dante will do." Dante quickly corrected, throwing his blade forward to strike aside an incoming swing.

He quickly took Ruby by the waist and dashed, skidding to a spinning stop past the minotaur's flank and around a structure of glowing ice and quickly set her down, then leaned around their temporary glistening cover to see the minotaur now on the other side of the room.

"You're faster than I am. For the moment at least. So I need you to do hit-and-runs on his lower half. I'll take his upper body."

"Right, yeah I can do that. Just lemme know when!" Ruby slipped around to Dante's other side, getting ready to re-enter as soon as he gave the order.

"Tohma, still with us?"

The white-haired teen looked to his side to see the glacial bear standing right next to him.

"You do the same as Ruby, but keep your distance and use your ice for ranged attacks. He won't be able to keep track of us and I'll be the bigger threat out of the three, so his main focus will be on me. All good?"

Tohma gave a small nod and moved off to his left, disappearing behind a veil of sputtering frost and ice.

Dante lowered into a forward crouch, touching the cold ground with the tips of his fingers as he gave one final glance to Ruby.

With a shared nod, he took off.

"Come and get me!"

His request was heard and met within an instant of asking, the minotaur's massive ebony axe swinging sideways at him from the darkness. The swing was accompanied by a concussive blast, the backend of the entity's weapon suddenly lurching forward as smoke and red flame billowed out behind it.

Dante slid beneath the unnaturally accelerated strike and jumped to avoid the next swing, catching the minotaur's arm that swung into his body. Mid side-swing, the minotaur swung his arm down to smash Dante into the floor, but the young immortal quickly moved his body out of the way and hopped onto the creature's arm, leaping forward to his face to stab at his head.

The minotaur immediately threw its head out of the way, dodging the stab whilst bringing up his knee to launch Dante upwards. The young immortal brought his blade in and used the flat side to block the knee that sent him up slightly, blocking a rapid follow-up swing that batted him out of the way and off to the side.

Now that Dante was a good distance away, he twisted himself in the air and swung his hand towards the creature. A wave of ten white and black Aura Swords crashed into the minotaur, some of them shattering while the rest pierced into its ashen flesh.

All of it fell together to keep the entity's attention on one thing and one thing only.

A streak of red dashed in as Dante landed, a careening slash hurled against the minotaur's leg and forcing him to his knee. Large spheres of ice suddenly followed, crashing against the side of his head to disorient him.

He tried swinging his arm at Ruby, but she blurred out of sight and he took another volley of ice to his snout, forcing the creature to defensively raise up its arm to shield itself from the ensuing onslaught.

But Dante's sudden battle cry tore his gaze back up again, smoldering red eyes turning upward to see the immortal swing down upon him.

He quickly grasped his axe with both hands and used the shaft to block the incoming longsword, emitting a small shockwave that rushed through the illuminated room.

"I see now why our King has taken an interest in you..." the minotaur spoke, yanking his shaft into a tilt to try and twist Dante's biting blade away, "You are the son of the First…"

"I have-" Dante grit his teeth and slammed his foot down on the rising end of his enemy's weapon, throwing it back down and keeping it in place, "no idea what you're on about!"

"It does not matter…"

The ground beneath the minotaur's knee began to crack, splinters of ice spilling away from the shattering surface as the entity slowly began to stand.

"Use it…" it growled, pushing into the struggle of biting weapons as Dante's strength pushed back.

"Use what?!"

"Cast off your human flesh… Unleash your true power… Only then will you be able to stop me and protect these weaklings…"

"I wouldn't go underestimating them so easily… It'll come back and bite your head off!" Dante growled back now, pushing forward all the harder.

"Your claim holds no merit. So far…" the minotaur vanished within a rising darkness, appearing high in the air above Dante, "I am not impressed."

Dante spun around and raised up his sword to block the overhead strike. The axe crashed into his blade with the backing force of a recoiling cannon, sending the teen skidding on his heels from the force of the blow.

With nothing to dig into, the crushing strike collapsed past Dante's glancing blade and struck the floor. Numerous chunks of crumbling marble and ice broke and upturned into the air, large slabs jutting straight up and rising into a perimeter of crushed black walls.

Crimson eyes shot to the side to track his opponent, but his sight of Dante was obscured from the upturned shield.

"Hiding will not save you…"

Dante was already on the move, quickly circling around the field of stone while the creature searched. In that moment, Ruby sped in and pierced her scythe into the creature's lower calf, her infiltration immediately backed by Tohma taking a bite at the other.

The two attacks buckled his legs once more and effectively lowered him to his knees again.

Behind the creature, Dante leapt from the shadows and landed atop the minotaur's bulky shoulders, allowing him to upturn his sword and repeatedly stab the creature in the head, reaching about eight times before he was grabbed.

The minotaur's eyes narrowed as he held Dante in front of him, rising as he shook Ruby and Tohma from his legs. His axe rose with him as he lifted Dante and held him up, swinging at the teen's dangling body. But the young immortal had summoned more of his Aura Swords to pierce the wrist belonging to the massive hand that held him, forcing the entity to let go and allow Dante to leap towards him and land a large slash across the creature's chest.

The counterattack threw the minotaur backward, forcing him into a roll as he skidded to a halt in a low crouch. Burning eyes looked upward to see Dante up in the air again, holding his sword with both hands as it was raised high up over his head.

"Devouring…!"

As he was about to finish his technique, he suddenly felt pure black Aura instantly blanket his entire body and form his Shadow Skin, forcing a short surprised gasp out of the young immortal as he realized what happened.

Instead of deactivating his Shadow Skin, he growled and raised up his blade as black and white Aura gathered around his sword in massive amounts.

"Light!"

The young immortal swung down and unleashed a massive arcing wave of his Aura that crashed into the creature, shattering the immediate structures of ice around them in a blast of energy.

As Dante landed on the ground, his Shadow Skin immediately deactivated, reverting him to his normal form.

What the hell just happened?! Why did-?!

He raised up his sword and blocked a swing to his head, gazing at the massive minotaur standing before him with numerous gashes, cuts, and burns littering its entire body.

"Yes...! Yes! That… That is true power and strength! Strength worthy of my axe!"

"Tsk...! Just give it a rest!" Dante unleashed another Aura wave with a roar to push back the axe, following up with another to send the entity backward.

"Ruby!"

A blur moved past the immortal in streaking red and rose petals, the young reaper soaring towards the minotaur with incredible speed.

It raised it's axe up to take a swing, but before he could put any power into it, Ruby rapidly pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose to project herself forward with several consecutive recoils of her gun, pushing her to an even faster pace.

In a brief dash of her whipping cloak, she caught the shaft of the minotaur's axe with the curve of her own scythe and yanked. Two heels dug into the hard, crumbly floor as she pulled. With one more squeeze of her trigger, she jammed the sharp point of her scythe's shaft into the ground, pinning the minotaur in place at the foot of stairs leading to the throne.

"Insufferable worm!"

The minotaur reached over to try and catch Ruby by the throat, but felt a small rush of wind move toward him from behind her. Dante's form slipped around Ruby's frame at a blinding speed, the immortal's blade catching his reaching forearm with its tip and plunging straight through it.

The bloodied white weapon twisted as Dante's momentum carried through, locking the sharp length of his weapon deep inside the creature's arm as he pulled the minotaur's hand away from the cloaked girl. The immortal landed opposite Ruby, sneakers digging into marble as he pushed forward.

Ruby and Dante strained out the creature's arms, pulling both outward and downward as the minotaur's legs began to slowly bend, their muscles struggling to remain standing.

"Now!" shouted the young immortal.

An ear-piercing concussive blast rang out from the center of the room. Two central pillars suddenly cracked and shattered, a crystalline hum of ten glyphs riding alongside the following passing shockwave as every structure of ice still standing shattered to pieces.

A shining glint of black suddenly connected with the minotaur's chest, tip passing through durable hide with absolutely no resistance as muscle and bone quickly caved in.

In an instant, the creature was thrown back under the force of the impacting blade in his chest, ripping him from his strained position on the ground and sending him brutally into the marble stone behind him.

The ballistic sword-cannon built up enough kinetic force to tear the creature's arm from his shoulder, yanked off by Dante's embedded sword in his moment of impact while Ruby's scythe disarmed him of his weapon.

And with a sickening, dull thud, the sword skewered his heart deep inside his chest, sinking into him completely. The black blade's hilt lay crushed against his bones, and as the cold marble chair met his back, the sharp tip of Xera's sword pierced the marble of the throne and pinned him against it.

Weaponless, armless, motionless. It was reduced to nothing under the actions of six children.

How could such a thing happen..?

Dante and Ruby slowly stood, the minotaur's axe clattering loudly to the ground next to young reaper in the dull quietness of the room. Shards of ice rained down around them, breaking against the floor in flurries due to the gale of wind that ruptured inside the wake of Xera's passing sword.

Then, everything grew still.

"You..." their enemy coughed, black blood slipping out with each breath as his one arm grew limp, "defeated me… The six of you…"

His fading eyes slowly leveled on the group slowly approaching the throne, each step taken holding a caution to it he'd expect from wary opposition.

He coughed again, pain seizing his entire body as he remained still, "You did well to beat me… Zeridûl's first challenge..."

"Are there more?" asked Dante.

"Two more challenges await you… But your next task..." he coughed again, another dull pain taking over his lungs, "it will be difficult…"

His eyes returned in their glow once more, turning to face the six who stood before him.

"You may yet hold the merit I could not see... If you truly are worthy…you will reach him… If you succeed, you will greet him at the highest peak of this Dark city..."

"And if we defeat him too?"

"Then you are...", another cough suddenly broke his voice, but he continued, "more worthy than even he could've ever imagined."

His wounds were grievous, whatever life force he had within himself gradually seeped out of him in trails of black blood spilling to the floor.

But even if it was painful, he fell to the blades of those he recognized. His fall here was not in vain. This failure only brightened the possibility of success.

This was exactly what his king was looking for…

"I was stationed here for my reflexes in comparison to the others. And yet…" he trailed off, lungs seizing again in a sputter of coughs.

A weak arm slowly rose, thick fingers rising to rest on the armrest of his once undefeated throne. The shallow light of his eyes sparked and dimmed, a momentary crimson flame appearing in the palm of his hand before he pressed it into the ebony stone.

A subtle warmth suddenly emitted from his blackened chair, a raw energy sifting through it as he calmly reached his shaky hand to the sword embedded in his chest.

And with a pained effort, he withdrew Xera's blade and held it out, handle turned toward its rightful owner.

"Go. Know that you are victors. Carry yourselves high… and you will find peace… as I have…" his voice grew quiet now, a dark scarlet light passing from his throne and into the floor of the room before him.

"We will." Xera responded, he and the others slowly making their way from the throne platform and toward the narrow door behind it.

Only Dante remained behind, glaring at the dying Minotaur.

"Heed my warning...Child of the First… This realm and it's power...is not to be underestimated… You will find yourself seeking...and find yourself wanting… He knows of this… And for that very reason...he made the Realm the way it is. He knows...of all that transpired."

All that has transpired…

"So then...my hunch was right… He has it then?"

"If what I know of and what you speak of is similar, then yes, he does..."

"Tch… Not what I needed to hear… Fine then. At least I know one hundred percent what I'm dealing with."

"He...is unpredictable…"

"Not in the slightest. If anything, he and his kind are always predictable. I will crush him like the parasite he's been."

"Overconfidence will lead to your defeat..."

"Not if I can predict the outcome and what actions he'll take to ensure success."

"He isn't the only one you should be wary of…"

"Hmph… Did you really think I would come here unprepared for that possibility? Or any possibility really? Zeridûl thinks himself clever, but his actions, thoughts and even goals are fairly simplistic in nature, typical of that of any Dark Entity Lord. He simply thinks that because he has a vast amount of power he is capable of outmaneuvering and outhinking us at any step and turn. If anything, it will be his overconfidence and arrogance that will be his undoing. For now, you will die knowing that you failed against a group of humans and a Faunus."

Dante then raised up his left hand and pointed both his index finger and middle finger together towards the head of the Minotaur, a sphere of black Aura building at the center of those two fingertips. As soon as the sphere had been allowed to grow a small amount for three seconds, it discharged into a silent and small beam of Aura that shot right through the creatures head, thus ending its life at last.

As soon as the Minotaur ceased movements entirely, the whole room grew enkindled in a slowly rising crimson flame, his soul falling to the encroaching touch of his own dark red blaze.

* * *

Three full tendrils had finally grown still, where countless spikes of ice jammed into the flesh and armor of each arm. The hard restraints kept the grimm's attacks at bay, reducing any more strikes to the limitation of five tendrils instead of eight. That cut down on the damage and the overwhelming force of this creature by an incredible margin, but the danger still remained. They still had the other five to deal with.

It was becoming more and more rapid with its attacks, somehow countering their strategy to pin it down by quickly rolling and receding each arm after every move. Its burning skin beneath its stone-ridden exterior tried to melt through every javelin of ice that pierced its hide, but to no avail. The ice of the island was breakable, but all of it was unmeltable under any entourage of heat, no matter how much energy it swelled through its downed limbs.

"Yatsu! One more should do it!" Coco called out, turning her sputtering barrels to a falling limb above them.

Golden streaks of lead and icy hues slammed into the descending tendril, drilling into stone before Coco stepped back and ducked. Over her head swung the golden edge of Yatsuhashi's curved blade, slamming up into the cracked, already heavily damaged underbelly of the appendage above him. All air in a line split from the impact of his sword as he cleaved through the tendril in full, the grimm's eyes shooting wide in pain as it suddenly reeled back its severed limb from Yatsuhashi's reach. The rest of its discarded arm remained, falling limply to the ground behind the tall man and crushing any expanse of ice it beneath it.

"Nicely done!" Coco complemented, moving past her teammate's side once again as she watched their enemy pull back all its limbs and screech, massive eyes glaring at the residents on the island before it.

Behind them, molten lava slowly oozed out of the interior of the grimm's severed limb, hardening a moment later as soon as it touched the black ice below.

"This thing's core temperature rivals a volcano, so be careful the next time you decide to break its skin." Fox warned, skidding to a halt beside his leader and partner as he turned his white gaze to their hissing enemy.

"Duly noted." Coco responded, giving her Fox a quick lovetap.

He showed no reaction to it. One day, she'll pull a reaction out of him.

"Hey, pretty boy V2. Do you read?" asked Coco as she spoke into her Scroll.

"As flattering as your comment is, my name is Leonard Ms. Adel."

"I knew that."

"Yes, of course you did… In either case, what do you require Ms. Adel?"

"Nothing really. Just calling to tell you to watch with the deathrays. I just shot up one of its arms and it's spilling lava-like blood."

"I see… Dismemberment won't be as viable of an option as I would have hoped it would… Thank you for the notification Ms. Adel."

"Coco to you, hot stuff."

She saw the call had disconnected and smiled as she put her Scroll away.

"It looks like this thing bit off more than it can chew!" Yang called out, staring out at the monstrous eyes of the Dremoha before them, "So much for Dremoha class grimm being all high and mighty."

"Do not be so hasty to make assumptions Miss Xiao Long." Ozpin interjected, moving forward past the fiery blonde as he approached the ridge the Drael Kraken surfaced at, "We are merely stronger than it in this current situation. If there were less of us, this battle would surely be different."

A tendril came sailing down to take the silvered man's head off, but he rose his cane to deflect the heavy strike in a flash of spanning green light. Lines across the creature's arm suddenly formed, cracks shattering across its entire appendage before half of its stone hide broke away.

"Whoa, headmaster?! You've been holding out on us!" Sun called out, but the man at the ridge ignored the comment as he stared into the eyes of his foe.

"Zeridûl may have opened his gate for you, but he did not beckon you here…" the man muttered, watching as the creature before him narrowed its eyes of hatred, malice, and agony, "Who sent you?"

The creature tried again, two tendrils falling now but both were knocked aside by pulses of purple energy. The focused force split the dual strike apart, careening both appendages into the ice at Ozpin's sides. He'd have to thank Glynda later.

"A creature of your intellect should understand my words as much as the next, so allow me to ask you once more..." Ozpin spoke, his grip on the handle of his cane tightening as he leveled his gaze beneath his softly blowing bangs, "Who was it that released you from the prison you were trapped in for so many years?"

His question was met with silence. The Kraken slowly withdrew its two tendrils, its massive appendages slipping over the ridge next to Ozpin's feet before disappearing into the boiling water below.

Ozpin sighed, turning on his heel and walking away from the edge. But a resounding roar broke the silence he left in his wake, tearing down from the sky as the storm clouds above shook in violent shudders of electricity. The red lightning shooting across the sky grew in ferocity, breaking from the confinement of clouds now to reach down toward the island below.

Ozpin could only lower his gaze, the grip on his cane threatening to break the very weapon he cherished as he stepped past Glynda and made his way to the center of the plateau.

"It appears we have attracted the attention of the Storm Drake that nearly took one of our bullheads out of the sky." the headmaster informed, sparing a brief glance to the blonde woman, then did the same to professor Miralla at the woman's side.

The shadow of a winged beast broke through the layer of gray clouds far above them, the new creature descending with a roar of electrified enragement as the entire sky around it shattered in a golden wake of branching lightning.

Their battle with a single Dremoha was now increased to two.

"It looks like we'll be facing two Dremohas in this battle of fate we seem to be locked in." Ozpin sighed, stopping to address the two women behind him, "Have faith in the abilities of our students and their allies. I believe they have all the power they need to face this."

His reflective eyes turned to the sky, watching as the clouds became bathed in the new light of this creature's uncontained energy.

"We fall prey to a will that is not their own. But we have the means to win against the odds stacked against us here on this island."

 _So… She finally makes her move…_

The tip of Ozpin's cane fell to the ice at his feet, an energy stirring within him that he hasn't drawn on for a long, long time.

 _The game has begun. The turn falls to me now… Allow me to make my own move, then, in this long game we play._

* * *

 **(Omake: Everywhere We Go, by me)**

At one of the booth seats within a Panda Tree Diner, the small, two year old wolf Faunus Irene stood on the padded seats, staring intently at her guardian Raum as he returned an equally focused glare from across the seat. He checked the time on his Holographic Scroll, seeing the it was 11:59. The time was almost upon them. The King Class Dark Entity slowly raised up a container that held pieces of orange chicken within, and kept his right hand hovering over the open part of it. Irene quickly readied herself by keeping her arms in a formation as if she were going to draw and shoot.

"Do you know...what time it is..?" asked Raum.

Irene gave him an affirmative nod with her usual "hmph" and lowered herself slightly, narrowing her eyes.

"That's right… Its High Noon..!" replied the Dark Entity as his eyes glowed with a Dark Green Aura.

His hand reached for a piece of orange chicken inside, and kept it there for only a second and a second only before quickly removing the small chunk off food, and saying "Draw!"

And within a matter of two seconds, Raum quickly tossed six pieces of orange chicken towards Irene, all of which she quickly opened her mouth and moved her head in the direction of the pieces of food, not missing a single one as chewed contently, raising both hands in the air as if to declare herself triumphant.

"For a child your age and size, you're pretty good at reacting as quickly as you do. I'm impressed. That, and your appetite is something incredible." he said as she continued eating.

She stopped for a moment and looked at the table to find what she wanted to give them. Along with their order of white rice and orange chicken, they also had ordered some bread that came in the form of a small loaf. Finding the loaf of bread, she picked it up and waved it in front of the Dark Entity, as if suggesting he should eat.

"No thanks. Don't need to eat as much as you, remember?"

Either way, she persisted by waving the loaf even faster.

"Fiiine." He said rolling his eyes.

Instead of taking the entire loaf, he used his right index finger to slice the loaf in half and catch his half, giving the rest to Irene. Content with his decision to eat the bread, the little wolf Faunus began nibbling on her half, but looked up momentarily to see Raum's half was gone. She was shocked to say the least.

"What? I eat fast. Go on. We've got other places to go after this."

She gave him a nod and continued to feast upon her bread.

Not a few seconds later did two women pass by and took note of the little wolf Faunus cutely nibbling at loaf of bread, both of them squealing in some form of...excitement?

Raum was very confused with their actions.

"Oh my gosh!" said one as she got closer.

"She's so adorable!"

"Like the cutest thing ever!" spoke one as she rubbed Irene's head, whom the latter clearly enjoyed.

 _What the..?_

"Hey." said Raum, trying to get the attention of the two women.

"Let's take selfie!"

"Okay!"

 _What the fuck is a selfie?! And why do they want one?!_

"Hey!" said Raum, finally getting the attention of the overly excited women that had got their photo with Irene.

"Are you her father?!"

"She's the sweetest little thing ever!"

"T-That I know. What the heck is that thing you called a selfie?"

"You're really young. Don't you know?"

"It's taking a picture of yourself with someone else in the shot!" said one woman as she showed Raum the selfie she and her friend took with Irene.

"Why is this a thing?" Asked the Dark Entity.

"I dunno. For fun I guess?"

 _People do this for fun?!_

"You know…" said one of the women leaning in close to Raum.

"You're pretty young and hot for a dad…" said the other woman leaning equally close.

 _Are they trying to woo me? As impressive as their breasts are, not interested at the moment._

"We could help relieve some stress in your life…"

"Maybe even help be mamas to such an adorable little thing as her…"

The "retreat" button in Raum's mind was repeatedly being mashed alongside with his mind coming up with an exit strategy and run as far away as possible from these women.

He quickly slapped down enough lien for the bill, plus a five percent tip, quickly spun around the women, grabbed Irene, and dashed out of the diner, the women dazed as to what happened given this all happened within a matter of three seconds.

Raum ran and didn't stop running as he carried Irene in his arms.

"This is the fifth time within a week that something like that has happened! What sorcery are you using to attract those lustful, voracious women?!" asked the Dark Entity as he still ran, holding Irene out in front of him.

She simply smiled and stuck out her tongue at him.

"Aha! I knew this was your doing! Whatever you're doing, don't do it anymore! At least not while we're in a town! I'm sick of running around like a lunatic because of women! If anything it should be the other way around!"

Irene simply giggled at her guardian as they moved closer to their rented apartment for the time being. They both had to wait for some time until the main group had returned from their "venture."

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated 7)**

"Well everyone, Ruby's busy with Jaune, Ren and Nora today. So it's basically just me on set today. Please make due with whatever horrible jokes I can come up with in the meantime while I give you today's rundown of the weapon we're presenting." said Dante.

"Actually, I'm here to assist you today. After all, we are speaking of my weapon."

"What the-?! Zeridûl?!"

"Hello Dante."

"What are you doing here?!"

"As I said, I'm here to assist you for today and today only. After All, we have our battle to conclude soon enough, yes?"

"I-I guess… Well, since you're the owner, why don't you give us a piece or two about your weapon?"

"Indeed I shall. As young Dante always says, today we shall speak of my weapon. It has no name." spoke the Dark Entity.

"Couldn't think of anything?"

"Not exactly."

"You totally forgot."

"Moving on before I freeze mr. Dante…"

"Geez, chill out."

Zeridûl simply glared at Dante, who only innocently raised up his hands.

"My weapon was rather simple in terms of capability. And within my hands combined with my abilities to negate Aura, a powerful tool of destruction. My first sword, the one I used before being ejected from Zerath Stark's body, was a giant black claymore; 6 feet in length and 1 foot in width. It was made of light, but virtually unbreakable material by human means. Half of the blade was imbued with Frost Dust for better damage against certain fire using pests, while the other half was imbued with Fire Dusr for increased damage against everything else. I believe you can give some input?"

"Sure thing… So, it wasn't just simply a claymore either. It had a secondary weapon form that could transform into a high caliber sniper rifle, almost like Ruby's Crescent Rose, with select fire modes between single shots, three burst shots, and full auto shots. Each bullet used were hollow point .50 Caliber bullets laced with different dust types for different effects against different type of enemies. He even had bullets made to specifically pierce through people's Aura Shielding, making his weapon not only a magnificent Grimm killer, but also a powerful Huntsmen/Huntress killer if he needed it to be."

"Indeed. After all, one must require a tool for different variations of situations they may come across. While my weapon may not be perfect, it does get the job down for whatever it is I need."

"Like cake-cutting?"

"A more specific type of cutting. Would you like me to demonstrate?"

"You can try. Not that it'd work."

"Hmph… You'll be eager to see what my new weapon is then."

"New weapon huh? Can't wait…" said Dante, "Too bad that'll be the only thing you'll have to defend yourself with."

"Do you really believe that is the only weapon at my disposal currently?"

"It isn't?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked Zeridûl.

"No, I don't think so." replied Dante.

"Are you sure?"

Dante paused for a few moments before he glared back at Zeridûl.

"I won't fall for your deception Zeridûl!" replied the young immortal confidently.

…

"But I'm not deceiving you." he replied honestly in return.

* * *

 **We're getting close to the end folks! We've got two more trials before the big finale for this arc! And then...we move on to the Volume 4 Arc with some special twists and additions! And believe me folks, you don't want to miss it. All shall be tested. And whether or not they survive...is up to them.**

 **Not much else to say.**

 **Don't forget to check out my other new story Knights of White and Black, which is being written in conjunction with Xera Stark's story Rogue Huntsmen. It's totally awesome and definitely a new and fresh way of wrting for me. So yeah, please go check it out!**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. ****Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend! Bye-bye now!**


	17. Chapter 17: The Breaking of Shields

**Back for another chapter I presume? Wonderful! I was hoping you'd think that. Or say that. Whichever of the two. So without further ado, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 17: Breaking of the Shields

The second level of Eryndûs was as empty as the first. Its black streets spanned across like pathways of absolute isolation, each stony turn depicting a charred reminder of a civilization that probably used to be.

Skewed, yes. But ironically...efficient.

Residential grounds spanned out across the lowest sector of the black mountain, twisting across the crescent base of this desolated land mass in a sea of distant stars. Flowing through the center of that district arose a staircase to the burning temple they just left behind. Beyond its crimson blaze lay a section of industrial evolution.

Tattered black banners hung behind torches of red and scarlet. Facilities of churning smoke ran at the hinges of this upper level, each silently crackling in the dullness of the still air of their twisted surroundings. Rooftops at their left and right spanned higher than those below, spiked into narrowly slanted slopes and broken to bend and turn in jagged merges with adjacent buildings. The citadel's industrial level, the working class, was packed full of buildings for metal production and factories for energy.

Each building lay stationary in a net of tight alleyways and corridors, tied together in a cluttered architectural marvel of black, harrowing designs. It was as if the buildings themselves were set up to be weaponized…

"You all did well considering what we were up against." Dante called to the back of the group, his shoes digging into the obsidian street below at the head of the party.

"These creatures don't seem too different from the nature of Grimm." Weiss returned, small glyphs clicking into existence with every tap of her heels.

Gold motifs faded into the ground behind her every step, each playing to increase her speed to keep up with the group of running teens.

"They're dark in nature, but their intelligence and anatomical differences set them apart from Grimm on several levels." Destiny interjected, her gaze switching to the heiress next to her as the two ran, "Though, I can't help but wonder if one was a byproduct of the other."

"Grimm have been around for a long time haven't they?" Ruby asked, keeping stride with the group at their furthest right, "Exactly how long have they been on Remnant?"

"As far as our history books are concerned, they've been here since the beginning." Xera replied, keeping up at the group's left end and closer to the front of the pack, "But we still don't have any concrete proof of their origin."

"We can't exactly run out there and find out for ourselves." Skyla spoke up, her lighter voice resonating from Xera's close right, "We can only really expand as far as our kingdom walls can go."

"Which raises questions nonetheless..." Xera replied, "The Grimm are an encroaching Darkness that doesn't seem keen on thinning out anytime soon. In fact, they're more abundant than scarce, especially in the wild."

"Remnant hasn't had the sustainability in expansions and additions of villages than it does in the kingdoms built up over all these centuries." Dante responded, "In addition, humanity here unfortunately lacks the manpower and cooperation to expand much further than small settlements outside each kingdom."

"Trade routes were still established despite that." Weiss said, a couple sets of eyes switching to her and her trailing white ponytail, "But that's always been limited to caravans and boats. Trains and air travel weren't developed until later."

"Cars are a whole other story." Destiny slipped in.

"They're for inter-kingdom travel and heavily limited if used between kingdoms." Weiss elaborated after Destiny's comment.

"Hence why air travel is always better." Destiny affirmed.

"I guess it's safe to assume none of you have gone on road trips before, have you?" Dante asked the group, throwing them a look of disbelief.

Their lighter conversation was put on a minor stall, though, as he slid around a corner and continued down the straight street beyond it.

The rest following.

"Not that road trips aren't cool or anything, but they're way too dangerous outside the kingdoms." Skyla countered, tracking Dante's eyes before he turned his gaze back to where they were headed.

Their path turned again in the distance.

"I mean, people die on road trips…" the girl continued, thinking into it a little more.

"She's not wrong." Xera added.

"Road trips aren't even too plausible outside the kingdoms." Weiss added, making a swift hand gesture out to her side, "Civilization hasn't bothered to lay down many roads due to Grimm activity. Any transits built were done underground."

"You simply haven't had a fun one yet. If ever the chance arises, you should go out on the road." Dante stated, giving the group of teens behind him a promising glance.

But that glance wasn't long lasted. He switched his gaze back forward, his brows furrowing as the whites of his eyes flashed black and his irises glowed white.

 _I don't understand… Earlier when I fought the Minotaur, my Shadow Skin activated of its own accord. Why is that exactly? Did the Minotaur do something to invoke it? Or is because-?_

Dante's eyes transitioned down to his arms as he ran, holding his right hand in front of himself as his friends followed his lead. Pale skin was now layered in grayish muscle fibers and black, skeletal armor covering the entirety of his hand.

 _Calm down… If such a thing is happening, then it means that this is simply a reaction to this realm. It's very similar to the Dark World. In fact, there are too many similarities with the atmosphere and the energies within. For any human or faunus that enters into a realm such as this, it will be as if they are breathing poisonous air._

He then clenched his transformed right fist tightly, sharp black claws pressing into his hand before lowering it to his side, cautiously glancing back. When he was sure no one was watching him, he looked ahead once more.

 _Thanks to Xera, he had managed to eliminate the issue of the poisonous air for everyone else. As for anything other than human or Faunus…it would continue to attempt to draw out their true instincts. I've already taken note of the changes in my mood, and particularly my appearance. I'm far calmer than my usual norm and am acting more brutally efficient with my techniques. Almost as if… No. I'll manage to repress those instincts as long as I am not overly aggressive. And yet…I know full well that may not be possible…_

The immortal's thoughts came to a turning halt when they banked the next corner, coming face to face with the next set of stairs. But they could only catch a glimpse of those very stairs leading to the peak of the mirrored mountain in the far, upper distance.

In their way was a towering, black castle.

Braziers burned at the gateway of the immense, gothic-inspired structure. Arches tore through its walls, bridging and twisting before narrowing and pointing into sharpened spires up every nook and cranny of the castle before them.

Pane-less windows opened into brimming crimson light from the building's interior, each opening paired with pillars rushing up the walls of the several merged towers making up the wall before them. High reaching roofs followed the same architecture, leaving the teens before it in a heavy silence.

"Well, the gate's open." Xera said quietly.

"Think it's too late to trick or treat them?" Skyla asked.

Dante was the first to step forward, the only one of the six unfazed by the dimension itself, "It is never too late for that, Sky."

"Sweeet~ Let's go ask for some candy!" the girl chirped, following after the immortal before the rest fell in line behind her.

And then they all entered. With the iron gate slamming down and closed behind them.

* * *

"Cover!"

Lightning tore down from the sky in nets of luminescent light, breaking into the shallow crust of the island of ice cracking under the throes of a bursting, boiling ocean.

Scarlet light faded as the shadow of a demon descended, wracking the landmass below in a billowing rupture of golden energy before carrying itself high into a sweeping arc back to the dreary clouds above.

The wind created from its wings split the waters below and cast aside loose shards riddling the island, scattering teens with a small hurricane and throwing them across the shaking landmass.

Cover was taken as soon as the Dremoha descended, minimizing casualties while the rest of the energy struck ice and makeshift metal rods. Those who thought quickly enough diverted the lightning to a weapon embedded in the ground. The rest suffered the scorching heat of molten plasma traveling through aura and flesh.

The beast itself writhed in its own energy. A maddened gaze bathed its slit eyes in a wild, vicious crimson glare. Its sharp, angular face cut back through spikes and fins to break away into a spine of bristling, energized spikes. Its scales were charred and scorched, blackened by the very storms it rode and churning with energy emanating from within its body. A cracked underbelly, enwreathed in golden light, burned with an intense, smoldering energy, a raging glow flooding out of the cracks in its hide as its wings fanned out like shadows in the night sky. Webbed vortexes of black smoke swept through the air as the creature spun and reached a peak in its momentum, fanning out boney, shadowed draconic wings before curling down and diving once again. Its sharp tail whipped in its wake through the sky in a brilliant, energized trail. The lightning surging from its black exoskeleton of bone plating and scales broke away from its body again before shooting down to the island below. Electrified energy slammed into ice and water as it dove by in another wind-forcing swoop.

"Another tendril's breaking free! Hold it down!" Jaune called out, running out from an overhang of thick ice before picking up his shield from where he dropped it.

He rushed forward as the rest of his team followed, sliding up to a writhing mass of black, molten rock pinned down by spikes scavenged from the ground.

"There's no feasible way we can hold it down," Ren quickly stated, leaping over the mass of stone to find the other side of it.

"And we don't have the time to break off more spikes to pin it down!" Pyrrha said, eyes relying on Jaune as he caught his breath.

"How about this one?!" Nora's voice called out, right before a loud crash broke across the air of the island from the swing of her silver hammer.

The other three members of JNPR turned their gaze to their energized ally to see the cracking, timbering fall of an immense spike jutting out from one of the outcrops.

"The bigger the better, right?!" she asked, leaping down from her perch and landing on the crushing structure as it crashed into the ground.

The pinks of her eyes sparked with electricity as she smiled, giving her electrified hammer a little twirl before saluting the crew before her.

"Right, this can work..." Jaune muttered, storing his shield away before looking around, "How are we going to use it though?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Nora asked in disbelief, giving Jaune a crazed tilt of the head, "This is my island now! As long as that thingy up there keeps juicing me up, I'm stronger than anyone here!"

"I would advise the rest of us to stand back…by several meters…" Ren slowly said, quickly backing away before rushing past Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Time to go, Jaune." Pyrrha ushered, taking Jaune's hand in his stunned stupor before pulling him away.

Nora then kicked the base of her weapon into the air and spun the tip of her hammer skyward, pointing the whole weapon to the Storm Drake diving from the dark heavens above.

"Hey! YEAH YOU!" she screamed, flailing her glinting hammer as she caught the creature's smoldering attention, "Your mother was a turkey!"

A furious hell immediately rained down from the sky as the drake passed by, over forty strands of energized light cracking and surging through the air before crashing into the area Nora stood upon.

Shards of black ice erupted from her standing position as the lightning struck every glistening surface around her, the blazing glow funneling into a focal point above her head just as the energy connected with the ground.

Most of it channeled straight through the length of her Magnhild, rushing through her veins before her aura siphoned every last drop of energy it was given and stored it in the capsule of her crackling body.

"Ohohoho~! This feels nice!" Nora grinned, threads of light tearing away from her skin as she took a step back and slammed her boot on the back end of the broken spike she stood upon.

The colossal javelin of ice tipped back from the concussive curb-stomp, sharp tip flipping skyward before Nora stepped off and caught the tipping spire by its bottom edge.

Two white boots impacted the ground in a crushing web of cracks as she landed, the full weight of the ten-meter-high spear pushing down on her one hand before she gave the whole structure a good toss into the air.

As weightless as flipping a coin, Nora's frozen stake to her hammer surged into the air and tipped forward, the cheekily smiling ginger following close behind as she leapt after it, waiting for the razor sharp end to turn downward before spinning and hurling the combustive end of her metal hammer deep into the central base of the giant spike of ice.

The whole island shuddered beneath the wind-ripping shockwave that broke away from the impact of her weapon. Nora's own lightning burst forward as the javelin broke through terminal velocity in an instant, bypassing the sound barrier before embedding itself deep into the island below, skewering the writhing tendril beneath her floating boots permanently into the surface of the island.

"And your father was a monkey!" Nora finished, calling up from her falling perch into the night sky as she plummeted back down.

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Sun's voice yelled out, his own team's efforts taking place nearby.

"She meant none by it!" Ren called out, rushing out from the outcrop of ice his team took refuge under before skidding to a stop beneath Nora.

The small frame of the girl soon leveled out as he caught the girl in his arms, her hammer's shaft embedding itself into the ground nearby.

"Aww, my hero~!" the girl swooned, kicking her feet up as she fainted her head back in her partner's embrace.

"Nora, we are still in the middle of a battlefield." Ren muttered, staring down at Nora's face as she leaned into him.

"Yup, so back to the battle we go. We'll deal with the Kraken first, then the big beasty up above." Jaune stated, stepping past the duo with Pyrrha in tow to join team SNAR with their own problematic tendril.

"Easier said than done." the easterner sighed.

* * *

The castle's gate led them into a hallway lit by scarlet candles. Flickering flames shone down on the red carpet below, casting shadows to dance and fade as the group of six passed through.

The place was devoid of furniture. Where tables, chairs, storage chests, or even bookshelves could've been was just empty space. Despite this, the empty corridor was lined with picture frames. But no pictures resided in any one. They were all just frames, nothing but the ebony wall on the other side of each embroidered decoration.

"Is anyone else creeped out right now?" Ruby asked quietly.

The group's steps were the only echoing noises in the castle, just a dull collection of falling footfalls as they moved their way forward.

"Yuuuuup..." Skyla replied, popping her 'p' with a nod of agreement.

"There are worse places to be." said Dante.

"Like?" Ruby asked.

"The real Dark World, or Hell as you commonly put it. Perhaps maybe the Rubicon, which leads to The Beyond… Ironically enough, I've never thought to make a comparison before now… Hmmm…"

"Please tell me the Rubicon's just a con for a bunch of Rubys." Skyla wondered, eyeing the red reaper with a stare of sudden excitement.

Ruby took that opportune moment to take a healthy step away from Xera's partner.

"Imagine a seemingly never-ending expanse of gray space filled with an also seemingly endless sea of souls. Although in my case when I was last present, it was a sea of Arbiter Knightguards."

"A-Are they nice?" Ruby's voice squeaked out, taking another step away after Skyla followed her.

"Hardly. Although skilled, they are no better than Dark Entities or Angels. Some would say Arbiters are stronger. Though, from personal experience, I highly disagree. They may be the masters and keepers of life and death, but they are not as powerful as legends have made them to be."

"So…?" Density prompted.

"A standstill at best for the moment. I'd need more time to make an accurate decision."

Their conversation soon drifted off to silence again as they made it further. But it didn't matter.

The candle lights lost their luster as the ceiling began to rise away. The hallway's walls were growing taller as they walked, the picture frames growing larger, as they slowly approached a large room at the end of the spanning corridor.

Inside, four red torches burned in the center of a massive circular room. Jutting out of the ground at the area's center was a jagged black spire, twisting in an expanse of rigid glassy stone and seemingly brittle spines.

The central column was large in width, but it reached up and connected with the roof of the immense room in a thinning, straight structure of unknown material. About three-quarters of the way up, the spire branched out in spanning bridges to connect with four points along the circular walls of the rounded room. Those points seemed to be doorways and balconies beneath the high rafters of the ceiling.

The branches themselves looked like rail-less walkways, but with no way up to them. They didn't look like they were for structural support either. Each expansion was too straight to be anything other than a bridge. But their true purpose soon grew forgotten as everyone's gazes shifted to the sound of shifting metal at the base of the spire before them.

Across the carpet of tattered, red cloth, and over a sea of blackened stone spanning within the floor of the entire empty room kneeled a hulking black suit of thick, bulky armor. Its legs, knees, arms, and shoulders were thick. Scratched, dull metal pushed and pressed against worn joints as the armored entity slowly stood. An impossibly heavy knee pulled itself from its position against the ground, falling in line with the entity's other leg as it stood to face the opponents that just wandered inside its chamber. The lit torches at its sides could only flicker as its shadowed visor turned to regard the six who just entered. Nothing lay within the darkness of its helmet or its V-shaped mask, its leveled gaze was devoid of any kind of emotion or distinguishable features at all.

Before anything else happened though, the sound of thudding footsteps cracked in from above. The circular platform engulfing the spire jutting into the ceiling of the room shook slightly, vibrating beneath a hefty weight moving from somewhere around the other side of the rounded vantage point. A second figure came into view.

Its armor was as identical as the figure who stood before them, but its entire silhouette was several times sleeker and two times lighter. Its arms and legs, shoulders and helmet, it was all more angular in comparison to the broad, cornered features of the dark figure at the spire's base. In its armored hand, it clutched the thick handle and trigger of a condensed, dark ballista. Its other supported the impossible weight of the weapon beneath the shaft at the front of the contraption, string already drawn back with a thick, black arrow set in place. Countless more arrows could be glimpsed just over the armored figure's shoulder, nestled within a quiver at the armored opponent's back.

It was in a place impossible to reach by normal means, which made getting to it all the harder. But the realization of dodging arrows volleyed from the rafters disappeared entirely when the sound of scurrying, scraping footsteps began to flood into the room from the several small doorways along the room's circular walls.

Gangly, humanoid creatures quickly began filtering into the room in small intervals of individual numbers. Their skin was pale, gray in color, and pulled tight against muscle and bone as small legions of these faceless creatures began to move toward the raiding party of teens. Their heads were almost completely smooth in appearance, appearing only slightly bigger than the human skull but lacking any distinguishable traits that'd depict the usual facial traits of a person or creature. Each head was simply just a dull, boney black visage of shadow. And each faceless gaze soon leveled on the ones in the room with any color to their names.

"I don't suppose we can talk this out?" Skyla asked with an awkward chuckle, her voice sifting through the slightly crowded room as the figure in armor before them took a step forward.

It brought its arms up before flicking them out, the unnaturally thick panels of its gauntlets unfolding and rotating down to encase the exterior of its forearms. The panels then pulled back to align themselves with the rest of its armor, tapering down into dull, pointed ends that looked like the thick bases of shields.

Only, these shields were unforgivably thick. They spanned across the majority of each of this creature's arms, displaying sharpened edges with jagged teeth along the grinding sides of each shape, and already had every intention to be used against them as the armored entity leaned forward and began to charge.

"Destiny?" Xera quickly asked, flicking his gaze to the girl next to him.

"Yeah?"

"We need Fate. Now."

The girl's raven locks melted away as soon as she nodded, burning into a bright, crimson red as she pocketed the red-rimmed glasses she wore for Destiny's persona.

"Whatcha need, Xera?" Fate asked, scarlet irises taking residence where lilac orbs once resided. The entirety of her attire flashed into the punk rock outfit of Destiny's counterpart.

"Block."

Fate's gaze turned forward before a smile cracked its way across her lips, "With pleasure."

She immediately took a step forward and slipped between Skyla and Dante on the frontlines, cracking her knuckles and neck before planting her feet into the ground and leaning forward.

The black floor beneath her shook with every heavy step the charging suit of armor took, but as soon as it reached them, she tore her fist back through the confinement of the air around her and hunkered down. A charge of Aura built itself up through the fibers of her tensing muscles before she slammed her fist forward, drilling it against the chest plate of their arriving enemy and carrying that momentum through. The armor didn't dent, but the whole creature buckled forward before skidding back on its heavy grieves, grinding to a halt a few meters away.

"Were you expecting to finish him off in one attack, Fate?" asked Dante.

"And if I were?"

"That would be uncharacteristically naive of you. I'm almost surprised."

Destiny cast her glance back at Dante, red hair following her movements, "You gonna stand there and talk? Or are you actually going to start attacking this guy?"

"Would you prefer that I move further ahead and leave this to you all?"

"Tch… You little-"

"You and I will face this one. As for the rest of you… Xera and Ruby, considering the both of you currently have the greatest mobility, you'll take the one above. Weiss and Skyla, you two have the capabilities to control these masses of smaller enemies. Once they are cleared, Weiss, you will join Ruby and Xera. Skyla, you will remain below with us."

"Wouldn't it be better if I-?"

"On the contrary, it wouldn't." interrupted the young immortal, "His shields may very well be reinforced against magic and Aura-based attacks. The other one above is seemingly more mobile and prone to changing positions in order to attack given his ranged weapon. Your abilities are more suited for him rather than this one."

"If you say so…" Weiss quietly conceded, taking a moment to give Skyla a nod.

The two spread out slightly from the group, keeping their distance until the others broke off.

Xera gave Dante a quick glance, "You good?"

"Any cause for concern is unnecessary." replied Dante, his hand reaching up before he removed his sheath from the right side of his back and placed it on the left side of his waist.

He then sheathed his longsword as both sheath and weapon shifted form, taking on the appearance of a white and black katana and katana scabbard. The katana's handle and guard were of a pure white color while the blade itself a pitch black.

Instead of a normal katana-guard, the guard was a crossguard, similar to that of his longsword, only now the prongs were two inches long instead of five. As Dante drew his katana, the sheath remained invisibly attached to the left side of his hip. He lashed his sword outwards to his right and lowered it slowly.

"You have your task. I have mine. Now…go and perform your task."

Dante's form disappeared as he dashed forward through the crowd of creatures, striking at the suit of armor that wielded twin shields with enough force to send it skidding on its grieves once again.

Xera only watched for a moment before Fate and the immortal pushed the first armored entity back further.

That was the first time he took total control… Something's not right with Dante…

"Guess we're taking the high road..." Xera sighed, glancing back to Ruby.

Her silver eyes were still on the three combatants at the base of the black spire.

"Is he alright?" she asked.

"Probably, but given how toxic this place is, it could be affecting him differently than us." Xera supplied, offering the girl next to him his hand.

She took it after attaching her scythe to the back of her waist, compacting it down before letting Xera pull her over and pick her up. Her small frame fell into a quick bridal carry as he crouched down, slipping his wings back out of the slits of his sweatshirt before leaping toward the bridges above.

He only made it halfway before the armored entity above fired a ballista bolt straight through his flight path, forcing him to take a sudden dodge to the right.

But the window of opportunity during a crossbow's usual reload speed was nonexistent here. A second bolt was jammed into place as fast as an archer could draw an arrow from a quiver, the string itself seemingly priming itself back on its own as the creature took aim again.

"Hold on Ruby!" Xera muttered, flexing his wings for a moment as he pulled back.

Another bolt was fired, splitting the air as it sped down toward his central mass. The phoenix quickly surged his wings downward in that moment and shifted their center of gravity forward, clutching Ruby to his chest before flipping into the bolt.

With only a fraction of a second to react, he planted his sneakers into the shaft of the passing projectile and pushed off. The phoenix threw himself and Ruby into a speedy incline after a powerful flap of his wings while the entity above reloaded.

But again, it fired off another shot before they could scale too far up into the room.

"I can shoot at him, but I'd have to reach for my gun!" Ruby quickly offered, the two losing altitude after being thrown into a sudden twist to avoid another bolt, "But I don't think it'll do much against its armor!"

"If we have a moment, you can try. But we're kinda-" Xera banked beneath the nearest bridge, barely dodging another projectile before disappearing from sight of the entity, "in the open out there!"

Before Ruby could get to Crescent Rose, however, the frail frame of a body from down below suddenly slammed into the underside of the bridge next to them.

The audible crunch of its bones and rattling skeleton cut into their hearing before the dead creature fell limply back down, having suffered a brutal death at the hands of a bridge of stone. They didn't bother to follow its descent with their eyes until another one came up and suffered the same fate.

Xera and Ruby glanced down to see Skyla loading up another body into her ribbons before she realized she finally got her partner's attention. With a quick swipe of her hand, she gestured over to Weiss, the heiress centralized in a field of glyphs as she cast her icy gaze up at them beneath the bridge.

Ruby gave her own partner a small wave as Xera nodded, then the two dashed through the air and back into the target zone of the archer above once again. He immediately dodged around the first volley of crossbow bolts, catching his balance in the air before surging upward.

As soon as he did, a flurry of icy blue streams rushed past him and crashed into the chest of the ballista-wielder above, forcing it back a few steps and causing its next shot to strike the far wall. The stun bought them the moment they needed to climb into the upper limits of the room and make it onto the bridge, landing just in time to see the armored creature recover.

"We'll have to thank them later." Xera said, dropping Ruby to her feet as he drew his blade.

"Oh yeah, but first..." Ruby whipped out her own scythe, jamming it forward in a flourished embedding of the tip of her blade before quickly pulling her trigger, firing a high caliber bullet into a rapidly approaching projectile from their adversary, "Let's deal with mister tall, campy, and pointy up here."

* * *

On the ground-floor, Dante was unrelenting with his sword strikes as he constantly swung at his opponent's shielded armor with enhanced speed and strength, giving it almost no chance to counterattack.

The young immortal had a previous history with a rather annoying enemy that used two shields as weapons, so he knew exactly how to face this armored giant. By constantly attacking both shields with the speed he was doing so, he would ensure his opponent would continue blocking.

But it was time to give pause.

The young immortal ducked down as Fate delivered a diving kick to the giant armor's head, staggering it backward. Dante quickly shifted his body left and flipped away, delivering his own swift and powerful kick underneath his opponent's chin to further disorient him. The duo took the opportunity to push their attack, Fate with her punches and kicks and Dante with his one-handed sword strikes.

The shield-wielding armor was finally able to conjoin both shields, allowing him to charge forward in an attempt to push his attackers away. It only resulted with the two blocking his advance, the entity only managing to push them back slightly and force them to cease their endless onslaught.

He soon drew back and raised his conjoined shield to try and crush the duo. The hefty weapon smashed downward over and over again, but the two teens swiftly moved in between his frantic shield attacks, dodging them with ease.

Dante and Fate dashed back after an opening unveiled itself, moving away from each other to prepare a cross attack. Considering Fate enjoyed high kicks, Dante moved under her kick and slashed outwards across the right shield while Fate delivered a powerful rounding kick across the left shield.

The crossing forces left the armored entity open to a central attack on its body, something the duo took full advantage of as they each delivered crushing blows and sent the armor reeling back.

"You're going under my attacks a bit much…" Fate cocked a coy smile, slipping a comment into the fray as she landed back at Dante's side.

"I'm required to do so in order to avoid being a victim of your kicks." Dante replied calmly with an emotionless expression.

"Sure you're not just trying to look up my skirt?" the wolf faunus asked teasingly, expecting a reaction from him.

"Why would I have need to do such a thing?" he retaliated, shifting his gaze to her, "Besides, there is nothing to look at either way."

That response was… entirely unexpected.

"W-What?! Why you-!"

Without moving his eyes away from her, the young immortal stabbed at the air to his side in order to destroy a large chunk of debris heading their way, completely shattering the object to pieces.

"I need you to perform a surprise aerial attack. Is it within your capabilities?"

"Who do you think I am?"

"Would you like me to give you a-?"

"Just shut it. If you keep him busy, I'll manage it."

"Very well then. Proceed."

Fate blurred out of sight, leaving Dante to face the shield-using suit of armor as it rose from the rubble and let out a loud, low-toned growl. It then began to relentlessly bash its shield into the ground in a furious rampage, reverberating loud clangs throughout the entire room.

The immortal stood emotionless and uncaring.

"Am I supposed to feel intimidated because you can make loud noises? Nice try."

The giant armor then raised its shield high above its head as it glowed with black energy. Its dark visor soon flashed as it smashed its shield into the ground one last time and unleashed a devastating blast that tore up the floor in front of it, sending a rupturing wave of stone towards Dante.

He continued standing where he was and simply held his blade in front of him. The wave of black stone crashed into the immortal's sword and harmlessly passed him by in two separate streams, his body and sword completely unmoving.

Halfway through the encroaching wave, the kicked up dust at Dante's right side suddenly melted away and the figure of his enemy crashed through. The armored entity charged with a shoulder bash at Dante's blindside, but as soon as it did, without looking to his side, Dante brought his left hand across his body and under his right arm, pointing both his left index and middle finger at the suit of armor.

The Dark Entity had no time to react as four streams of pitch black Aura formed at the immortals pointed fingertips before rapidly coalescing into a small sphere. As fast as it was condensed, the Aura discharged into an eerily screeching, massive beam of black Aura that consumed the giant armor entirely.

As the wave of stone finally dwindled away, Dante was able to lower his sword and turn to the giant armor staggering back, its armored body charred, fragmented, and cracked across its entire hardened shell.

Large portions of its conjoined shields were heavily damaged, small chunks chipping away now and clattering to the floor as the entity recovered.

"That attack was unexpected, but quickly manageable once one understands the situation. When you sent that wave of earth towards me, you intended to use it as more of a blinding mechanism rather than to directly harm me given that your physical attacks are more powerful. Seeing that I took such a possibility into account, this half-baked strategy of yours was bound to fail from the start."

The giant armor seemingly didn't like what it heard as it used its shield to bash another chunk of debris at Dante, who easily decimated the mass with a single sword strike. The shield armor quickly made its advance, raising its shield in front of it to block any attacks from Dante. However, the young immortal made no movements. He stood as still and motionless as a stone.

Fate dove in from above and delivered a powerful punch directly into the entities armored visor, sending it flying backward into the ground.

"That time you deliberately showed them to me."

"W-What?! So you were trying to sneak a peek!"

"Not at all. I was simply looking ahead. I did not move my eyes whatsoever."

This is a complete role reversal… I'm the one who usually messes with him! Now he's the one messing with me?!

"Do not get distracted. We may have the upper hand, but he could just as easily attack and defeat you when you aren't focused. The fact he attempted a sneak attack on me is proof enough of that."

"Clever how you left yourself out of that note…" Fate grumbled.

 _What's going on with him? He's so calm. And a heck of a lot more serious than he usually is. But at the same time, he's disregarding of anyone else. He's become kind of a dick…_

 _"Did his entire personality take a shift, Fate?"_

 _Yeah… It's...abnormal… Even when he does get serious, he's not like this…_

Fate trained her focus on the fight as Destiny sifted deep into the memories Dante shared with them, recalling a time when he was acting exactly as he was now. The internal sister quickly fed the memory into the front of Fate's mind.

 _No way…you don't think-?_

 _"It's exactly what I think…"_

 _Is it what Xera said earlier? Is it the air and energy in this dimension affecting him?_

Dante looked upward in the distance, carefully watching the battle on the bridge.

"It would appear as though the two of them are just about done."

His comment prompted Fate to look up as well, but she quickly looked back down to him.

"Hey, didn't you just tell me to-?"

"You can watch above so long as you also pay attention below. Calm down. The shield wielder won't be rising back up for some time."

"Wouldn't that just be giving him time to try to strategize on how to beat us?"

"It wouldn't matter one bit. It is a fact that he won't be surviving this battle. He can formulate as many strategies as he wishes, but it will be utterly useless. The one thing most Dark Entities lack at times is the common sense to know when they are beaten. These armored giants are such cases."

Fate only looked on with concern.

 _Why do I get the chilling feeling he's just playing with the shield armor like a toy?_

* * *

"All set?" asked Xera.

"Yup, I got it. Ready when you are!" Ruby declared, pulling her trigger once more to ward off another bolt.

Xera gave his ally a nod before falling into a dash down the length of the bridge before him. His eyes stayed trained on the armored creature at the end of it, watching as it jammed in a new bolt and took aim.

His grip on his longsword tightened as he prepared to glance the bolt away, holding his breath as he pushed forward. But his trust in the sniper he chose wasn't misplaced.

As soon as the bolt was released, the concussive blast of Ruby's rifle rattled out from behind him and knocked the encroaching bolt off course, allowing him to pass by and continue his beeline toward the other side of the elevated structure.

Their advantage would only last up until the halfway point… Anywhere past that, Ruby would need to start predicting shots more than leading them.

That wasn't going to work.

"Xera! I need to move up!"

"Then do it!" he shouted behind him.

Ruby dashed forward with intense speed as Xera took up his sword and kicked off the ground, throwing himself to the side before dragging his sword horizontally through the air next to him, cleaving through the central shaft of a passing bolt.

The two halves split and arced away as he continued running. Three more bolts fired his way before he heard the sound of Ruby catching up behind him, deflecting each one into the walls of the room behind him before she finally made it to his side.

Something suddenly felt off, though…

It was faint, almost not even there, but he felt a screeching disruption coming from behind the two of them as they ran. The feeling struck the same chord he felt during his training with Blake in the darkness of Beacon's training room.

 _Shit!_

Xera ground his sneakers into the stones beneath him and slipped behind Ruby, pushing her forward as he jumped and turned mid-air. All the bolts previously embedded in the walls behind them were surging back toward them, splitting the air just a few feet away before he dragged his blade around and enwreathed it in flame.

The burning blaze blew through the projectiles careening toward their backs and incinerated them before he fell back to the bridge, tumbling harshly to his feet to keep his momentum going.

"Close call..." Xera exhaled, the flames of his eyes trailing with light now as Ruby lashed out with her scythe.

"How did you know?!" she asked, slamming an incoming bolt aside as she threw a silver gaze over her shoulder.

"Just a feeling."

"A feeling?"

"Ruby, focus."

"Right!"

Ruby's speed tripled as she tapped into her Semblance and blurred forward, Xera following close behind as he tapped into the reaper's semblance as well. Crimson rose petals and streaking wisps of lime green light slipped across the bridge to the conjoining juncture of all four branches of the spire.

The reaper's scythe moved in first, cleaving through the air to cut the string of the armor's crossbow. But her blade was only met with the harsh clang of metal wire.

 _Metal?! Really?!_

Her eyes quickly scanned the bowstring as she flipped overhead and realized the string itself was a construct of metallic fibers twined together, meaning it wasn't going to be cut easily.

The creature made to smack away Ruby with its fist, but Xera's blade caught it halfway with the flat of his sword. He ground the strike just out of reach of Ruby before pushing off and delivering a blazing strike at its left leg, allowing the reaper to move away while the giant fell to its knee.

Ruby and Xera dashed back for a moment before crossing back in, cleaving through the legs of the entity as it made a move to stand. Its guarded knees shook but withstood the assault, and at the next passing of the teens around it the entity shifted its whole body and threw itself into Xera as he passed.

The phoenix slammed into its shoulder and was sent rolling down the bridge behind Ruby as she dashed in, firing a shot into the ground to flip up and catch the entity's visor with the sharp end of her scythe.

But the move met the hardened bow-arm of the archer's crossbow, catching Ruby's curve of her scythe in a biting clash as it tore Ruby out of the air and threw her downward.

The small girl crashed into the floor and arched her back from the impact, her scythe still lodged in the crossbow's arm above her as the creature withdrew one of its massive bolts from over its shoulder. Its armored glove gripped the shaft of the black arrow like a spear and thrust it downward.

Nothing but sliced wood jabbed Ruby's stomach as the iron tip to the stabbing bolt broke away. The hurled edge of Xera's spinning boomerang slipped by and clattered over the edge of the platform, its sharp edge cutting through the hardened wood of the crossbow bolt before Xera charged back in.

"Hang on Ruby!" the phoenix called out, kicking up into the guard of the entity before him and flipping overhead.

He caught its neck with the crook of his second blade and yanked it down with the added strength of Fate's semblance. Two hands gripped down on the angled spines of his sword as he bent the armor over his back, unable to lift it but just strong enough to bend its spine away from Ruby's body.

Blinding golden glows shone out of his sleeves in the same moment as Ruby kicked away, dislodging her weapon's blade from their adversary's clutches just in time to see Xera's first boomerang return in a burning haze of orange fire. The heated metal dropped down from its upward swoop around the spire and crashed into their enemy's chest plate, sinking its tip deeply into the armored chest. Annivia's Talon melted straight through skin and bone before he let go and dodged out of the writhing creature's proximity, prying both blades free and returning to Ruby's side.

"You alright?"

Ruby's frame stumbled for a moment, but her aura was fine, "Peachy."

Silver eyes narrowed toward the molten hole in the creature's armor as she fired a newly loaded combustive round into its chest cavity, piercing skin and fragmenting the explosive bullet inside to deal internal damage.

The armor before them screeched and stumbled forward, black blood seeping out of the chinks of its legs and chest as it swung forward blindly with its crossbow.

Immediately, Ruby kicked her scythe up and spun it around her waist, squeezing the trigger of her weapon to snap her scythe's blade into position. Then she fired it again. The sharp tip of Ruby's scythe surged into the spire's structure at their right, catching the ballista's string and bow-arm before sinking both into the wall of stone beside them. Its armored hand and ballista were now pinned in place.

"Glad to hear." Xera commented as he slammed his twin blades back together and moved forward.

A veil of fire ignited around the blade of his longsword before his eyes melted into a dark, vibrant purple. The shine of his flames immediately bathed themselves in a violet hue before burning white, the external heat of his weapon escalating beyond feasible temperatures as he used Skyla's semblance to hyper-accelerate the particles in his sword's heat. Then with a vertical slash up from his side, Xera cleaved through the entity's arm and let its severed gauntlet and ballista remain impaled to the wall.

Disarmed, stumbling, and dripping black blood from where its arm used to be, the creature attempted to turn around and retreat, but Xera gave it no chance to do so. The phoenix drew out his wings and appeared on the bridge in front of it, stopping its hasty exit halfway across the walkway.

Behind it, Ruby yanked her scythe free and let the creature's arm and weapon fall limply to the ground. She walked over and stood her ground at the other end of the bridge, trapping the creature between the two of them to keep the one-armed entity from turning back around.

All the creature could do was draw a single bolt from over its shoulder. Its efforts were severed as quickly as it drew on a new weapon, though.

Ruby dashed in from behind, catching the shaft of the bolt with her scythe and slicing through it, her advance mirrored by Xera taking the high ground, flipping overhead and cleaving through the creature's shoulder blade with his blazing sword. The duo then landed and began dashing back and forth between one another, slashing the defenseless armor with enough strikes to weaken it just enough to bring it to its knees. As soon as it went down, Ruby and Xera skidded back together to reposition themselves.

"Think you can do it?"

"Just stick your landing and you'll be fine." Ruby replied, cocking her bolt back before slamming it forward.

Xera nodded before taking several steps back. After a sizable distance was created, he lowered down and fanned his wings out, placing his fingertips lightly against the floor before surging forward.

The phoenix moved past Ruby, leaping to use her rapidly swinging scythe's surface as a stepping stone just as she fired her weapon into a rocketing recoiled spin. She used the kick to push the pole of her scythe against Xera's sneakers and sent him hurtling toward the creature at the center of the bridge.

Xera's sword once again glowed with purple flame, crackling energy blazing white in the next moment as his entire weapon screeched in its waking heat.

In a fading streak of white light, he used his blinding ebony blade to cut through the armor's neck and remove its head.

As soon as he passed, Xera landed on his feet and skid himself to a halt. The light of his eyes and blade settled down as he turned around and watched the armored entity slowly lean forward, then topple over the bridge's edge.

Its lifeless body fell heavily through the air before crashing into the ground below, crushing itself through a horde of creatures and cratering the ground it made contact with. Several pieces of its armor now scattered across the floor of the battlefield below.

"We did it!" Ruby cheered, spinning her scythe around to jam its pointed shaft into the ground.

"Yeah, we did."

"Do you think the others are done?" Ruby asked.

The reaper cast her gaze over the edge of their raised platform, looking down from the bridge at Xera's side.

They saw Weiss and Skyla stampeding through what was left of the remaining small creatures on the ground-floor. Weiss's blade trailed with the frost of her ice Dust, and Skyla's own katanas crashed into and powerfully slung frozen bodies with her ribbons into their surrounding walls.

It looked like they've been fine the whole battle.

Xera shifted his gaze to Dante and Fate, noticing that they were keeping their own eyes focused elsewhere.

"Let's see what's up with them." Xera said, giving Ruby a short glance as he flexed his wings.

* * *

Dante remained where he stood, carefully watching the pile of debris and smoke. He could practically hear Fate's impatience behind him.

"Win yet?" Xera asked, his sneakers touching base with the ground behind them as he lowered Ruby to her own boots.

"Not yet. Einstein here decided to give that thing time to think of a strategy." the wolf faunus growled, nodding her head in Dante's direction.

"Not dead yet then?"

"No, not quite," replied the young immortal nonchalantly.

His whole countenance changed ever since we started this battle. What's going on with him?

Xera's eyes watched the immortal cautiously, only exchanging a few minor glances to the girls at his side.

"Very well. I suppose it is time to end this then..." Dante stated as he placed his katana back into the sheath still invisibly attached to the left side of his waist.

All of them heard an ear piercing roar as the debris pile exploded, the giant shielded in armor dashing towards Dante from its crumbling confinement. Its whole right arm reared back before it sent its disconnected right shield spiraling toward the calmly approaching Dante.

The teen simply raised his left hand and effortlessly backhanded the oncoming shield out of his way, surprising everyone that stood behind as it careened into the base of the spire at their left.

The armor remained undeterred and continued its dash toward the young immortal, raising its remaining shield up to strike him as soon as the entity entered the immortal's vicinity.

Its armored gauntlet rattled and crushed downward, making contact with Dante and forcing up a large cloud of dust. The impact emitted a passing shockwave of sound and pressure that surged through the five members standing aside, Skyla and Weiss having just walked over.

Eventually, the air before them began to still as the dust settled, only for everyone to take a step back from what they saw. Dante stood in his place, completely unharmed and unmoved. The armored giant's shield was struggling against his motionless arm, the blunt edge of the strike caught with the immortal's bare hand. A hardened, cold gaze stared at the armor's visor as it struggled to pull away.

"It's just as I expected…" the immortal spoke lowly, voice descending into a chilling tone, "You are after all merely a pawn..."

Dante then pushed the shield aside and delivered a swift kick to the armor's left knee, bending it inwards with a harsh crack as it fell to the ground. It looked up only to see a roundhouse kick collide with its face, sending it scraping and tumbling on its back until it crashed into a wall nearby. Before it had time to recover and retaliate, the immortal had appeared before the creature in a streak of pure black Aura.

Dante brought his leg down and severed its left arm that still held its remaining shield. But it wasn't over. The immortal then placed his foot down on the now discarded shield and tipped it against the ground, shifting his leg just beneath it to force the heavy object upward. The shield slammed deafeningly into Dante's palm before he spun around and tossed it into the creature's other arm, severing it too.

"It's over, pawn…"

Dante leaned down and reared his left arm back, thrusting his hand into the armor's chest plate with his fingertips first like a spear. His hand ripped into its armored body with a splatter of black blood, the full body of armor soon lifting as the immortal raised up his buried hand. The wall at the entity's back was all that was keeping its body steady as Dante held it on its feet and spoke his final words to the broken, armored giant.

"Your life now comes to an end."

Without a second to spare, Dante thrusted his right hand straight through the visor of the armor's helmet, bloodied hand emerging from the other side of its head and breaking the wall behind it. The armor suddenly collapsed into pieces at Dante's feet, the helmet the only piece remaining aloft from Dante's impaling arm for only a moment.

The immortal tore his hand out of the black stone before him and swiped his arm to the side, sliding the helmet free and sending it bouncing across the floor beside him.

A thought had occurred to him in that moment, making him unbutton his white coat and look inside. It was as he expected. His entire abdominal region was now layered with gray muscle fibers, which were covered by different segments of black, skeletal-like armor.

 _It's no surprise that fighting has made it progress more. Regardless of intent, it's progressed even further._

Dante looked toward the open pathway ahead of him, his cold gaze focusing on the doors in the distance.

 _I see. No more trivial enemies placed in our way then. You are the last one remaining._

Dante re-buttoned his coat as he continued to keep his gaze focused on their objective.

 _If we manage to hurry, we may very well end this without any incident. Although…the chances of reaching Zeridûl without completely transforming are about fifty-fifty right now. I've taken note of something else however… Although I am transforming, my state of consciousness hasn't been fading in the slightest. In fact, I am sharper, more aware. Compared to when I took on the form I did in that church, my thoughts then were clouded and simple-minded. Any sense of remorse or mercy was completely absent. Right now… I only feel that same absence of morality. My thoughts are still my own and coherent._

He then looked back slightly with the corner of his eye at Xera and the four next to him.

 _I don't believe I'll be a danger to the others. At least not currently. Although my state of mind hasn't declined in the slightest, it could still occur at a later time. I must continue with caution and not allow myself to get carried away._

"Are you all ready to depart?" he asked, grabbing their attention, "Our final obstacle lies directly ahead. With the progress we've made so far with only the six of us, I must admit that I am rather impressed with you all. You've gone above and beyond my expectations."

"Umm… Thanks?" Ruby replied meekly, the young girl keeping her gaze low and avoiding his own.

Her response matched the thoughts of most of the party beside her, something he easily took note of.

 _I see..._

"I suggest we take our leave. The quicker we end Zeridûl, the quicker we may all go home."

Dante started for the door, and after his lead, it was the first time the group hesitated before following the immortal's stride.

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 7)**

"Really? This is it?" asked Ciel.

"This is it." said Leo.

"Are you sure? I mean...its just so...simple..."

"I know, but it's all that we were given this week. In my opinion, this is good. Besides, aren't you usually the one who wishes to wrap the segments up quickly?"

"Yeah but...its so simple it almost seems like a trick. Is there a pie coming at me?! A giant hand?! I'M READY FOR YOU STUDIO EXECS!"

"Ciel."

"COME AT ME BEASTS! I AM UNARMED!"

"Ciel! I don't think this is a prank. It really think this is just what they want us to do this week. Easy week and all that. Might as well take it."

"Ugh... Fine... So, this week's Semblance is a pretty nice and easy one. Either way, this person's weapon will be a fun one for big brother and Rose Petals."

"Today we will be discussing about Caza Miralla's Semblance. As most, if not all of you know, Caza Miralla is a Beacon Academy teacher in Xera Stark's Reality that teaches battle tactics as well as survival. While appealing to the eye, some would take her granted and assume her to be weak. If anything, this is a horribly miscalculated assumption."

"This chick is anything but weak if you look at her skills, Aura, and experience. Heck, she even pulled us away from that collapsing side of the cliff a few seconds beforehand, which, I admit, wasn't necessary, but cool nonetheless."

"That was actually a direct result of her Semblance." said Leo.

"It was?"

"Indeed. The reason why Ciel was so befuddled with its simplicity is because its fairly, short, sweet, and to the point."

"Yep. So basically, her Semblance is the ability to predict with 99% accuracy what her opponent will do within the next 3 seconds, which allows her to adapt to her enemies moves and counter. This is also applicable to environmental hazards, like what was about to happen to us."

"As far as either of us know, there's no extension of time she can push past, such as being able to see six seconds ahead of time. It's as we said. Short. Sweet. Simple. Effective."

"You're a real stickler for that phrase today huh?"

"I've found it appealing for the time being."

"Right then, that's it for this week ladies and gentleman! Tune in next time for Weapons Illustrated! Bye bye now!"

* * *

 **Yeah, no omake this week. Sorry about that. Did manage a thing for Semblance Encyclopedia though (Caza belongs to Xera Stark if you didn't notice). Again guys, if you got an omake in mind focused upon the characters from my story and such, or simply an idea, send it my way. I'm always accepting new ideas.**

 **That aside, we kinda got a bit brutal this time huh? I kinda prefer the calm and collected, ruthlessly efficient Darker side. Much more to work with in my opinion. And a bit more fun.**

 **That aside, heck of well done fight. Double boss fight this time around? That's something new! You can thank Xera Stark for the idea of the double boss battle. The rest we hashed out as we went. As for the kraken outside, it may be on it's last legs, but don't forget the winged menace of the skies so soon. It'll make its decent when ready.**

 **Really, nothing else much to say for now.**

 **So with that,** **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. ****Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's new story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	18. Chapter 18: A Shade of the Past

**Chapter 18: A Shade of the Past**

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By now, the majority of the group trailed behind Dante as he led the way through the double doors exiting the back of the castle. They walked out across a massive obsidian plateau brimming with gray stones and fenced with spines of twisted ebony. Well into the distance was the third and last staircase. The third level was the highest point. There would be their final confrontation.

But at the base of the third stairs, hidden by the massive castle behind them was one more set of Cathedral-esk buildings twisted to match the architectural marvels of the rest of Zeridûl's Dark citadel. The buildings were as large as the castle, but none could see much past them from the jagged walls surrounding the courtyard.

"What's with this fountain?" Skyla's voice slipped out into the tense veil of air around them, "It has no water."

"This place is pretty devoid of water anyway, so I'm not really expecting to see clear water anywhere in this dimension." Xera replied, following his partner's actions and jumping up to mirror her steps on the other side.

She went one way, he went the other. The two circled the base of the fountain's shallow foundation as they kept moving forward as a group. Although in Dante's case, he knew the young girl's words held merit. Usually one would expect a black fountain at the center of a courtyard to hold some amount of significance. Perhaps it did and it was unknown to them at the moment. Perhaps it was just as it was, a fountain and nothing more. Time would tell.

At the center was a towering infrastructure of interlocking pillars, and smooth, interlacing protrusions acting like smaller bridges in a scaled down complex of spiraling towers. The overall appearance of it looked like an intertwining spire of spikes, all reaching up into the darkened sky into a sharp, four-tipped point high above the fountain's base. They were channeling something. Afterall, this kind of architecture could function as a conduit.

"I see… One more useless trial then? How utterly tedious… Why delay the inevitable...?" spoke Dante.

"He seems pretty keen on testing our abilities before we even get to him..." Fate replied, her voice trailing behind Xera.

"Perhaps he's seeing what kind of challenge we'd pose?" Weiss offered.

"A challenge is one thing, but wearing us out before a big fight is another..." Xera returned, stepping over a dark, unlit brazier as I made my way around.

"Do you think he'd really do that?" Ruby asked.

"Of course. He is, after all a Dark Entity." Dante cut in, "He will do his absolute best to wear, tear, and gnaw at the very fiber of your being until you are nothing but a broken and battered shell. It's within his nature to use any means necessary to win."

"But there are Dark Entities who don't follow that kind of conduct, right?" Xera asked, stepping down from the fountain's edge in tandem with Skyla as they maneuvered into the group again, "From your memories, I know they're not all like that."

"Only a very rare few have any actual common decency and honor. Much less intelligence to understand when they should not perform the actions most of their kind undertake."

"Zeridûl seems pretty intelligent to me…" Ruby reasoned, hands tightly clasped behind her back as she and Skyla fell to the tail of the pack again, "And he seems different too from the rest of them."

 _How naive… You only make that assumption based off of what you've been told. And yet, you've only seen one of many..._

"It's hard to say right now with certainty, but Destiny says he hasn't shown too many ravenous characteristics or an insatiable thirst for blood like most tend to do." Fate pitched in.

"But at the same time, we can't assume he's among these few entities who happen to play by different rules." Xera replied.

"What you fail to understand is that they do not follow rules. The majority do not respect the will of their Ruler of the Dark World. Instead, they follow their own rules and their own guidelines when best suited to their needs and wants. Some may claim to be honorable or may seem to be honorable, but when in desperate need to save its own life, it will more than likely abandon any sense of honor in order to ensure victory and survival." Dante responded.

"It would be pretty bad if he happened to be the kind of entity to do exactly that..." Ruby said.

"Which is why the first chance we have…we will erase his existence from the very fabric of Reality..." replied Dante.

It was within their nature. Always. Years of experience had taught Dante to never trust a Dark Entity, with the exception of rare circumstances like Lucifer and his Commanders. And most recently, Raum. The only reasons he trusted them was because of their desperation. Their desperation to protect. It very much reminded the young immortal of himself, and in a way, allowed him to connect to them in some way.

"We can talk about it all we want, but there's no way of knowing until we reach him and conclude this whole endeavor." Weiss interjected.

"You may continue thinking what you will. But I know full well what they're capable of. Which is why we will end him." Dante stated over his shoulder, casting a sky blue gaze back at the rest of the group.

Three of the five of them immediately looked away when his gaze fell upon them. His own eyes widened momentarily, but soon, his gaze softened. He had realized why they were avoiding him, why they hung back this entire time. His gaze was almost dull now. Narrower, sterner, less caring...

He realized now what they were actually afraid of. And that is why he had made his choice.

"No… Never mind what I just said…" he said, casting his gaze away from them all.

"Never mind what? What you said about efficiency?" Fate asked.

"Or… the Dark Entities…?" Ruby questioned.

He turned and faced us them fully, his cold gaze enveloping them all.

"I mean to say never mind in 'us' going."

"Save us the hero monolog." Fate immediately replied with a hint of anger, "We're all here now, and we've been working through this place together. You'll need our help to complete this."

"And here I thought you the slightest bit intelligent… Apparently, I was wrong."

"Tch… And here I actually saw you as a leader," Fate replied, crossing her arms as she looked away, "Instead, you're just another pompous washout with power and strength..."

"See me in whatever way you wish… It makes no difference to me… You do not understand. And because of that, you will never be able to understand. And so...I'll only say this once. You've done your parts. Go home. All of you."

They all remained silent and confused before looking towards each other for some reasonable explanation for his words. But sadly, it was as he said. They knew nothing of why he was sending them away.

"You expect us to listen to a half-baked remark like that?! After all this?!" Fate muttered.

"Precisely. I expect you to do as you are told. Otherwise…"

Dante narrowed his eyes further, turning them slightly to an empty space. It was as if he were seeing some invisible force others couldn't.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" he asked the empty space.

"Proving a point."

Xera Stark had appeared from thin air and drew his sword, making to strike at Dante's neck. Unfortunately for the Phoenix, the young immortal was far stronger and quicker to react.

He didn't even move an inch and simply raised his hand, using his left index finger to completely halt Xera's strike without effort.

"And what exactly would that be?" asked Dante.

"My point is that we aren't here because you commanded us to, or that we're supposed to. That was never our reasoning and that was never our objective."

Xera sheathed his sword and continued to stand directly in front of Dante.

"We aren't here under orders. Yours, or anyone else's. We're here because we intend to stop something that's been a prevalent malice in our world and save the lives of everyone outside this rift still fighting for their lives against a threat we don't even know about. It's a vain effort to tell us to go away, especially since you're not yourself."

Not himself… If only the Phoenix knew the full truth...

"If your wish is to save lives, start with your own. Leave while you're still able to." retorted Dante.

"You think this is suicide for us." Fate's voice spoke out again, moving forward too to pass Dante's other side, "But we aren't so self-centered to save ourselves before our friends."

"You may not have realized this, but we're human. We know you're immortal and that you can't die. And we know that going ahead for you is so much easier than going ahead for us…" Ruby spoke up now, the sounds of her shuffling feet slipping out into the tense atmosphere "But we still don't want you going alone, so we're still going to go with you."

"Allowing you to come in here was a mistake…" Dante said, moving his right arm behind him out of their sight.

"I understand that this realm has changed you, Dante. But we're all in here under our own free will. All of us." Weiss stated, the heels of her boots clicking forward as she approached.

"If you really want us gone, and you want to take this burden on yourself," Skyla slowly said, her violet eyes growing dark as she spoke, "Then you're taking the worst possible way to go about it."

"There's no guarantee of the return journey being free of danger either." Fate added.

"Given the current state of matters, I alone am sufficient in eliminating him and returning. That… and…"

His grip on his arm grew tighter.

"If we die, then we die. What's it to you if this isn't even your universe?" Skyla asked calmly, "We're not significant enough for you here, not like your siblings and your partner outside. So what does it matter?"

"That isn't what concerns me."

"Then..?"

He looked behind himself, as if he were hesitating to say what was on his mind.

"Would it matter if I were to be a potential cause of your deaths?"

"Then we'd know what to expect." Xera said, "We know more about you than we do him. If you ended up losing yourself, especially with how this place has been affecting you, then we'd see it coming."

"Then you are a fool. Before you would even have the chance to react, your heads would be rolling at my feet. Why would you ever hope to challenge a being you cannot possibly defeat?" he asked.

"Someone I respect immensely told me once that, despite so many years of striving to do things on their own, of refusing the help of others, of friends, of everyone else but themselves, they always ended up just hurting those they cared about by tackling those challenges on their own. But despite that, even after so long of believing in their own ideology, they eventually began to realize something."

Xera let his gaze fall back to Dante. Despite everything he's said, despite his orders and his reasoning, there wasn't any drive to let him go and do this on his own while they all fell back and let it happen.

"He realized that, even if he bore all the pain himself to save his friends from that very pain, he only hurt them moreso than any physical injury could ever inflict every time he put himself in harm's way. Even if they could die, even if they should die, they still wanted to be there at his side. And they wished for him to let them."

"Tell me…if you know so much…" Dante started as he brought up his right arm and took it out from the sleeve of his coat slowly, "then do you know what this is?"

It was exactly the same like in the church a few nights ago. His arm had been completely covered in grey colored muscle fibers, layered with black segments of jagged skeletal armor.

"If that's what I think it is, then that means we still have time. You may be losing yourself, but you haven't lost yourself fully yet. But even if you can't control it-"

"The form I am slowly assuming from but days ago was responsible for taking the lives of two hundred men in one night in under five minutes, each, I assure you, dying excruciatingly painful deaths at my hands. And only my hands. They made a rather poor decision, and it cost them very dearly. And do not forget all those that had come before them."

Those men had deserved the full fury of his brutal and bloody wrath. They deserved their fates of being torn apart limb from limb. But these people with him...they deserved no such fate. Even if they had decided to try and detain him, it would not work. Whatever fragment of consciousness he would have would see them as an enemy. And then...

"I don't fear you as much as you probably think I do or as much as you'd probably want me to. But I have my own reasons for coming here. I have every intention of following this through, even with the second threat of this new form of yours. The last member of my family's life was dictated by this being for years… I'm not going to let it go so freely without finding the closure I need between both my brother and our enemy."

"This idea of closure is silly, and very likely unbeneficial. And yet…you still wish to continue?"

"We're only human, Dante..." Xera replied softly, letting his gaze turn to the void above us, "We can't help but seek closure after losing something dear to us. Even if it hurts us along the way."

"Only you've lost nothing. . Your brother is still alive and recovering. There is no reason for closure. It's pointless."

"It may feel senseless to you, but Zeridûl is the only person currently within my reach that can answer my questions. I need to at least try, even if he has nothing to offer."

"You risk too much for too little."

"There's nothing else I see as more important right now than that." Xera replied.

"What you seek will very well not be there. And you will have only wasted time and effort."

"You think of this as wasted time and effort, but no matter how you picture it, we still have every reason to go in there with you to finish what we started. Even without all ulterior motives involved, we came in here with a goal in mind, a purpose. Turning that around is more senseless than not finding what we seek."

Dante looked to the rest of them, looking at each and every one of them before moving to the next.

"Knowing what you know now…" he began as he placed his arm back inside the right sleeve of his coat, "do you all still wish to continue?"

Xera's answer was clear, so he had turned his gaze to the rest of them as well. Fate was already standing past Dante on his other side, arms still crossed with her eyes fixed on the arduous pathway ahead of us.

"Knowing what we know now doesn't change a damn thing." she stated evenly.

"You've done really well with keeping your energy turned toward our enemies so far." Ruby started up, stepping up to Dante, "So I think we'll be fine if we just make this upcoming fight last as short as possible. If it draws on for too long…then we can retreat."

"If Ruby's in danger, then you can be sure that I'll pull her back and keep us out of the way if it gets that far." Weiss affirmed.

"You've wondered before whether or not we trusted you, and whether or not we could place our trust in you," Sky slowly stated now, her hands gripped together behind her back as she leaned forward, letting her brown hair sway in a small tilt of her gaze, "I can tell you now, that I still trust you, even after what you said here. But there's someone I trust far more than I can ever hope to trust in you with the same regard…"

Skyla finally took her steps forward and walked up to Xera's side, taking a small pinch of his sleeve into her hand.

"My opinion lies with Xera. What he believes in, I believe in. So if he's still pressing forward, then so will I. This is important to him."

"If he went inside the mouth of a kraken, I can only assume you would certainly follow?"

"Yup~" Sky replied with an affirmative hum.

"I see… I've given you all ample opportunity to leave while there is still time. And yet you refused and remain here. Brave…but foolish…"

He then turned once again to face the distant buildings before looking back to them all.

"Are you sure of placing your trust in me?"

"As sure as we need to be." Ruby replied.

"That goes for the rest of us too," I pointed out, getting nods from those who didn't speak up.

"Certainty of death… yet very small chance of success… Very well. Let's go then… Together…" he spoke, his voice almost hesitant in his response.

* * *

"That's...one big door…" said Skyla.

They all took the central path between the three buildings and found a massive entryway closed and locked up tight right at the base of the stairs. Bordering its hefty frame were thick walls with sharp, spiked ridges running along their pikes. The only way to the stairs was through these doors or over those walls. And seeing that not everyone could climb them, especially due to the black metal seemingly brimming with red energy, it left Dante and Xera the only two that could traverse.

Fate took up a stone from the courtyard and tossed it over the wall, watching as it struck an invisible field of crimson energy before bouncing off. The impact glowed and bristled with light, then faded back into thin air.

 _A barrier… How quaint..._

"Any chance we can just break it down?" Ruby asked, staring up at the marvel before her.

"Not with your power, no." Dante replied, staring at the door's center before "That field disperses kinetic energy with a high efficiency. Nothing any of you can do will so much as scratch that door."

"And you?" Fate asked.

Dante drew his sword and stepped forward a few steps before his blade crackled with black Aura, and slid forward in a stabbing motion towards the door. His longsword's point made contact with the field, dispersing a massive expense of pitch black Aura that swallowed up the door. The Aura continued to flow violently from blade until it dispersed a few moments after. Not so much as a scratch either.

"I see… It also negates any energy that tries to come into contact with it…" Dante concluded, pulling his sword away from the gleaming doors.

"Whelp..." Sky sighed, placing her hands behind her neck as she turned on her heel, "We tried. Let's go check out those buildings."

"Knowing our enemy, they probably play an integral role in unlocking the door." Weiss added.

"Same could be said of the fountain." Xera pointed out, walking back with Skyla as they all made their way back to the black courtyard.

The buildings all looked the same, only, the two on the left were smaller than the one on the right. But each building's entryway had an engraving etched into the surface, chiseled cleanly into the stone that crafted each structure's masonry.

"Dante, what do those read?" Xera asked, making my way over to catch a peek inside the building at our furthest left.

There was just a closed door inside. The rest of it was an empty room.

"Till death, do we dance, and to ruin, do we ever reach. Prevail not in the anguish of life, but in the rhythm within those who bear it. Usher forth Dexterity and Versatility, or perish to the throes of a merciless machine." Dante read out.

He his head to read the next set of etchings, saying "Truth in wisdom is the falsity of intellect, yet fealty is pledged to all who give it and all who seek it. Usher forth Intelligence and Intuition, or bear the burden of the elements and be torn by madness." he continued.

His eyes then turned to the last building, the one that stood alone, "Fortitude will bear your weight, pride will carry you forward, but strength alone will bury you and break you. Usher forth Vitality and Speed, or fall to the embrace of blood from your companion."

"They're challenges..." Fate said, sliding her glasses back into place before letting her crimson hair blacken away back into the raven locks of her twin sister.

Violet eyes now studied the smooth engravings above the door that required intelligence to complete.

"He's testing us more individually now, rather than as a group." Xera said, walking away from the building he examined, "They're specifically designed for the members of our raid party."

"More specifically, he's purposefully splitting us into pairs under the base knowledge of our unique attributes." Weiss elaborated, glancing to the same door Destiny was looking over.

"Then we'll separate for the time being." Dante stated, casting his eyes back into the group as he gripped the handle of his longsword, "Speed and Vitality are Ruby and my attributes. We will undertake this trial."

"Intelligence and Intuition are attributes of Destiny and me, so I suppose the two of us will complete the second building on the left." Weiss replied.

"Xera-kuuuuuuun, we finally get to do what partners do best!" Skyla called out, "We get to work together again!"

"I guess we do" Xera responded, brushing his arm against his partner's as he made his way past her, "Let's get it done."

"Let's!" she replied excitedly, latching onto my passing arm.

"Wait in the courtyard when you've completed your task." Dante called to our two groups, "And be on guard constantly. This could very well be a trap."

"Sure thing!" Xera called back as he entered inside with Skyla.

Soon enough, all who remained was Ruby and Dante.

"Um… So-"

"If you're uncomfortable with traveling with me, you can stay here if you wish." said Dante immediately cutting off Ruby.

"No! That's not…"

"You're hesitant. I can tell. You don't need to lie to me."

"I'm not afraid of you or anything. It just...well… Can I see your hand again?!" she asked with a gleam of excitement in her eyes.

…

"What?" was all the confused Dante could say.

"It looked so cool! Is it weaponized armor?!"

"Not...exactly…" replied Dante as he watched Ruby scurry around him rapidly, examining him from all directions.

"Is it all made from bone?! Or metal?!"

"Uh… I don't…"

A thought had occurred to him in that moment. Even he didn't know the exact composition of his Shadow Skin. He had always assumed it to be solidified Aura, but could it actually be something more? Perhaps an unknown material transmuted from his Aura.

"That is...a question I would like to have answered myself..."

"So, do you always wear it? What does it do if anything?"

"I don't always wear it. Usually, I activate it through usage of my Aura and it forms over my entire body. Like an armored second skin of sorts. Only now, its activated on its own accord. Not only that, but the form it's assuming is vastly different in comparison to the standard form it takes."

"You said it activated on its own?"

"Indeed. It's this realm. My power is of Dark nature, but also of Light. In the case of Dark, there is only the tiniest traces of it that remain. Even so, those embers where fanned into a blazing inferno when I entered this realm. Such is the power of a Dark World."

"So what does the armor do?"

"It exponentially boosts all of my abilities and parameters than normal, pushing past any limit that entraps me. In addition, it alllows me much more access to my Aura as well as significantly increasing the supply I have."

"Woah~! That's so cool!"

"Yes… Cool..."

Dante sheathed his katana on the left side of his hip and walked forward towards his and Ruby's trial.

"Hey, wasn't your weapon a Longsword?"

"Normally it is. But I have six different weapon forms for this weapon."

"Six?! How is that possible?!"

"I'll explain along the way."

* * *

"So, intelligence, intuition, ingenuity, intellect, all the particularly apparent and incredibly specific perks of the two of us, I presume?" Weiss asked, heels clicking through the dark hallway before her as her white flames flickered with a pale light.

"More or less, but I'm half-suspecting this to be a trap." Destiny replied, walking with crossed arms as the two progressed.

"It would be easy to lead us astray by splitting us up, but it would also be equally as easy to counter us by taking advantage of what we lack in these pairs." Weiss responded.

"It wouldn't take much to overwhelm us, a summoner and a caster…" Destiny sighed.

"It really wouldn't, but despite my skepticism, we're following this through. From what I heard of Zeridûl, he's honorable, or he's at least led us to believe he is. All this? It may very well be exactly what it is. A set of specific set of challenges for targeted attributes of our group." Weiss said, turning her gaze up to Destiny's own.

"But that really isn't the smart play here." Destiny replied back, glancing to the heiress herself before looking away, "If he meant to kill us, it'd be almost certain that this is all a trap to manipulate us."

"But so far…" Weiss prodded, turning her own gaze ahead now too.

"He's only sent his power pieces to combat us… and now that we've shown our strength, he wants to test us further with these challenges." Destiny said, trying to find reason in what they've done to this point.

"In other words, he has expectations of us." Weiss elaborated, getting a nod from the girl beside her.

"Something like that."

"I guess that begs the question of why he seems to expect anything from us." the heiress breathed out, crossing her arms now as well.

Ulterior motives could've rested behind every twist and turn of this arduous path, yet not so much as a stray moment of malice slipped through at any part of it.

No tricks. No traps. Just challenges. What exactly was Zeridûl doing..?

"Wait, do you hear that?" Destiny suddenly asked, her eyes snapping to a faint glimmer of light ahead of them.

"Yeah," Weiss affirmed, "It's…"

"Rushing water."

* * *

Ruby and Dante stepped out from the small corridor and stepped onto a small stone bridge with no railings. Dante took a look down and saw a deep, black abyss below. Falling would not be preferable.

Connected to the bridge was a sort of square shaped arena that spanned one hundred yards on each side. Wisps of blackened mist swept through the arena, which was only lit by the blue flame torches on the walls. There were no railings on the edges of the arena either.

By now the duo had made their way to the center, each cautiously checking their surroundings for any sort of trap. Yet nothing came their way.

"Okay… This place is pretty creeepy. I mean, I know I said that before in other places, but here…"

"You'd be right to feel uneasy here. I do as well to a degree. Although, that's mainly due to my overly cautious nature."

"So if this is a trial, shouldn't things be coming after us or something?"

She's right. This is odd. I would've expected a trap mechanism, or something of the sort. But so far…

Dante's eyes lead him to examine the stone walls above, allowing him to finally see his means of pushing forward.

"I see…"

"Um, see what?"

"It's a rising arena platform. I'm assuming that switch is what will allow us to progress further up. But as to any extras that might entail it… Be on your guard."

"Roger!" replied the Reaper in red as she readied herself and her scythe.

Dante raised his right hand up to his chest, palm facing the air as an Aura sword of black and white Aura hovered over his right shoulder. When he thrusted his hand forward towards the switch above, the Aura sword traveled through the air with blinding speed and impacted the stone mechanism node, forcing it into the wall. The floor beneath them began to quake slightly before it slowly began rising up, the stone bridge below retracting into the wall.

"Who knows? Maybe it's just an elevator ride?"

"As much as I appreciate the optimism, I highly doubt that is the case."

"Darn…"

"Relax. Whatever may come our way won't stand a chance. I'll make sure to protect you."

"Wha-?! Oh, um, thank you?!"

He heard her murmuring to herself, but he didn't focus his hearing to hear what. Instead, he listened closely and waited. Then...he heard it. Footsteps.

A shrill shriek sounded throughout the enclosed tower as dozens of scurrying footsteps could be heard from numerous directions. They were being surrounded. But from where would they be coming from. Where they below? Inside the rising platform? Climbing up the sides?

 _No… They're coming from above…_

Dante stepped back as a gangly skeletal creature, much like the ones from before, landed directly in front of him. Before even giving it the chance to attack, the young immortal delivered a swift stomp kick to the creatures head, sending it flying off the side of the platform.

 _How odd… My kick should have severed its upper body…_

More of the creatures began landing on the platform, falling from the air above them in multitudes. They all landed one after another and immediately proceeded to attack duo, who had begun their retaliation. Dante was simply using his hands and feet to bash away any creature that came his way, Ruby striking at them as well, only, her scythe wasn't cutting them. It was simply batting them away in a similar fashion like with Dante's own strikes. Not even the claws his encroaching form had were slicing them apart like they should have.

"What's going on?! I can't cut them with my scythe at all!"

"I'm having some difficulty as well."

 _I don't understand… These creatures aren't the slightest bit different from before with the exception of color… Wait a moment… Their bodies are bulkier. Could this mean..?_

Dante and Ruby had pushed back a large group, giving them space between them and their foes. The young immortal quickly raised up his hand as clear, black hexagonal shapes formed together rapidly in a dome like shape around the duo. As soon as the barrier was formed, the hexagons merged into one another to create an entirely smoothed out barrier.

"I don't get it! These are the same freaky creatures from before, right? So why are we barely doing a thing to them."

"I have a theory. But I'm not entirely sure. Structurally, they aren't so different. But if you'd compare these creatures to the ones from before, you would notice that they seem bulkier."

"Woah… You can spot those kinds of differences?"

"It's important to understand your enemy and how they function. Once you gain an understanding of their capabilities, the structure of their body, their toughness, it opens up a plethora of weaknesses to take advantage of. You must not only be a strong combatant, but also an intelligent one."

"So what's the theory you have?"

"If I had to say, their bodies have been reinforced."

"Reinforced?"

"Yes. Likely through means of magic, they have physical wardings surrounding their bodies in order to absorb more damage than usual. It's likely the reason why I haven't been able to destroy their bodies with single blows, the same in your case."

"If their bodies are surrounded by magic, shouldn't there be a caster or something around here?"

"Unlikely. There's no other current presence that isn't similar to these creatures. When I hit the switch, the arena activated and began raising itself up. Shortly after, the creatures began flooding in."

The creatures,outside the barrier continued their shrieking that was dulled by the enclosed barrier. Cracks began forming.

"Wait! The arena! Is it possible the arena itself is making them more powerful?"

Dante was almost surprised with her statement. It was reasonable.

He looked down and noticed a subtle blue glow in the cracked floor they stood on. It wasn't the mist like he had originally thought, but it was as Ruby said. The arena itself was responsible for the increase in power.

"Well done Ruby. You've brought to my attention the cause."

"Ehehehe… It was nothing… Still though...is there a way to cancel the spell? I mean, we can keeping trying to knock them off but…"

A means of deactivation. Where would I find one? A switch is what began this whole parade of shenanigans. Would it be safe to assume a switch is what will cease it?

Dante's eyes scanned the room once more, ignoring the masses of creatures battering and bashing the barrier as the cracks grew in large and in multitudes.

"Uh, they're almost through!"

He had found his target. Or rather, Ruby's target.

"Up above. Do you see the stone floating in the air?"

"Where is it where is it where is it… Yeah! I see it!"

"Aim for it as soon as the barrier falls."

"It'll be kinda hard to do that…"

"Calm down. I told you that I would protect you, yes?"

"R-Right…"

"I'll keep them at bay. Get ready."

Dante had brought up his arm once more, palm facing outwards towards the barrier as a blazing ring of black Aura surrounded himself and Ruby. This in turn calmed Ruby as her scythe folded up into is gun form, allowing her to raise it up and take aim at the constantly moving stone in the sky.

"Okay… Ready!"

Dante nodded and clenched his fist, the barrier shattering into pieces and allowing the multitudes of creatures make their advance towards them. Instead of ripping the two to shreds like they intended, the ring of black Aura surrounding the duo quickly expanded outwards into dozens of Aura sword, effectively pushing them all away to give Ruby room to take her shot.

With that single shot, she hit her mark, and the blackness covering the gangly creatures immediately vanished. And with that, Dante swung his arm outwards as his blackand white Aura swords spiraled outwards in a circular motion, acting as sawblades as they tore through the masses of creatures with ease now, their bodies turning to black ash seconds later.

"Awesome! We did it!"

"That we did. But it's not over yet. Another switch has appeared and we're still moving. We can only assume that there's more enemies bound for us. And after we defeat them, more switchs and the such. Are you prepared to keep moving?"

"Yep. Let's keep going!"

* * *

The arena had finally stopped moving, a stone bridge connecting to the platform shortly.

Ruby was hunched over, breathing heavily while Dante stood watch for anything. Three flocks of enemies, each with increasing difficulty came after them one after another. And in addition, more switch to hit in order to deactivate the physical wardening that allowed them to take more damage, each switch more faster moving and harder to hit with each wave. Needless to say, Ruby had a lot of running and leaping to do.

"Are you okay?" asked Dante.

"Yeah… Just...give me a minute… Man…that was...a lot of uglies…"

"Rest for now. You've earned it."

"But…"

"I would not recommend enabng these kinds of enemies when exhausted. It will do you no favors."

"I know... I'd just like to keep up...is all…"

"You're fine Ruby. No need to rush." said Dante sitting down next to Ruby, who plopped down next to him shortly after.

"Is it alright for us to be taking a break?"

"It's fine as long as it's a short one. I'm unsure whether or not there are more enemies ahead. Hence why I'm suggesting a few moments to pause and collect yourself."

"The way you say that… It's like you're saying I'm the only one who needs a break. Don't you ever get tired?"

"No."

"Hungry?"

"No."

"Thirsty?"

"No."

"Sleepy?"

…

"On ocasion."

"Aha!"

"I don't need to sleep if I don't wish to. I only do so out of want rather than necessity."

"Darn it…" said Ruby as she pouted.

She looked to Dante and saw he was sitting cross legged with his eyes closed, left ar, resting on his sheathed sword. The reaper in red couldn't help but wonder if this was his method of "taking a break".

"So… You're from another Reality, right?"

"That is indeed true, yes."

"Then...there's a me from that Reality too, right?"

"Correct."

"What's she like?"

"Very much the same I'll have you know. Not much difference really. Well, exception to age. She's likely sixteen by now."

"Likely? You say that as if you haven't seen her, well, me, in a long time."

"It has been a while in actuality. My partner, siblings and I were sent out on a mission that's lasted nearly six months now."

"Six months?! What kind of mission takes that long?"

"That kind that leads you to hunting down a perpetrator."

"You were chasing a criminal?"

"Something of the sort. They and their groupies were responsible for some terrible things. And so, we were tasked of hunting them down and bringing them back. Dead...or alive."

"D-Did you find them..?"

"No, not quite. Although, our leads were taking us towards Mistral."

"Woah… Mistral… I've never been there before…"

"I have a feeling that you'll be going there soon enough…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Are you ready to continue?"

"Uh, yeah! Upsy daisy!" said Ruby as she leaped back up, Dante simply standing back up from his position.

"I will go ahead of us. Make your approach behind me slowly."

"Okay!"

The young immortal gave her a simple nod and began walking forwards slowly towards the stone bridge, his eyes ever watchful of his surroundings. And he was right to do so. Shadows slowly crept from behind him, moving past his feet and amassing in front of him just a few feet away. They were slowly rising up and taking shape of a person. But once Dante recognized what the shadows were taking the shape of, he immediately drew his sword and looked around.

"What matter of foolishness is this Zeridûl? Did you perhaps think that using him would somehow impede my progress?"

"Uh… What are you talking about? W-Who's he?" asked Ruby as she nodded towards the fully formed shade.

"Someone I should have killed the moment I met him. And...the person responsible for making me what I was long ago."

A large ultra greatsword formed in the shades hand. Skeletal armor formed around its body and was tightly wrapped around it. It's face, while recognizable, was distorted and twisted into something like that of a demon, eyes hollowed out and glowing a bright purple glow, its mouth a maw of wretched teeth, the inside of its mouth glowing a bright purple, like its eyes.

"Ruby."

"Yes? Attack only when he stops his patterns of attack. Otherwise, dodge out of his way."

"Got it."

Dante swiped his katana to the side and dashed forward at great speed, bringing his sword across his body as he approached his intended target and swung. Their blades greeted one another with a stream of sparks, the distorted roars of the shade echoing throughout the room. The young immortal forced down the shades blade and sliced at its side, leaving only but a small slash as he swept through. The shade angrily roared and charged at him with the intent to annihilate the young warrior, but even with his great speed, he was outmatched by Dante's as he dodged every swing smoothly, leaving a slash mark somewhere else on its body as he danced around it with fluid ease.

When the shade slashed outwards across its body with its massive sword, Dante crouching beneath the the strike and stabbing the shade in the stomach, making it stagger backwards on its knees. Dante moved in for the kill, but was forced to move back and avoid a deadly swing to his head. Doing so allowed Ruby to dash in and swing her scythe from below upwards into the shade's chest, forcing a cry of pain from it. The reaper in red quickly pulled the trigger to tear her blade upwards and out before leaving another deathly slash across its body. She leapt over another swing of its massive sword, then ducked under another rotational swing before she leapt up and swung her weapon back down into the shades body.

It's hand moved to grab at her, but she immediately leapt up again, and used its arm to kick herself away, allowing Dante to move in and turn his blade downwards to stab the creature in Ruby's place. Dante moved back immediately afterwards and returned his katana to its normal position and waited while Ruby hung back. The shade let out another bellowing roar as shadows merged with its weapon. The young immortal immediately understood what this meant, but to confirm it, he raised up his sword and centered himself accordingly.

When the shade swung its sword, the shadows cloaking its weapon extended outwards, giving him more range to his strike as the shadows crashed against Dante's sword, dispersing shortly after contact. This meant nothing to Dante, for it was a simple increase to the creatures strength and range. But for Ruby, any strike would be devestating, hence why he told her to hang back and move in for strikes only when truly possible.

The shade suddenly twirled its sword around its fingers before leaping up into the air and plunging it into the earth, sending out three outward blasts of light purple Aura that tore through the earth like shark fins ripping through ocean waters. They were all aimed in Dante's general direction. A second before making contact, Dante leapt backwards and allowed the shockwaves of Aura to crash into one another. The young immortal leapt far enough back to make his feet to touch the stone wall, allowing him to kick off it and dahs forwards towards his enemy with great speed. The shade swung wildly in all directions, as if it were hoping the shadows cloaking its blade that gave him extra length would somehow hit the young immortal.

But it did naught for the shade.

Like a strong breeze, Dante swept past the shade, taking its free left arm with him as he dashed through. It tried its best to search for Dante, only finding a readied Ruby as she was crouched low. And so the shade made a mad dash for the young girl, sword raised and ready to destroy her. But then, she did something unexpected. Instead of dashing forwards, Ruby twirled her scythe around before moving it forwards and pulling the trigger, sending it spiraling straight into the shade's chest. Even so, it remained undeterred. It kept running at her, but she was not afraid. Instead of moving back, she used her Semblance to dash forwards quickly and leap up, grabbing hold of her scythe and pulling the trigger to tear her scythe from its body, passing directly behind it as black blood spurted in the air.

The shade staggered down to its knees, attempting to stand a few times but simply stumbled forwards. It managed to turn itself around and moving in the direction Ruby went. But as it stood up to try and make a move, the blade of a katana pierced through its throat, causing the creature to freeze in place. Dante stood in front of it now, watching as its body twitched and spasmed, its sword dropping to the ground shortly after. The young immortal let go of his sword and let the shade fall to the backwards towards the ground with a loud thud. Blackened blood continued to burst from its wounds, and more prominently from the sword that was speared in its throat. It could only watch as Dante approached, looking down upon the creature with his cold, hard gaze.

Then, it did the strangest thing. It reached out to Dante, as if it were silently asking him to take its hand. And Ruby watched the young immortal extend his hand, but not to reach for the shades own hand. Instead, Dante grabbed hold of his sword, pausing for a moment before he twisted the blade so that the sharp edge faced the shades chin, the tore his blade upwards and through its heading, making the young man spin around towards Ruby as his sword was now across his body. The young immoral then lashed his sword out to his side, cleaning it of all blood before he twirled it around a few times and sheathed it. The shade slowly dissolved into the stone until it became nothing more than shadow once more.

"That was...well...exciting I guess?" said Ruby in between breaths, "Who was he exactly?"

Dante stared at the ground a few moments before he answered.

"An evil man who reached far beyond what was possible for him. And in the end, not only did he become a terrible creature, but was cut down like one by my hand. Do not misunderstand. I do not kill simply because I desire it. I would only do so now out of dire circumstances to protect. But he was nothing more than a vile beast. A rabid animal in need of being put down."

"I get it. I mean...I kinda do, but… I guess I understand…"

"Never sully your hands like I have Ruby. Not unless it is absolutely necessary."

She only gave him a simple nod before following behind him, moving across the stone bridge inside a small room with some sort of glowing node. All Ruby saw was a blurred motion from Dante's hand, and the stone fell apart into pieces shortly after.

"With that, I believe we've completed our trial. Let us return to courtyard and see if the others have done the same as well."

* * *

 **Very sorry everyone, but no omake or Weapons Illustrated/ Semblance Encyclopedia this week. Things have been very stressful and very busy for me, so I really had only time to finish this up, hence why I wasn't able to post Sunday or Monday.**

 **In addition, you** **know how my update schedule is every two weeks (Friday or Saturday for KoWaB, Saturday or Sunday for VotA)? Unfortunately I have finals exactly next week. Then...a long 19 hour drive back home. I need my car for the Summer...so... But yeah, no KoWaB or VotA two weeks from now on the weekend of May 12th-14th. Sorry, but I gotta study and take the longest freaking nap ever when I get home. I will promise you however a release for both stories on the weekend of the 19th-21st, so don't worry about that.**

 **Right then. That's all I have to say. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. ****Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	19. Chapter 19: Unseen

**Chapter 19: Unseen**

«»

"Alright then. So next is...what exactly?" asked Weiss as she and Destiny stared at the stone column in front of that displayed their next set of instructions.

"Ugh… The instructions here are fairly convoluted… That and not entirely knowing this language isn't helping."

"Then how have you translated the texts so far?"

"Luck partially. I was only able to pull together a few keywords and kinda figured it out from there."

"That Dante character seemed to be able to translate just perfectly fine. Couldn't we send him a text and ask him?"

"Text here won't work as well as comms. We're on our own unless he decides to come in here."

"Brilliant…"

"Oh. This seems fairly simple enough. 'When light shines...it gives rise to shadow…' Hmmm…"

"Look." Said Weiss pointing out towards the floor ahead of them, "There's two sections of flooring here, each with hexagonal tiles spanning the entire room."

"Some of the symbols seem to repeat. Hmmm… Does this mean we have to cross the room by stepping on the right tiles?" Asked Destiny.

"I have a feeling simply traverising the room won't work and open the door on the far end. We have to cross using this riddle."

"But still...which tiles do we step on or don't?"

"I actually just noticed, but it seems as though the first floor section seems to have horizontal lighting on it while the other section has no lighting."

"When light shines…" Destiny hummed as she gazed toward the first section of tiles, "it gives rise to shadow." She finished looking towards the unlit section.

"I think I understand now. The tiles we need to step on-"

"Are the tiles representing light and dark. Alright, I'll go first."

The problem for Destiny was now deciding which symbol represented which. A few of them looked as though they represented light or dark. But what she had to be most careful of was the potential consequences for stepping on the wrong tile, for they would very likely be trapped.

She took a few seconds before taking a leap forward onto one tile, waiting patiently while her eyes constantly scanned the room for anything potentially about to go wrong. To her relief, nothing did. With that, Destiny looked around carefully before taking a step to the right onto another tile and leaping forward over four of them. She had covered half of the way to until the next section.

"Nice… Just a bit more…"

The next tile Destiny leapt to, it quickly sank halfway as her wolf ears picked up a mechanical whirring noise from both of her sides, prompting her to duck down to avoid three quick javelins, and then leapt up above another three to avoid being impaled from the sides down below.

"Okay… Don't step on those. This one then..? Woah!"

Destiny's foot sank in the person sized gap that was created from the tile crumbling beneath her foot, but before she sank, she outstretched her arms and caught herself on the edges of the gap, struggling a bit before she moved her left hand close to the right to allow her to pull herself up.

"Are you alright?!" Called out Weiss.

"Just fine! Good news is that I've basically cleared...the first section." Said the wolf Faunus as she now stood up, "Follow the pathway I took. The tiles I stepped on seemed to have lit up."

"Understood."

Destiny focused her attention to the front as she leapt onto the platform leading to the second section, examining the next floor of tiles to see more symbols. However, she noticed something strange from the previous section…

When she stepped forward, she paused for a moment, uncertain that the tile in front of her was safe like the last section.

She was correct, for as soon as she stepped on that tile, a glowing light emerged from the cracks below. Destiny jumped back immediately and watched a pillar of black flame erupt from the tile below, taking a breath to calm herself quickly.

"So I was right then…"

"About?" Asked Weiss as she joined Destiny's side.

"The trial here. When light shines, it gives rise to shadow. The tiles I stepped on in the previous section all represented symbols relating to light. Not one of them represented Dark."

"And if you step on all the tiles that represent Dark, they should be fine. It's like the order of the riddle we were given."

"Exactly. Symbols of light where first, now symbols or Dark are next."

The wolf Faunus made a short hop over to one such tile and carefully looked around before stepping over to the nextand leaping over five tiles towards another. She took a step forward and then a huge leap to her right, accidentally mistepping on a tile due to a temporary loss of balance. For this trap, a huge chunk of stone dropped from the ceiling, leaving a massive gaping hole behind where she stood previously.

"I am so not doing this again…"

Destiny jumped onto the platform ahead of her and looked back to see the heiress making her way along the same path took. And so, the wolf Faunus approached the stone door and pushed the small stone piece into the wall that stuck out previously, making the store slide up into the ceiling to reveal the next room while Weiss landed directly behind her.

"Look's like we've cleared the second trial."

"Indeed. Now we only have the third and fourth left before we finish the whole trial."

Weiss and Destiny stepped inside the next room that was dimly lit by blue torchlight, five torches on each all. At the center of the room was a stone slab half as tall as the two with some sort of large dish place in the center.

"That dish… Do we have to offer up something in order to move through?" asked Weiss.

"Potentially. Let's see… Okay… 'In order to proceed, offer the element and the life of passion'. What in the hell..?"

"I'm...just as confused. The element and life of passion..? What could those possibly be?"

"The keyword here is definitely passion. Okay, um, so what elements relate to passion?" asked Destiny.

"I-I don't know… Um… Elements… Elements… What could possibly-?"

Weiss' head jolted up suddenly, as if she found the answer. Even so, her face was fairly red at this point.

"What?" Asked Destiny.

"I-I think I have the answer…"

"Out with it then."

"I remember from one of Blake's books…"

"You read those kinds of books too Ice Queen?"

"N-No! Of course not! I-I just passed by and-! N-Nevermind!"

"Sorry sorry…" said Destiny with a chuckle, "What did you come up with?"

"Think about it. What element is commonly correlated with passion?"

It took the wolf Faunus a moment, but soon she found her answer.

"Fire… Its fire!"

"Yes."

"But what about that bit about the life of passion?"

"Blood!"

"Blood and fire… Okay, I'll handle the blood first, then you make the fire. Alright, cut my hand."

"What?"

"Oh don't be such a baby. Here."

Destiny grabbed hold of Myrtenaster by the point and used its sharp point to cut her hand. When she released it back to its owner, the wolf Faunus moved over to the dish and let her blood fall into it, filling the whole bottom part at least until moving her hand away. Using her uncut hand, a soft green glow appeared from it, at when she hovered over the large cut on her hand, her wound was shortly healed.

"Alright, fire Weiss-cream."

"Right."

The heiress brought up her weapon and spun the dial to red dust, pointing Myrtenaster into the dish and producing a small burst of flame. Strangely enough, the flame lit up the blood, making it turn a dark, crimson red. As soon as this happened, the stone door behind the slab opened up.

"That wasn't so bad."

* * *

"Quick! Before the next pass!" Jaune yelled, rushing out with Ren at his side to position the final few spears into the last of the tendrils.

They had all been nailed into place now, keeping the Kraken from making any more attacks to the island's current inhabitants.

Far above them, the Storm Drake wailed in a screeching squeal of annoyance, swooping and spinning in tight circles as a barely visible gleam of silver reflected from between its jagged horns atop its head.

A sudden surge of blue electricity soon erupted from that glint of silver light and the Drake took a sharp dive, wings suddenly whipping about wildly as a glorious holler of laughter hounded down from the dark skies above.

Nora Valkyrie was riding the largest grimm yet…and she was winning.

Seven more thunks rammed heavily into the island's surface beneath everyone's feet soon after, the final spikes of ice hammering into place by Ciel, Yang, Anna, and Yatsuhashi.

"That's the last of them!" Sun called out, rushing back to the center of the island's plateau with Rideat behind him, "Now what?! Hit it until it dies?!"

"Not quite!" Professor Miralla called out, sliding back on her boots as she held down her black cowboy hat snugly over her head, "We've worked out a plan to kill the Kraken quickly and efficiently. Just get ready to sever the tendrils!"

"W-WHAT?!" Sun exclaimed, "There is lava in these damn things! And you want us to cut them in half?!"

"Y-Yeah, w-what Sun said!" Neptune called out from elsewhere.

"Just trust me!" Caza replied, glancing up from beneath the rim of her hat to the Kraken's burning eyes, "Glynda's calculated the chances of success. We have a 67% chance of instantly killing the Dremoha!"

"That isn't doing anything to change my mind!" Sun retaliated.

"I don't care, just do it!" Caza yelled back, glaring over toward where Sun was calling at her from only to see his monkey tail disappear behind a writhing stone tendril, "Good. Ozpin, you ready?"

"That depends on Miss Adel's ammunition capacity." the headmaster replied, stepping forward beside Caza as the Drael Kraken writhed in its painful restraints.

"Locked and loaded, sir." Coco replied, slamming her chain into place before she stepped forward too and planted her in-fashion boots into the ground, "I'll fire when you give the order."

"Excellent." Ozpin replied, twirling his cane in his grasp before grasping its shaft tightly, "Aim for its lower jaw."

"And what exactly will that do?" Coco asked, taking aim from their distant positions.

"Destroy it. Now, fire."

Ozpin's simple reply was followed by a nod from Coco and a pull of the trigger. Golden gleams of burning blue light fired up at the Kraken before them, crashing into the molten shell of the creature's gnarled face and chipping into its durable exterior. However, what at first felt like a weak assault quickly became a salvo of exploding chunks of black stone and blood. The revving of Coco's golden gun suddenly grew louder, whirring all the faster as her bullets emitted a soft green glow.

Immediately after the enhancement occurred, Ozpin lifted his cane, a flash of bright green light emitting from his eyes a moment later before a rapid beam of the same energy connected itself between his cane and the creature's jaw in a violent impact. The two connecting salvos ripped through the molten rock to the Kraken's vulnerable core, tearing into the creature's flesh beneath its lava-born armor and completely breaking away the grimm's lower half of its mouth.

As that was happening, Ciel crashed back down to the front of the plateau and dug her scythe into the icy ground. She ripped up two segments of ice, tilting them into each other to form an upwardly slanting 'V' shape before sliding away to the center of the island. Blake had already been scouting out the spires, and by the time Ciel reached there, a black ribbon was tied around the most suitable projectile.

Without a second thought, Ciel shattered the base of a sturdy spear of ice, nine times the size of all the other ones they'd been using, and hauled it over her shoulder before sprinting back down to the base of the island, back to the slot she just made in the ground.

By then, a barrage of Aura mixed with bullets had come to a close, leaving the Kraken in a wailing screech of pain and anguish as she carefully positioned the massive javelin into place.

"Hey Jaune! Do you trust me?!" Ciel called out, glancing around before spotting her knight in gleaming blue denim.

"H-Huh?!"

In a flash of white and black Aura, Ciel appeared before the boy, grabbed him, teleported back to her position and placed him in front of the slide she planted the spear into.

"Stand there for me, will ya?"

"W-Why?!"

"You don't wanna die, do you?" she asked half-heartedly, skipping her way to her end of the makeshift ballista.

"N-No."

"Cool cool." she nodded, "Then just stand right there."

"But won't this kill me faster?!" Jaune immediately complained, holding his shield up instinctively to protect his entire body from the sharp pointed tip of Ciel's ice-spear.

"Relax! This won't kill you! Maybe! Sort of?! I don't know really!"

"Then why am I standing here?!"

"Oh, you haven't figured it out by now? This ice is stupidly brittle, I can't trust it to stay intact when I hit this baby home. I need your durable shield acting as a guide. You know, like those tours have sometimes, but in space."

"I…sort of understand now..?"

"Wonderful! Now hunker down and get ready, this won't hurt! Maybe!"

Jaune could only groan as he lowered himself down into a solid crouch and held his shield up tightly, pressing it into the bottom of the icy javelin above him and acting as the final piece of Ciel's makeshift bolt-slide. His silent whining was finally silenced, though, when Pyrrha slid down next to him and pushed her own shield into placed alongside his.

"I believe two is better than one here for accuracy, is it not?" she asked.

Ciel only shrugged, "Works for me."

"If it's any consolation, Jaune," Leo spoke out, keeping his distance from the contraption at the plateau's front section, closest to the Kraken, "Ciel has 90% accuracy when striking at something with her incredible strength at full swing."

"Meh, I'm more of a poke-n-hope kinda girl."

"That isn't helping!"

"Relax Jaune." Pyrrha interjected, "It will be fine."

Ignoring Jaune's complaints, Ciel turned to her surroundings and gave a big wave of her white scythe to flag down any straying attention.

"Yo peeps! You ready for some instant takoyaki?!"

"What even is that?!" someone called out, she wasn't sure who.

"It's a ball-shaped seafood snack that incorporates octopus!" Blake clarified.

"Ooooooh."

A cacophony of confirmations soon replied back at Ciel from varying positions across the island, all available teens and teams setting themselves up at the individual tendrils nailed down across the plateau.

"Cool! Sever on my brother's go, yeah?!" she called out, pulling herself and her scythe back as she took a few healthy leaps backward.

This only terrified Jaune all the more.

With a short glance to her brother, Leo fired five gleaming shots out into the night sky and created new graviton restraints positioned behind the Kraken's head.

Five points of light suddenly blazed into existence and all five tethers quickly snapped to the creature's hide, yanking the Kraken's head back in its already strained position and forcing its boneless body to stretch, crunch, and crack all the more. The surge in gravity pulled the Kraken's tendrils taught, and as its body craned backward, its half-destroyed maw was ripped open into a gaping reveal of its inner-mouth and rows of countless, layered teeth. A simmering red glow burned deep within its throat, but that wasn't the target in mind.

Ciel placed a flat hand over her eyes to line up her swing, balancing herself in place several meters back with her scythe held aloft and against her right shoulder. The Kraken in the distance was a large target, but her desired pinpoint goal lay at its central mass.

"Damn thing won't stand still..." Ciel muttered, watching the target she wanted to hit twist back and forth in pain.

Four rings of purple light suddenly appeared around the Kraken's head, though, visibly cracking the stone around its eyes and broken jaw as the whole creature was held in place. With a quick glance to the side, Ciel noticed the rise of a riding crop and the glow of Glynda Goodwitch's aura.

"Still enough for you?" Glynda asked.

Ciel gave the headmaster's right-hand woman a salute before leaning forward and twisting her scythe around her body, rotating its blade behind her back to hold the weapon backward.

"Cut all tendrils on thee!" Leo called out, intensifying the pull of his graviton tethers before firing two more into the air behind the Kraken.

The rest prepared to break through both hard rock and durable flesh with everything they got. They were readying themselves to tear into the rocky flesh before them.

"One…!" Leo called out, firing another graviton restraint.

Eight now glowed to life behind the Kraken's head, all straining it more and more against its pinned tendrils.

"Two…!"

Ciel took in a breath of air, tightening her grip around her scythe's shaft as she flooded her legs with strengthening aura, the ice cracking beneath her shoes. Those cracks quickly disappeared with a passing green light rushing through the ground, reinforced by Ozpin somewhere behind her.

"Three!"

Gunshots, clashing blades, and cracking stone suddenly erupted from the entire island's occupants as tendril after tendril broke away, severing with heated, whipping sounds of rebounding flesh as one, then two, then all the tendrils reeled themselves in.

Glowing lava spewed from every gash, only to be redirected into the water by Inuba's passing hands as she focused on keeping the backlash from getting near any of her allies.

As soon as the Kraken's restraints were gone, its whole body lifted out of the water and was yanked back, mouth ripping open in its entirely as it was strained up into the air by Leo's tethers.

And then all the chilled air of the island was split down the middle as Ciel dashed forward, light feet pounding into the reinforced ground to allow her to put even more force into her swing before she slid herself around and brought the back-end of her scythe with her.

In the blurred twirl of a rotating white streak, she slammed her weapon into the base of the island's largest spear and tore her scythe forward through its hefty mass.

Cracks ripped out across the ground at her feet and around the javelin itself, instantly fracturing the slide she made for the projectile and shattering it to pieces as the point of ice rocketed forward.

Ice suddenly scraped against metal in a shriek of momentum before projectile and Kraken met in an air-rupturing confrontation in the air, the spear entering the grimm's open maw and piercing the soft roof of its glowing mouth.

Everything came to a startling silence as Ciel's spear ripped through the creature's body from the inside and broke through the back of the Kraken's stretched head, javelin sailing out into the distance before the Dremoha collapsed limply back down into the water.

Its last screech dying off as it sunk into the quieting waves of the island's red ocean.

"Whew, that leaves just the Drake now, right?" Ciel asked, slamming her scythe into the ground and throwing her glance toward her brother.

"I'm afraid we've just traded one adversary for another… Look there," Leo pointed forward with his right hand cannon, flicking toward the direction of an opening in the tornado walls of the surrounding storm.

A glowing lime green body of black, reflective armor pushed through the veil of air with ease and began making its way toward the island.

"Are those wings..?" Ciel asked, "They aren't flapping like they should."

"No… Those are engines," Leo replied, lowering his gun as he stared out at the new arrival in the distance, "A bullhead… Military-grade Star-Streaker. SS-117."

"You have to be kidding me… The military's involved now?" Ciel complained, pointing out toward the bullhead then to the Drake in the sky, "What are they doing here of all places?"

"That is not the military." Ozpin suddenly pointed out, hardened eyes staring out toward the same target Leo set his sights on, "It's a hijacked vessel."

"How can you tell?" Caza asked.

"Because Star-Streakers are only ever deployed to deliver a high-concentration Dust payload to a desolate culmination of Grimm in territories we've lost. It's used in events where it's too dangerous to send in hunters to clear out fallen zones." the headmaster explained strenuously, gritting his teeth.

"If that vehicle isn't hijacked…then that means…" Glynda realized.

"A call was made that I wasn't present to veto." Ozpin growled.

LINE HERE

"Third one down." Destiny spoke out in exasperation, a third set of doors opening before them as they made their way through from their third consecutive challenge.

"That's three so far… Do you think it stops at four?" Weiss asked, the two making their way forward.

There wasn't a door in the distance this time, just a black obelisk at the far end of the spanning island. Before it lay a ridged field of pale stone, broken black ruins, drifting dust, and shallow sand.

"This has to be the last one." Destiny stated, moving forward and taking a sinking step into the sandy ground in front of them.

"No door means this is the final test." Weiss replied, following after Destiny's footsteps, "But that also means this should be the hardest if we're following the pattern correctly."

"The tests have only increased in difficulty each time, so yes, this is very likely the most difficult."

"Wonderful… Let's start looking around, see what we have to make use of for this one." Weiss said, breathing out a light sigh as she split away to the left.

The field was barren of any obvious elements, unlike the last three challenges. Which could only mean one thing. They had to make their own.

* * *

"Woah… So...that's how you got here? Well, not here here, but like, you're Remnant here?"

"That is the basic version of the tale, yes." Dante replied to Ruby as the duo walked down the corridor.

"It's just… Wow… I can't even…"

"Many, if not all would react exactly the same if they heard what you just did."

"After everything that's happened...do you ever think about them?"

Dante's gaze turned from the young girl and stared straight down the path, recalling the year before. The whole week that resulted in his status as an exile. The person he once called his closest friend, standing against him as an enemy.

"Now and then I do. But I have more important matters to attend to now rather thancontemplate the past. Besides, all is said and done. Now the only purpose of recalling such events is for the purpose of a tale."

"Uh-huh…" the reaper in red said still walking alongside him, "You know, you're much more...um…"

"Formal?"

"Yeah! You're a lot more formal now than usual."

"This is how I normally am."

"All mr. Fancy Pants?"

"Yes, all 'mr. Fancy Pants."

"Then what about the way you usually talk then?"

"I prefer speaking casually nowadays. It makes conversations far more simpler. And interesting in some cases. Usually I only speak so formally at events or meetings with others where such a way of speaking is required."

"And now?"

"Think of how am I now as...me simply reverting to an earlier form of myself."

"Like if a butterfly reverse-cocooned and became a caterpillar!"

"I… Well… Something akin to that."

"Hehehe, all the kinds of interesting?"

"Yes, all the kinds." Replied Dante with a small smile.

"So, did I ever tell you about when I-?"

As Ruby was recounting the time she made her weapon Crescent Rose, her words seem to slowly fade out until he couldn't hear her voice anymore. From his perspective, she was moving her lips, but no noise emerged.

"She can't hear us. From her perspective however, it looks as though we are paying attention. Although, we've already heard this story more than once."

Dante's head turned to his left to see a shadowy figure walking alongside him, donning his Shadow Skin form as glowing white eyes stared back at him.

"You've been silent for quite sometime. Any explanation as to why?" Asked Dante.

"I've only recently reawakened. Think of it as a longer reboot process in comparison to those gizmos you call computers."

"Reboot?"

"Ever since two weeks ago inside the church, I was forced into a sleep mode of sorts that I only awoke from suddenly. It would seem as though you're beginning to take on that form from that night."

"If you were 'asleep' until now, how do-?"

"I've told you once before, haven't I? I can access your memory if I need to in order to recall gaps in time, which is usually why I only do so in the first place."

"What is this form I'm slowly assuming?"

"Certainly not an evolution of your Shadow Skin like all the times before now. No, this form is different."

"Different how?"

"It's yours...but not entirely yours. It was granted to you in your most desperate time of need. To be more precise, it was unlocked for you."

"Which suggests that this is a form to be assumed in the future then?"

"Something of the sort." The shade replied as they continued walking, Ruby still continuing her story.

"Can you feel it Dante? It grows closer with each step we take. A force that both of us recognize and will most certainly never forget."

"So I was right then… One of the three is in his grasp." Replied Dante.

"Precisely. Fortunately, those that are Dark Entity cannot fully access its power, as is the same with Angel-kind. But the power they can gain is vast enough. And given an extensive period of time, they can gain more access to the power within to surpass the limitation placed on them and do more. Thankfully, the majority only think of only drawing power from within in order to increase their own, almost never thinking to understand it and it's secrets; the true potential it possesses."

"And what would call all of this exactly?" asked Dante.

"An attempt to create a world, one similar to the Dark World. It's why stepping into this realm has drawn out your true instincts, buried within the essence of your being. Creating a dimension is simple with what Zeridûl possesses. Creating a new World? That will take much more time. That is...IF he is allowed to continue with this...art project of his."

"Rather crude and simple tastes really…"

"Agreed. Dante, you must not allow him to succeed. If Zeridûl creates a new Dark World, and fills it with Dark Entities…"

"And if he decides to attack Remnant here, they won't stand a chance. With Grimm and all other nefarious beings at play, humanity and Faunus-kind on this Remnant won't be able to stand against them. They will all be swept in the ocean tide of Darkness, waiting to be devoured."

"You understand the situation then. Good. We cannot allow him to proceed and use it like Autlus did. If that happens-"

"Remnant, and all other Worlds in this Reality will cease to exist. I more than understand."

"I know. But do you also understand the potential side risks involved?

"What do you mean?"

"You are working with those who do not fully understand the risks involved. They are not as strong willed as you are and are more susceptible to being swayed by his words. If that happens, do not hesitate to disable them to deal with him."

"Something else I already know. But...I'm hoping such a thing won't come to pass."

"Wishful thinking… Be wary."

"No need to remind me."

As soon as they spoke those last words between each other, the shade disappeared from sight, and suddenly Ruby's words became audible once more.

"Crazy week, right?!"

"Yes. I'm most certainly glad you were able to get the required scope for your weapon."

"That reminds me, why don't you use guns? Don't you have anything for long range?"

"I simply don't believe in the usage of guns for combat. Not entirely the true warriors way. Plus, guns are far too simplistic when it comes to killing."

"Isn't that kinda the point though?"

"Yes and no. Though I prefer more closer means of combat, however." Said Dante raising his sword slightly.

"What about long range?"

"I have these."

Dante raised up his left hand as eight Aura black and white Aura Swords appeared hovering above him, four on each side of him.

"Woah! That's so cool! You can make floating swords?"

"This is but part of my Semblance, Aura Manipulation. I can freely manipulate my Aura at will, using it for either offensive or defensive purposes. The only thing I cannot do with my Semblance is form complex machinery, like guns. At least, I cannot do so for currently. But when it comes to range, I have the option of using these Aura Swords, or any other Aura Weapon I make, and the option of two other techniques."

"Which are the other two?! Laser beams of death?!" Asked Ruby innocently with a sparkle in her eye.

"Yes actually. One of the other two is a condensed beam of explosive Aura that is made more for pinpoint accuracy shooting. The other, well...it's my callsign so to speak. My ultimate technique."

"Woahoho! That's so awesome! Can you show me?!"

"Another time."

"Aw…"

"Collapsing the area around us is not within my best interests right now. If you pay close enough attention, you might see it once we confront Zeridûl."

"Promise?"

"Yes."

"Pinky promise?"

"Of course." Said Dante extending his pinky towards Ruby, forming the ultimate means of a promise with her.

"Hey! It almost looks like we're there!"

"Indeed it is."

"Are you ready to kick all kinds of crazy butt?"

"Most certainly."

Dante didn't understand it all too much at the moment, but he had a strong feeling of unease the closer he reached the exit with Ruby. Was it because he was reaching the end of the line? Or...did this feeling of unease come from elsewhere?

* * *

 **Omake: Zwei Wick, by Xera Stark**

It was late at night.

Cold clouds were silently shifting, soft moonlight was quietly shining, and the drifting of an eastward breeze gently fluttered through the white curtains of the estate's kitchen window.

Shattered glass lay cascaded across the black wooden floor, glinting in the chilly night air as the temperature outside filtered into the darkly lit room.

Nothing stirred, nothing moved, all was silent… save for the shadow dashing across the far wall.

A blank darkness moved in rapid grace, roaming across the floor and toward the silver fridge in the dullness of the room. Its perky-eared and small shadow looked up before opening the cold confinement of its confectionary intent.

Light split then emerged from the fridge's opening doors, pouring onto the kitchen floor in a blinding wave of white saturation as the items inside came into view.

Guns.

An impressive collection of black matted, full-decaled firearms rested inside the temperately monitored box of steel as the twin doors swung slowly open.

The figure looked up and admired its reward, scanning through a wall of small caliber rifles and pistols, gleaming irises taking in the curves of every weapon before finding its intended target.

With the package secured, the figure kicked the doors shut with a satisfied smirk, black .357 revolver held tightly between its teeth as the light shut away with the closing fridge's doors.

As those sealed, the figure lowered back to the cold ground, intent on leaving… only for a pair of bunny slippers to drowsily pad into its peripherals, causing its entire body to freeze up.

Two light blue arms stretched over a mop of golden hair as Jaune Arc rubbed his eyes, a deep yawn racking his lungs as he walked further into the kitchen.

"What time is it?" Blue eyes turned to regard the clock on the far wall, squinting for a moment before blinking, "Half past two…"

He blinked again before shaking his head, sleep heavy in his eyes as he eyed the fridge.

"We stayed up way too late playing Grimm Eclipse," he yawned again, punctuating his sentence with a long pause of heavy air, "Just one snack, then sleep."

With a tug of the fridge door, Jaune reached inside and pulled out some sliced ham. With another few reaches, he withdrew a bag of lettuce and a loaf of bread from the side cabinet before kicking the door closed.

"Sandwich sounds good," the Arc muttered, grabbing a paper plate from the counter before opening the loaf of bread.

Beneath him, the creeping shadow from before slowly crawled itself across the kitchen floor. Small legs tapped silently along the ground as it made its escape. Or, it would've, if Jaune didn't forget the mayo.

"Right," he turned around and reached for the door again, "Almost forgo-"

As the door slowly opened, his eyes trailed down to a time-frozen figure at his feet, catching his ankle just enough to stop him from moving forward.

"What the…" Jaune's eyes slowly trailed down before he leapt back in shock, slamming his lower back into the island's edge as he gripped its lip, "Zwei?!"

A black and white corgi silently blinked before glancing up to Jaune, a pure innocence raining from its every expression before, in a flurry of movement, it sat down in the soft light of the fridge and panted up to Jaune with a cute open grin.

One of its paws distractedly returned to its front as it sat back, hiding something behind its stumpy tail as it stared up at one of the residents of the estate.

"Zwei! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Jaune clutched his chest and breathed out slowly, staring down at the pooch in annoyance before even that began to melt away, "What are you doing in the kitchen? And why are you wearing a black dress suit?"

Kill.

Zwei tilted his head to the side, blinking silently as he panted. Clearly not understanding the linguistics pouring from the human's mouth.

"Okay, come on. You respond to Ruby _all_ the time. Why not me?" Jaune asked, throwing his hands in the air before shaking his head, "Not even a bark? A wine? A shake of the head? A nod? And seriously, you're wearing a black tie, black undershirt, and black jacket. Why? Who put that on you?"

Kill.

The dog only sat there panting, tongue flapping happily in the nightly breeze of a window Jaune hadn't noticed was open.

"So not fair. You respond to the girls just fine," Jaune rested his head in his hand, shaking it further before picking up the shotgun he rested on the island to spread spare Dust-made gunpowder across his grenades, "I must be getting tired… trying to talk to Zwei like this."

The click of a hammer and the rotation of a revolver's barrel softly echoed in the silent kitchen before Jaune quickly turned his gaze back to Zwei, the dog still innocently sitting there with its paws between its legs.

"What was that noise?" Jaune asked.

Kill.

Zwei tilted his head the other way, eyes staring widely back up at Jaune's own as the panting continued.

"Right… you don't understand humans…" The Arc sighed again, returning to his sandwich as he took the ham and placed a few slices onto his prepared bread.

It was way too late for this.

The crunch of an apple brought him back to Zwei a second time, eyes snapping to see the dog's snout dipped behind its butt for merely a moment before the dog returned to staring up at him.

Panting.

"Zwei…" Jaune slowly said, gently resting down his butter knife as he turned around, "What do you have behind your back?"

Zwei blinked in confusion for a moment and stopped panting, tilting his head fully to convey that emotion to the boy in front of him.

The stump of its tail tried its best to brush the object out of view, but genetics and popular opinion seemed to keep it just out of reach.

Damn those executive producers…

"Okay, I'll just, uh," Jaune leaned forward and peered behind the dog, seeing its wagging tail brushing up against a partially bitten apple, "You… eat apples?"

Kill.

Zwei barked once before circling around and picking up the apple in a blur, turning back to aim the fruit up at Jaune as the boy stared in confusion.

"Zwei… I'm pretty sure apples are bad for you. I think. So, you can't have that," Jaune reached down and made a move to grab the apple from Zwei's maw, only for a loud crunch to echo through the entire room as Zwei chomped down.

A single apple seed crashed to the floor and bounced, flipping for just a moment in juicy abandon before fluttering off screen from its slow-motion close-up.

Then Jaune hit the floor.

* * *

 **Weapons Illustrated 8**

"Heya everyone. We all had to take a break for a while due to some...exhausting circumstances." said Dante.

"No kidding... I still feel really tired after all that..." replied Ruby hunched over slightly.

"Tired enough that you can't do the segment today?"

"I'm never too tired to talk about weapons!"

"That's the spirit. So then, today we'll talking about my sister Ciel's weapon, Praenuntius (Harbinger)."

"Yes! I've dying to talk about this one for a while!"

"Have you now?"

"Totally! Your sister's weapon is really awesome!"

"Well if you're that excited, why don't you take the lead on this one then?"

"Really?!"

"Why not?"

"Alright then, I'll do my best!"

Ruby cleared her throat and stood up straight, ready to present to the audience as the holographic display behind them came to life.

"In it's natural state, Praenuntius is a scythe that has a skeletal like appearance and is all colored black, save for the scythe blade. The entire pole looks like an actual spinal column and has super duper industrial strength ligaments connecting each segment together! And you wanna know why?"

"Why is that?" asked Dante.

"It's because Ciel can actually make the ligaments extend and give her a whole 15 meters to swing her scythe around. The scythe itself is already three meters tall, but with the extension ability, she definitely gains an advantage in range against her opponents."

"What else can her weapon do?"

"Her weapon actually has to extra forms, giving her three different forms total! And so, the second form she has is a SwordSpear! For those of you that don't know, a sword spear is basically like a greatsword, only the handle is now a long pole like that from a spear!"

"And how does Ciel activate SwordSpear form?"

"She actually pulls the ligaments backwards slightly where she's gripping her weapon to completely straighten out the slightly curved pole of the scythe, and by doing so, the scythe blade itself actually straightens out and expands sideways a bit, giving it more width."

"And how wide is the blade of her SwordSpear form?"

"As wide as she is I think..."

"So what about her other weapon form?"

"Her third weapon form is basically a hybrid between a spear and halberd. The activation form is the same as the SwordSpear, where she straightens out the pole, only now, instead of the scythe blade expanding, it just straightens up in alignment with the pole."

"Now that we covered the forms, what does she use each form for?"

"Ha! That one's easy! So, for scythe form, she uses it for blinding fast and precise cutting! With SwordSpear mode, she basically goes all offense to crush her enemies with her lightning fast moves! It's more or less built for using more force and power. And finally, with her spear/halberd form, she mainly uses that one for flashy, but effective rotational attacks that involves a lot of spinning and twirling. I got all that right, right?"

"You did indeed. Let me wrap things up for you. Ciel's weapon is made from the same material my sword Anvil is, which utilizes Calcified Steel from the Dark World and Empyrean Steel from The Plane of Angels. And as we all know, when those two metals combine, they form a super alloy of sorts that's nearly impossible to break. Still possible, but really damn hard to do so."

"And combined with Ciel's super powerful strength, it's the perfect weapon for her to completely annihilate her targets!"

"As sweet and adorable as she is, Ciel still can be an absolute devil on the battlefield."

"Good thing she's on our side..." said Ruby.

"No kidding... Well everyone, that's it for us this week. Tune in next week for Semblance Encyclopedia with Ciel herself and Leonard."

"See you next time!"

"Sigh... Back to bed for me..."

"What?! But you just woke up to do the segment!" complained Ruby as Dante walked away.

"And now I'm going back to bed."

"No can do mister!" she said jumping on him, wrapping herself around him, "We're doing stuff today and that's that!"

"Okay then. What kind of stuff?"

Ruby was about to say something, but she immediately went silent when she realized she had no idea or plan of what to do.

"I don't know, but we'll wing it!"

"Like a certain winged friend of mine named Xera Stark?"

"Oh yeah! I heard a little rumor around the studio recently. Just what exactly are the two of you involved in?"

"It's...complicated."

"Well...things will be alright."

"Yes they will..."

* * *

 **Right... So, um, bit of explaining to do. But I'll keep it short. In short, I got home, was exhausted for quite a while, and had some personal tasks to take care of, leaving me almost no time to write or edit. But, it's cleared up considerably as of late, so I'll definitely have more time.**

 **Now then, after discussing with my partner Xera Stark, we've determined we have at least 2-3 more chapters left for this arc before it comes to a close. And trust me, it's going to be an exciting conclusion that I'm more than sure most, if not all of you, will enjoy.**

 **Right then. That's all I have to say. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. ****Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	20. Chapter 20: The Schism

**Chapter 20: The Schism**

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"Good grief… Glad that's over with… That thing was a pain." said Ciel sitting down on a flat piece of debris nearby.

"Agreed. Although, it wasn't going to be so simple from the start given that it was an Omega class Grimm." said Leo as he took a seat next to his sister, examining his handcannons as he did so,

"Yeah…" replied the young girl with a sigh, resting her chin her palm.

Leo immediately took notice of whatever frustration was currently on her mind.

"What is it?"

"Did you feel…I don't know...stressed during the fight?"

Leo almost laughed at the question.

"Ciel, we were fighting a creature almost as large as the island. Stress was bound to be a passenger during the fight."

"Yeah, I get that, but… It just...felt weird…"

"Weird? Well, we may not exactly be human, but even we feel what they do. Except for physical pain that is. Emotional...well… That is a different story entirely."

"Still not what I meant Leo… Just...it felt...like the stress wasn't mine, you know?"

Leo's eyes blinked once as he stopped working on his guns, looking off to the side before he looked back to his sister.

"As if you were feeling someone else's stress rather than your own?"

"Yeah, that. Did you feel it too?"

"I did actually. Throughout the fight, I was fairly calm. My only concern was for everyone else and making sure that they were safe throughout the entire ordeal. And yet...I felt something deep within the back of my mind."

"You think big brother brother is in trouble?"

"Maybe… I don't know…"

"I never felt him so stressed out. Ever. Until…"

"The church with Friede... I remember all too well."

"Even after all that he never talked to us about it. And I get it, usually no one wants to talk about something like that. But…"

"You're thinking there's a possibility something similar is occurring inside, don't you?" Asked Leonard.

"I don't want to think about it, but the possibility is just-"

"Brother will be fine Ciel. He is with Xera Stark and the others inside."

"Don't you worry?"

"Of course I do. But I know that he'll be fine. Growing up, we watched our older brother endure through many trials within his life. But he never surrendered and always made it out on top. And as I watched him, he instilled the same hope and sensation within me as he does with others. To never surrender to the enemy, and to always watch over your allies closely, keeping them safe. Wherever he goes, he brings hope. To us and the masses. But for now, all we can do is wait and ensure all goes smoothly on our end. The drake will fall soon enough as is, it's only a matter of-"

"What the…is that a hood ornament?!" Yang called out, screaming over the roaring engines of the bullheads around her.

"What the heck is blondie getting excited over?" Asked Ciel.

"I don't know…"

"I don't think they make them that big, Yang." Blake replied, holding her bow down on her head to keep it from blowing around.

"Then how do you explain that?" the brawler asked, pointing to the silhouette of what looked like a humanoid figure standing on the approaching SS-17's nose.

"What the hell… Oh you cannot be serious right now!" shouted Ciel as she sprung up to her feet.

"It's him..." Leo informed the others as he approached, standing ahead of them as he took aim, "The man from the forest that attacked us while we were looking for our brother. It would seem that he's made his return."

Leo quickly fired a rapid volley of bullets, beams of his aura encasing every shot as they flew towards the aircraft with deadly precision. Each one collided with a field of aura surrounding the enemy aircraft, glancing his shots away or destroying them on impact.

"This isn't good." Ciel drew up her scythe and stood by, rushing over to Inuba's side and skidding in front of Dante's partner, "We're going to need you too."

The girl was sitting with the younger kitsune, Kitsuki, to keep her mind off the storm.

"What is he capable of?" Inuba asked, keeping a blanket wrapped around Kitsuki's shoulders as the lightning from the Drake above continued in its aerial battle with the Valkyrie.

"Strong Aura Manipulation and a diploma for being a flashy jackass with an outdated fashion style." Ciel replied, jamming her scythe into the ground as she stared up into the air, "That, and he called me short."

"How insulting…" Inuba stated looking towards the sky now.

"I know, right?! I'm totally going to kick his ass first chance I get!" Ciel quickly returned in a seething voice.

"As entertaining as that would be..." Ozpin walked up to the three sitting on the sidelines, golden lightning streaking brightly at his back as the Storm Drake in the background roared in agony, a small figure of pink smacking it in the eye with a silver glint of light, "I think it would be best to keep him from landing."

"True, but Leo's got our strongest range fighter here. He's like a walking AA gun." Ciel said, glancing at her brother as he lowered his hand cannons.

"Damn… Nothing is breaking through that shield of his…" said Leo.

"Is that so… Alright, I have a way to negate it, but I have to be close enough to touch it." Ciel continued, staring down at her hand for a moment before turning back to Ozpin.

"Then we'll get you in close. Miss Kitsukami, I'm sure you can use your flight ability again to get Miss Ciel up there. We'll keep it under fire for now."

Ozpin turned away and quickly addressed the rest of the collected students around him.

"Anybody with ranged artillery and ammunition to use it." his hard gaze soon turned to the black aircraft in the sky, ignoring the wildly spinning airborne Grimm above, "Fire everything at that bullhead."

"What if other Grimm show up?" Sun asked.

"That is why our weapons have melee functions, Mister Wukong." Ozpin replied.

"Right…"

Before they could move further, they saw an explosive burst of lighting and Aura deep within the darkness of the clouds. And then, silence.

Everyone below waited, their tense grips tightending even more as they waited. And then...he appeared.

The man who followed them here, Niro Ezdeil, dropped from the sky like a stone, his boots striking into the island, crushing the ice beneath his into a crater at the center of the plateau of students and bullheads. His arrival seemed to only be followed by silence from the storm, its energy completely stripped away and blanketed only now by the hum of one bullhead that touched down near him.

But even that began to power down.

Instead, the slow crunch of boots slowly brought Niro out of his cloud of ice shards and into the open. Lime green eyes turned up to the rift above the island's center as he stared into its nearly closed sliver of stars.

"So… He's in there..."

* * *

"Oh my gosh… I want a scythe like hers so bad now!" Squealed Ruby in pure joy at what she heard.

"My sister's weapon is impressive. And intimidating in most if not all cases."

"How was it made?"

"I have no idea. Neither does she really."

"Aw…"

"But I wouldn't be able to say even if I knew. Some secrets-"

"Are not meant for human hands. That's probably one of the most important things you taught me with your time here. But that still doesn't mean it's not cool!"

Dante only chucked at her child like amusement for such secrets as they continued walking down their designated path, eventually seeing the others ahead.

"It would seem as though all of you made it back safely."

Skyla turned her attention to see Dante and Ruby stepping out of their own door, a distant beacon of light towering into the dark sky far behind them.

"Yup. How'd it go?"

"Fairly well. Minor nuisances in the way now and then."

"I had to try really hard…but we fought a totally cool boss!" Ruby responded earnestly, walking up to the rest of the group from the immortal's side.

"That too."

"Sounds like fun. Did the boss throw giant meatballs at you?" Sky asked, interest sparking in her eyes again.

"No, but he did try sending spheres of energy our way. Laser beams as well. Large waves of destructive energy," he said, numbering them each on his fingers, "And a greatsword twice my size."

"Wow…he sounds like your kinda cliché niche..." Sky replied, her interest dead now.

"Far from cliché was he. Either way, he was a nuisance that was dealt with swiftly. But…now that we are here…" Dante said, turning to the large doorway between the buildings.

"Come on ice queen, time to go." Destiny spoke quietly from behind the duo, the girl letting Weiss lean slightly into her as they walked.

"I'd rather be carried…" Weiss admitted, but she still walked forward either way as she slipped her Myrtenaster into its sheath at her waist.

"Walking will keep your energy up, which is something we'll need. Your support's invaluable." Destiny replied.

"So you say, but that still doesn't solve my fatigue..."

"Not much will right now." Destiny quickly returned, Weiss shrugging a shoulder at that.

The braziers around the fountain behind them were kindled, burning white from the energy of the three lit beacons in the distant challenges. Each flame circled up and around the central spire of the courtyards foundation, climbing to its multi-pronged tip before converging and condensing into a singular beam of light.

That energy swirled and fired into the void above, illuminating the black courtyard in an ominous ethereal glow before the large doors ahead of them began to crack open.

From the emerging central light of the doorway hummed a soft vibration, and as the doors split the deflective field of energy surrounding them began to dissipate, before vanishing completely.

"Sweet! Looks like we're in!" Skyla exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air as the doors opened.

"It's time to end this. Let's go." said Dante as he drew his sword and led the team forward, keeping the tip of his blade low as they ascended the stairs beyond the opening.

The group followed in eerie silence, surrounded by a stifling emptiness as they slowly made their way to the realm's end. Above them towered two entry pillars, and as they reached the top, the throne room before them lay wall-less in open space.

Pillars framed the rectangular area, glowing crystals sat in six consecutive positions at either side of the central pathway ahead of them to light the way, and at its end was an elevated platform with a throne of black stone.

Lines and veins of ice seeped from the shadowy embrace of the throne itself, each shadowy web pulsing quietly under the hand of the black figure sitting back in the throne at the platform's end.

"Welcome to the peak of Eryndûs, challengers..." Zeridûl spoke in a spanning thume, voice carrying itself across the expanse of stone before him to the six at the top of the stairs.

"Let me be the first to say you lack originality in the sense of architecture. Feeling homesick all of a sudden?" Dante called out in question, taking his steps forward with the others in tow.

"I'll admit, the realm of my old friend served as a nice inspiration, but I took most of my work from the great Athenians of a world I once knew. It had this...godly touch to it, something I quite enjoyed," Zeridûl replied, standing slowly from his throne as he held his hands together behind his back.

"Godly? Hmph… You think too highly of yourself because you have something that isn't yours."

Zeridûl wasn't the first Dark Entity to think himself high and mighty than the rest of his brethren. He wasn't going to be the last.

"You mean a Gem of the Ancients?" Zeridûl asked, extending his arm and drawing up a far landmass from behind him, pulling it into view, "It has its ways with the gods, but it cannot grant godhood to those who touch it. Of course, crystals like this raise controversy across the Worlds. I'm sure you're aware of that."

Zeridûl drew the crystal from its holder and levitated it to his throne, letting it pass him by before he ushered it forward and toward Dante himself.

"You can have it if you'd like. I'm sure you'd recognize a gem similar to the one that took your partner's life."

Dante could feel everyone's eyes on him from behind after hearing such a revelation. He didn't think it odd in the slightest. If anything, he was wondering what they were thinking at the moment now that they heard what they did.

Probably not good things.

Black wisps of Aura emerged from Dante's body as he kept his hardened gaze on Zeridûl. He didn't express it with any facial expressions or movements, but his Aura spoke for his silent anger.

"Indeed I do. And I will take great pleasure in tearing it away from your hands as I crush your skull with my foot."

"Harsh words for a child, however misplaced..." Zeridûl gave a dismissive wave of the hand and let the crystal touch base in front of Dante's feet, a soft hum emanating from its surreal surface as it grew motionless, "I no longer need its power, so do what you will with it."

"So you say… But I cannot simply allow you to continue with this…mediocre auditorium you've set in place. Someone like you drawing power from a Gem immediately warrants death. So, I suggest you prepare yourself for the end. Your time has come."

This was going to be the end. He would end it. And the crisis would be averted

"This realm serves as a home to my legion. Through the Gem's presence, the dimension has become self-sustaining and mobile, allowing me the ability to disconnect it from this reality and move it elsewhere. But I appreciate your drive to fix a wrong so distantly committed by someone against you."

Zeridûl stepped down from his throne and extended his hand, materializing a black claymore into his grasp before holding it out at his side.

"It is admirable, if not narrow-minded. Everybody's lost something dear to them, even if your vendetta has led you to believe you're alone in that."

"It isn't as simple as you make it to be. That day…I lost far more than just 'one' person. And because of that…I decided I will never allow such a thing to happen again. Even if I need to take the most extraordinary measures and cross lines no one would ever dare to, I will do whatever it takes to prevent it from happening again."

Dante stepped forward now to counter the challenge, keeping his sword at his side as he narrowed his gaze. His arm was steady and call the entire time, sure of his victory with everyone else backing him.

"Simplicity is creation's greatest virtue, it bolsters with its rules of ignorance and puts together the most secure boundaries, yet it's equally the hardest to understand in its own right." Zeridûl brought his sword up and turned his gaze down, eyes leveling on the immortal teen, "I don't expect you or me to understand one another's efforts or testaments, but even you can't control the tides of existence itself."

"I need not control them. I need only to move them out of my way or entirely crush them. No matter how 'great' you make yourself and your work seem, it's only one big fabrication. A lie at best."

"You wish to strike down an ocean's waves, a fruitless endeavor, but you are correct. No matter what we 'see' or what we 'hear', no matter how carefully it's played or how much you enforce its façade or pretend it to be tender and exquisite…a lie will remain a lie."

Zeridûl leveled his sword on the gem resting in front of Dante, turning his blade ever so slightly as he regarded it.

"The Gem has shown me much with its temporary connection with you and its sister Gem. You are one who wasn't born with greatness, and neither granted it by the fates. And yet…you chase after something even I cannot see. Tell me…what is it that you seek? Or maybe…you cannot even say for yourself?"

"What I want or desire…has no importance here and now. But what is needed is that you become a distant and faint memory."

"Then so be it."

Zeridûl twisted his blade and dragged it down to his side, pulling it back around in a rapid slash as he cast out a vortex of wind and ice toward the group before him. But the field of shards and frost only crashed against a rising gale of burning orange flame, each fragment dissipating away as the soft sounds of footsteps moving slowly forward overtook the resounding silence of the throne room plateau.

Eyes snapped to Xera as he quietly made his way forward, keeping his gaze down and low as he put himself between Dante and Zeridûl.

"I appreciate the effort, but it wasn't necessary." Dante said, keeping his sword at his side as he transitioned his gaze to the phoenix in front of him.

Xera closed his eyes and lowered his blade, something Dante took note of. He thought it to be some part of his strategy, but…

Dull blue irises soon opened as Xera turned around and faced his group, drawing his sword up as a soft light soon kindled around his pupils, flames burning brighter around him as he raised his gaze.

"I'm sorry, Dante…" Xera spoke quietly, "But I can't allow you past this point."

 _What..? What did you just say..?_

Immediately the immortal's leveled on Xera's eyes, and in some way, expressed some form of confusion. At least, that was until he glanced back to Zeridûl.

"And why is that exactly?"

"Because Zeridûl was as much a victim as my brother was, and his death will be irrevocably misplaced." Xera responded.

"Victim? Misplaced?"

 _Now I see… The reason my Proxy warned me earlier… Zeridûl met with Xera in secret..._

"Now I understand." His gaze fell back on Xera, "Are you that naive that you would simply take his word? I expected much more from you, Xera."

"His word seems to be the only one that makes sense around here." Xera replied.

"His word? His word is empty. He and his kind will say whatever they can and will and make empty promise and propositions in order to save themselves. Especially if the filthy cowards know death is coming for them."

Dark Entities did it all the time. Especially when facing the young immortal. Even the worst of the worst, who have done much more terrible things that he would rather not speak, had the audacity to beg for his mercy, bribe him, or offer incentive to Dante allow them to live.

He never accepted any offer from them.

"I am doing what is right and necessary." Dante continued, "so that when the time comes, he cannot turn around and slit our throats when we aren't looking."

"You keep assuming he'll do exactly that, but I can't see it the same way you do anymore… Not with what I found out." Xera said.

 _You're joking right..? You can't be serious..._

"I'm more than certain he showed you and told you what you would have liked to see and hear. But are you that foolish enough as to believe him? A being of lies, deception, and temptation?"

"If this was a few days ago… I would've believed you, hands down, without a second thought. But with how you've treated us, people I thought were your friends, and how you've acted in this realm, I'm starting to lose the trust I thought I had in you." Xera retaliated, his fire burning a little brighter as he lowered his conflicted gaze to the side, "Zeridûl has yet to, even once, tempt or deceive. You saw it yourself in Zerath's mind but you're too blind to accept it. He's done nothing but honor his word from the start."

 _You idiot… I only pushed you and the others way to spare you potential danger. You have no experiences in this sort of situation. You've never faced a conflict like this before._

"I have meant no harm or disrespect towards any of you. This place…it brought out a part of the worst of me. Deeper and darker thoughts I've long suppressed. My only intention from the start…was to guarantee your safety and survival through this ordeal. All of you. I am not the best kind of person. Nor the most intelligent at certain times. But make no mistake…your lives were always my highest priority. And I won't allow him of all people to rob you blind of them."

"Then back down." Xera said immediately, hardening his gaze and returning it to Dante, "If you intend to save each of us, then back down, because I'm not walking away from this. I will fight you if I have to and you'll have to beat me down before you can get to Zeridûl."

 _You..? Fight me..? Why? Why would you do this? I am not blind. I see more than you do. More than you ever will._

Dante looked to Xera with wide eyes, as if he recalled something distant, then lowered his gaze to the floor.

"You fool… Are you going to be the same as them? Are you turning on me as well?"

"Because of how blind you are, that's how you interpret this…" Xera shook his head slowly, "I'm going against your decision. I know you and what you do, but this one decision is a mistake and I won't let you follow it through."

 _You know nothing. You understand nothing. Don't be so arrogant as to presume you know me… You know only what I decided to show you._

"Take the crystal and let's leave. If he comes back, and he was lying, then we can fight him. There's no reason to end this here without giving him a chance." Xera stated firmly.

"It will be too late by then. Letting this place grow and allowing him to live will be a mistake. And it will be this World's downfall. All because you'd rather let yourself be twisted by his words."

"Zerath is alive and recovering, it'll be easy to get the truth from him and it'll be even easier to know what he earnestly believes. We can get our answers from him, and if his word aligns with Zeridûl's, then we would've saved something that could potentially be beneficial to the Worlds, unlike the plague you make it out to be."

Xera's eyes snapped to the side as someone else spoke up.

"He's so focused on his own revenge, he won't allow himself to believe anything that'll lead him away from what he wants." the light voice emanated from Dante's right, drawing the immortal's own gaze as Skyla made her way forward.

The short girl let her passing gaze fall over Dante as she went to Xera, turning around to face down the same person her leader was going against.

"This has nothing to do with revenge." Dante continued with a frown, "Do I remember the pain of loss I felt that day? Of course I do. Do I remember the feeling of uselessness as I watched my partner die that day? Of course, I would never forget."

His reply caused Xera to grit his teeth, further expanding the divide between whatever hopeless ideals they both held as this standstill continued.

"And even if her being alive and well now makes up for it, I will never forget. Has such an incident influenced my actions? Only slightly. This isn't about revenge or a personal vendetta. This is about what I know. All the death, all the destruction at the hands of his kind… You all know nothing of what they are truly capable of, nor understand the repercussions. Allowing all this to go on…would be another mistake. One I can't allow."

"You're right, I have no idea what the Dark Entities have done nor what they will do," Xera responded, sweeping his hand to the side and taking a step forward, "But what I do know is the pain I felt when my family was killed before my eyes and when I found out I was the last of my entire dwindling race. I know and remember the pain I lived with for years, trying to come to terms with all of that and figuring out a way to move on. I can't expect you to know what I felt when I found out my brother was alive, the very last person I saw die at the hands of an organization that mirrors your ideology here and now about a race in its entirety and not its individuals."

 _Don't you dare compare me to people like those..._

Xera clenched his fist as the stones around him slowly began to simmer and crack, irises burning brightly into a red hue as their colors bled scarlet to match a rising anger.

"Do you know what it's like…to be given a chance to save the loved one you never could before, only to watch it all be taken away again by someone you thought you trusted? If it wasn't for Zeridûl, Zerath would've been dead five years ago in a facility I repressed from my mind because of how much it's ruined everything I hold dear and how much it hurt me."

"I may not understand it all, but I understand it well enough to know the idea. But I am not evil. Making a comparison between ideology and beliefs of Faunus and those of Dark Entities are completely incomparable," Dante retaliated, "Faunus kind are nowhere near as terrible and as vile as humanity here on Remnant has made them out to be. And in many instances, I've seen their kindness, appreciation for others, and respect."

 _You arrogant fool…_

"It agitates me," the immortal continued, "that humanity can be so intelligent, yet so foolish and afraid of others that have a few differences in comparison. Because of that, I can never agree with others who make such cruel and misguided opinions about Faunus kind. Nor will I stand for it."

Dante stepped forward and raised his arm and sword, trying to make his point.

"But Dark Entities are a completely different story altogether. Time and time again, with their actions and words, they have proven my opinion of them being evil more than true. Which is why I stand here today."

"Then give me this one chance to act on this one, minuscule belief that this Dark Entity is exactly what he says he is and that killing him is senseless!" Xera retaliated, a brief, shining moment that drew Skyla's gaze to him.

Dante never heard the Phoenix shout before. But it made him all the more uncomfortable with the situation.

"You're putting forward your hate for the entire Dark Entity race and assuming he's exactly like that! What if you're wrong?! What if there are Entities out there that go against that ideology and you just haven't met them yet? Your position has only taken you to places where they've been the ones taking actions, taking lives, but there can still be ones you don't see standing by and remaining idle. You can't just kill them all and assume they're all the same."

"Again, you've proven what little you understand," Dante replied as he shook his head, "I know for a fact there are those that are good that exist. I've seen them for myself. I have friends and those close to me who are Dark Entities. In fact, his King and I are close friends. And in many instances, he has given me aid I graciously accepted. But Zeridûl has given me no reason at all to believe anything he says. Which is why this cannot continue."

"Then turn around and let this one chance have any actual hope of being proven." Xera's voice fell quiet as he made his plea one more time, "Zeridûl may very well be one of those kinds, but you're not giving him a chance to prove it."

"He had his chances after the tournament and up until these past few days." Dante's face grew darker as he tilted his head down, resolved to do what had to be done, "Now, he has none."

"That's because you're refusing to see past everything he's done!" Xera's eyes flashed with embered flames as he kept trying to change Dante's mind, "He did everything for a reason!"

"I haven't refused anything in the slightest." Dante replied back, "I've 'seen' past all his misdeeds and actions. But tell me, did you ever once consider it was a carefully crafted facade made to create exactly this type of situation? You likely haven't considered this option given that you easily accepted his words."

"You think I haven't?! When have I not thought something through? It's not easy standing up here against you…but there isn't anywhere I'd rather be than in your way right now." Xera's said, speaking in a voice still backed by emotions he rarely let show.

 _Stop this…_

"Get out of the way...or there will be consequences..." Dante returned harshly, stepping forward as he cast his gaze up from the ground and to Xera's eyes.

"You already know that I won't let this go." Xera replied evenly, raising his black blade into a secure guard, breathing out for a moment as he closed his eyes, "Skyla… you don't have to stand here with me. You know that."

"I concur." Dante's eyes met Skyla's now as he gestured for her to go, "I suggest you move back."

 _She doesn't need to be a casualty of this._

"And miss all the fun? Xera means more to me than you ever will, I'm sorry but there's nothing that'll change that." Sky returned, bringing her own blades up as she took her position at Xera's left, "I'm taking his word over yours."

"Unfortunately…" Dante closed his eyes in a hard blink before he reached forward, opening his sky blue gaze with a flash of aura, "I'm not giving you the chance nor the choice to stay there."

Dante raised up his hand, palm facing skyward, as he raised Skyla off the ground and forcefully moved her back several meters. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Dante crushed his hand into a fist to form a crystalline barrier of hexagonal shapes around her, imprisoning her where she stood.

"I will only fight you." the immortal finished, facing Xera before raising his own sword up.

"Then fight me, just try to believe me or give my words a little meaning…you can at least give me that for once." Xera replied.

 _You're confused... You don't know what you're talking about... A naive child like you hasn't the slightest idea… If you wish to fight me, then I will fight you. And...I will show you no mercy..._

* * *

Destiny grit her teeth as Weiss leaned into her side, the wolf lowering the heiress softly to the ground and onto her knees as the girls stared at the two friends drawing blades against each other.

"What are you two doing?!" Ruby stepped forward, standing beside her tired partner and swiping her hand in an outward gesture, "This isn't the time to be fighting or arguing!"

"Don't move. Stay right where you are. I'd rather you not be an unfortunate casualty." Dante's voice responded coldly, forcing the the the reaper's fists to clench as she bit her lip.

Why was this happening?

Xera's eyes narrowed behind the edge of his blade at Dante's reply to the reaper, tilting his blade ever so slightly as he glanced to Ruby's eyes, "This isn't your fight, Ruby. I don't want you taking a side for this one. That goes for all of you."

"This is between the two of us, and only us." Dante agreed.

Ruby wanted to say something else, but she bit back her words and remained silent. Realizing whatever she said wouldn't get through to them now.

A muffled banging broke into the air behind them as Xera lowered his gaze, eyes softening when he heard his partner.

"And what about me?!" Skyla screamed, fists pressed harshly against Dante's barrier as she glared at the match with heat in her eyes, "You can't just tell us all to stay out of it!"

Dante flicked his gaze to hers, "I can, I will, and I did."

Skyla lowered her head and punched the barrier again, letting out a low growling scream before her Aura flared. The passing wave of rage and anger crashed against the clear shell before dissipating, the girl's shoulders rising and falling before she did it again.

"Try as much as you like, but you won't be escaping. Not without assistance."

"Just…watch me…" the girl growled, ripping her sword from its embedded place in the ground and slamming it into her prison's shell.

Dante only sighed.

"How predictable…"

Xera stayed quiet the entire time. He realized this wasn't in his power to stop, and he knew he'd only last so long against Dante before he was inevitably beaten. He didn't want Skyla getting herself hurt in a decision he made. But a part of him died inside at how badly she wanted to stand by his side and how little she cared for herself.

"I would tell you to make the first move, but I understand your cautious and analytical self considerably by now. I'll tell you this out of respect, however. I am like no enemy you have faced before." Dante returned a level gaze to Xera's on as he spoke, "You must compose yourself and never let your guard down for even a moment."

Advice Xera had long since mulled over on the way up to this place, his eyes returning to Dante's as he let out a silent breath.

"It's funny really…"

The slightest tilt to Dante's blade caught Xera's eyes.

"What is?"

"I was actually wondering if you'd take me seriously enough to draw your sword," Xera replied, smirking with a small huff of air as he continued, "Makes me wonder if you actually see me as someone capable enough to fight you head-on and actually keep up."

"You might say that. I consider you…a considerable threat if I am not cautious."

Xera shrugged one of his shoulders and readied his stance again, "Not that I wanted to be, anyway. But I guess it's something."

Dante lunged forward with a crack of shattered stone and accelerated speed, covering the distance between them quickly in an apparent glide. Their blades meet shortly after, but Dante had already moved to break their clash, quickly swinging his left leg to Xera's head.

Xera dodged under the immortal's kick, knowing blocking it wasn't an option, then took a quick outward swipe to attack only to cut the air beneath his opponent's leaping form. Dante rotated and descended on Xera, sword raised to his side to take a swing at the phoenix, but the attack was too telegraphed.

Xera swung upwards and unleashed an arcing wave of fire at Dante, only for a line to split the attack as its wielder remained calm and unmoving, slashing through the flaming crescent with his sword to meet his opponent again. But instead of attacking Xera, he vanished in a blur of black, immediately reappearing behind Xera to stab him.

Within Dante's expectations, Xera tore his blade around as he twisted his body, blocking his stab attack, but this in turn left him open to a slashing assault from the immortal as he forced the phoenix back.

With a one-handed swing, Dante slammed his blade into Xera's and put a minuscule amount of distance between him and his opponent as the phoenix was sent skidding on his shoes, but it was all a part of his next attack.

Something he hoped would stop the phoenix, but Xera was someone who had already gone past his expectations more than once.

It still didn't hurt to try.

Dante made for another stab, but with its speed, it wasn't something Xera could dodge. He had to block. But blocking would prove to be a setback, something Dante was trying to capitalize on.

White metal scraped harshly across Xera's black sword as the phoenix ground Dante's stab upward, trying to force it away from his chest but only managing to redirect it a few inches. The stab pierced into his shoulder shallowly, enough to keep him lodged in place.

The blade would've driven straight through if Xera hadn't locked his blade with Dante's guard.

Without a moment's hesitation, the immortal moved his left hand and placed it over the crossguard of his sword, index finger pointed directly toward Xera.

The phoenix realized what the immortal was up to as he watched four streams of black aura quickly build up at the tip of Dante's finger, forming a small black sphere that immediately discharged in a violent beam of Aura, consuming Xera in its blast.

 _Did that work?_

Xera's body disappeared inside the encapsulating veil of energy Dante unleashed, ripping a pressurized wave out from the point of impact that crashed mutely against her shield.

"Oh… Now this is a surprise…"

The airborne dust from the blast cleared, revealing smoking black wings that had enveloped Xera to protect him from the blast with little damage to him or his wings.

"You withstood my Piercer using only your wings." Dante stated, watching as soft streams of smoke trickled from Xera's dark feathers, "You've grown considerably stronger throughout this whole ordeal. I wonder… Is it because we defeated Zeridûl within the depths of your brother's mind? Or maybe…you're putting forth such incredible effort because of another reason entirely?"

 _Who knows... He may even think I have intention to hurt the others…_

"Everybody learns from the things they do." Xera returned, sliding his blade forward between his wings to lock with the base of Dante's sword again and dislodge the blade from his shoulder, "And everybody has their reasons… You already know mine."

 _Your reasons are ridiculous._

Dante didn't return a reply with words, but his sword, making a sweeping slash that clashed harshly with Xera's own, blade glancing past Xera as he parried the attack. Thinking he had the appropriate timing, the phoenix move for another horizontal slash across Dante's chest, but Dante moved backward and quickly sheathed his katana.

"Farewell."

As soon as he spoke his words, Dante's sword hand moved in blurred motions, rapidly slashing at Xera with near-invisible speed that forced the phoenix to continuously dodge backward against the onslaught of attacks.

 _He'll slip up. He's fast, but not durable. Once he runs out of energy and falters, I'll end this with one strike._

The slashes seemed unending, and at any moment, if he slipped up or tripped, he wouldn't be able to defend against the damage that'd follow.

But within the minuscule amount of time before his next slash, Xera unexpectedly snapped forward and caught Dante's wrist that held his sword, stopping his onslaught entirely.

Xera didn't hesitate with his next move, remembering Dante's words from earlier.

With a burst of fiery momentum, the phoenix brought down his sword and slashed it across Dante's body, seeing the immortal's eyes go wide as Xera let go of his hand and let Dante skid back on his heels from the following combustion of the swing.

When his shoes stopped sliding, Dante's eyes moved from the ground back up to Xera as he let out a silent exhale, his coat coming undone from the deep slash. Cloth draped away as Xera readjusted his grip, the opening exposing the lightly skeletal-armored body beneath.

Blood trickled from the small wound the phoenix managed to land.

"Tough skin..." Xera said, readying his defense again and expecting retaliation, "though, looks like I'm reading your movements a bit better."

"Really now?" Dante questioned as he stood up straight, glaring at the phoenix.

"All the times I've seen you fight, I could barely read your movements at all, and that left me always guessing and predicting. Until now, that is. It was like watching an emotionless demon fighting on the battlefield. So, how come I'm able to read you this time? Is it because you're taking it easy on me? Or…do you actually feel a twinge of your humanity acting up for the first time?"

Dante's eyes widened momentarily, almost as if he were insulted in some way that Xera would make such a ridiculous assessment. This was clearly demonstrated when the immortal swung his sword outwards behind him, shattering the floor behind him as the stone floors rose up from the sheer force.

"Are you suggesting… that my movements are more human-like?" Dante asked, watching as Xera readied himself in a stance, "I understand now… You must be feeling very proud of yourself for being able to keep up at this level."

Within that moment, the air around them quaked violently from the immense pressure of Dante's aura, forcing all but Xera to take steps back even further, all while Zeridûl watched from his throne, smiling.

"How naive…" whispered the immortal.

No matter how closely Xera watched him, he was blind to Dante's next move, only seeing a glimpse of him reappear above him within a split second, sword ready to slam down on the phoenix.

The ground was moved apart from the force of the immortals strike, creating a large smokescreen of dust again. Xera used his wings to push himself out of the rising cloud, but Dante had already appeared behind him instantly.

Xera reached behind him with an outward slash as he pivoted around forcefully in the air, hoping to catch the immortal's blow. But Dante blurred from sight and appeared a small distance slightly above and behind Xera, sword brought across his side.

The phoenix had left himself wide open, a perfect chance to strike him.

Xera's eyes widened as he continued his turn, trying to get clear of the immortal's blade only for the ground to explode directly beneath him, black ice surging up and clashing with the incoming sword instead.

Dante's cold, focused gaze moved to Zeridûl, who sat upon his throne with his fingers lightly touching his chilled armrest.

"Just what do you think you're doing, miscreant?" Dante asked in a growl, breaking his sword from the entity's ice.

"Come now…" Zeridul smirked, pulling his ice back into the ground with the tap of his finger, "I couldn't just let you clip the poor boy's wings now could I?"

The stall in the fighting helped Xera quietly right himself in the air and land his feet back on the ground, rolling his shoulders instinctively at the thought of the damage that hit would've caused if it landed.

 _His wings are his greatest asset. I thought about severing them entirely just now...but that would be too cruel on my part. Even if I did sever them, I would have had Inuba reattach them and restore them to full functionality. She is that effective with her healing. But instead, I settled for disabling them so he can't use them. But he's a clever one this Phoenix… He knows how to mind his wings well enough._

"Look closely at who you face, Xera Stark… Look… and understand that who you see and who you are fighting… is the real Dante." Zeridûl claimed, bringing Xera's cautious eyes into a hard focus.

For a moment, Dante's gaze shifted off to the side towards the floor, as if…

 _Think of me what you will, even as a villain if this makes it's easier for you. But I am not wrong._

His gaze hardened once more as his eyes quickly focused on Xera again.

"Then you're the Dante I need to convince to stop this." Xera replied uneasily, taking a momentary breath to calm himself. He wouldn't be taking too many more from this point forward.

"I oppose you as strongly as I do…because you are now exactly the same as HE was," Dante suddenly interjected, keeping his blade at his side as he stood still.

 _You're no different. That same haughty belief that you think you're right… I won't allow it..._

"Thinking he was right, when in reality, he was only dooming all the others with his actions and decisions. I too almost stripped him of his wings that day…had I not shown him more mercy than he deserved."

Dante's knuckles grew tight as he all but snarled his words, eyebrows furrowing.

"In the end, he was wrong, knowing very well that he was. And yet, like a child who hides his eyes from the truth, he decided to still believe he was right. Your actions… Your words… Your decision to stand against me… They all perfectly resemble him. More importantly…you would also doom this world based on information that was very likely fabricated. I won't allow another fool possibly destroy a world based on misguided belief."

Xera took a breath and finally spoke back, "If you think I'm the kind of person to jump at the first thing I hear that's playing for exactly what I want to be true, you're wrong."

 _You can say that all you like, but that's exactly what you've done._

The phoenix shook his head. He was only repeating words he'd already spoken, but he was still trying to force even the slightest bit of information through Dante's head to dispel his aggression.

"I'm careful, I think before I leap, and there isn't anyone else I know that thinks more level-headed than I do under pressure," Xera continued, "None of this is fabricated. I can feel it in my entire being that it's not. But you're convinced something like this can never end well because it hasn't in the past… You're wrong about that. The past is there for you to learn from, it's not meant to be repeated."

"I agree. Which is why I learned from the last time and won't allow a repeat. I will stop this foolishness that so easily wormed into your head…even if I have to grind your bones into dust. You will understand…one way or another."

Xera could only shake his head, it really has come to this, "I can say the same to you."

 _Make your next move… I'm waiting…_

Xera's irises flashed a bright sky blue color, exactly like the young immortal before him if his Shadow Eyes weren't present. Black sclera and glowing white irises were all that stared back at the phoenix, watching and waiting.

Xera moved his blade back as he held it with both hands, orange flames violently erupting forth in numerous torrential streams as his black bangs whipped up from the sudden force.

 _Is he an idiot..?_

"Flames again? Don't you understand? That won't work on me."

Xera brushed off his comment and dashed forward, his fire trailing behind him in a roaring streak of searing light as he dragged his blade close to the ground.

Dante planned to simply stand still and prove the attack was going to be feeble and a waste, until he noticed something odd. The flames suddenly grew larger and more chaotic, but that wasn't what surprised him the most.

The flames had turned pitch black.

Dante quickly centered himself and raised his sword to block the attack as roaring black aura and flame sent him skidding back on his heels, Xera pushing him back full force and not stopping.

The immortal wasn't going to let this keep up and build momentum.

Dante grasped his sword with both hands as he spun around and deflected Xera up towards the sky, the phoenix softly flipping high above in a haze of flame, eyes turning back down as he lay in the suspended wake of his burning blade, his weapon still billowing fire and roaring violently like the wrath of a dragon.

Dante had time between Xera's next strike, so he quickly glanced at the Aura-flame coated sword to better understand what was happening and why it was black. But when he noticed Xera's eyes resembled his own, he immediately understood what his opponent pulled.

 _Now I see… You've been around me a considerable amount of time so far and have part of my memories to aid you. I'm almost impressed._

The air behind the phoenix collapsed in a sudden beat of his wings, quickly propelling him forward as his fire's rising heat sucked in the flowing air from the citadel's lower levels.

Xera cleared the distance in a heartbeat and took a powerful slash at Dante, letting the black mass of aura and flame surge forward and do the work it should've done if Dante didn't avoid it. But the attack was still too slow.

Dante blurred out of sight again and reappeared directly behind Xera, sword across his body and ready to swing.

"Not good enough I'm afraid."

Xera wasted no time and quickly spun around and swung full force, his blade clashing with Dante's as the black aura and flame burst forth in separate streams, threatening to consume the phoenix's opponent.

But it was never going to be enough.

The flames and Aura died down considerably after the attack, only lightly coating Xera's blade now as the metal of his sword sat warmly in his grasp. The phoenix struggled to push Dante away in their collision, but the immortal kept him in place.

"I suppose you think you're awfully clever to use my own technique against me. Especially the older version. Honestly…did you really think Howling Dark would work against me to the effects you desired it to be?"

"Well," Xera grunted, his feathers feeling the familiar air currents again around them as their blades locked, "it was worth a try."

"Your strategy was sound in thinking to use the technique, especially by keeping it contained to your sword rather than discharging it. That way it would add an incredible amount of force to your swings. Not only did I have to factor in your own strength, but the added strength of the technique. I'm assuming you patched together this half-baked plan using the memories I gave you a while ago in the event you needed to use my Semblance, yes?"

"No, not enough time for something like that." Xera replied evenly, tipping his sword away to try and dislodge it from Dante's biting blade, "Unlike you, planning isn't something I like to do to most extents. That was just something I thought would work, but it didn't."

"Hmph…"

 _A copy is only a copy. It almost never surpasses the original. Especially if the one wielding it has way more experience._

Dante broke their clash and sent Xera back a considerable distance, the immortal standing back.

"Is that all? You can do better than that."

As he spoke, Dante found black Aura and flame heading directly for him, prompting him to raise his sword up to block as he watched the torrent split in two past him, completely unharmed as the rest of the attack continued unrelentingly.

Xera slipped around the rising torrent, using it as cover as he circled around and readied himself to strike, but was more than surprised when the torrent of flame and aura opened up slightly, revealing a finger pointed directly at him.

The phoenix moved his sword in front of him when he saw that finger, expecting another blast of energy to hit him, like with what Dante used early on in his fight. But that wasn't the case.

The attack came from Xera's blind spot in the form of black Aura Swords as they silently flew through the air, ready to pierce his flesh. Even then, he still had his prime means of defense.

Xera's black wings folded around him as it took the brunt of the Aura Swords, each sword shattering against them like glass being thrown against a wall, but still having enough force to send him flying back down into the dirt.

"You countered that better than I expected." Dante stated, slowly approaching the teen, "But yet again, another plan has failed. You're running out of options Xera. Or rather…"

Xera made to move, but something hard suddenly locked him in place as blackened chains faded into view, restraining his arms, legs, and wings.

"You've already run out of any usable strategies."

Xera managed to look up, seeing Dante stopped directly in front of him, his gaze ever cold and calmly focused upon the phoenix, waiting to see if he would concoct another strategy to oppose him.

"Your luck's run out…" said the immortal as he slowly raised his weapon above his head, "This is the end for you."

 _You brought this upon yourself…_

Xera leaned away from the blade, eyes snapping to its movement as it fell and swung down, but only a soft sliver of air struck the phoenix's skin as the sword suddenly halted.

 _What..?_

With the force Dante swung at, he expected it to be Zeridûl again. But something thin and restrained suddenly caught Xera's peripherals when he saw a purple ribbon wrapped tightly around the sword over his head.

Dante immediately traced the offense back to its owner.

 _Of course…_

"Well now… This is certainly a surprise. I didn't expect the barrier to break without the use of outside help. But even that wasn't necessary. It would seem that you too are moving beyond my set expectations…Skyla Xerious."

Xera watched as his partner's breathing drew in and out of her lungs heavily, bringing her shoulders into a deep rise and fall as she glared at the immortal standing above him.

Behind the girl lay a completely shattered area of stone, where her prison once stood. Shambles of Dante's barrier glinted in the realm's crystal light as they littered the inside of a large crater.

The slim girl suddenly took a breath and let it all out.

"He knew he wasn't a match for you from the beginning but he fought you anyway!" Skyla yelled, the ground ripping away as she yanked on her ribbon to either pull him to her or throw herself at him, "And yet, you can't care enough to believe him, even for a moment!"

 _I do care… But he's wrong._

"What you see as a lack of caring is harshness on my part. None here have seen the disasters of believing those like the miscreant behind me,p." Dante replied, ire directed to the man at his throne as he remained still, "Especially the calamity that almost occurred had I allowed it to continue further. The Worlds… Different Realities like this one… All would have been affected or would have likely perished had I not stopped fools like this one from going through with their plan. That's why...I'll stop him. Even you if you get in my way."

"But this isn't your World!" Skyla dug her heels into the stone beneath her, pulling as hard as she could on her ribbon just to stay Dante's arm now, "This is our World! What happens to us shouldn't be any consolation to you! It's not your place to govern our home or take it into your own hands!"

 _Govern? This isn't about control you little fool._

"Shouldn't...? Hmph… That shows how little you know. And those who do not know cannot even begin to hope to understand. As was my former duty, I will save this world. Even from yourselves if I have to."

"If it was your duty, then you have to accept that you're not always right, that you don't always make the right call," Skyla's tugging on her ribbon was only causing her small frame to drag itself through the ground beneath her, shoes still digging deep into the plateau's stone, "You aren't even trying to consider that you may be wrong! I don't care how little I know or how little we all know! But a stubborn prick like you doesn't deserve the favor of any World if he discards any hope that the damned may actually be innocent!"

 _I have considered it. The chances of what you say are extremely low. The chances of him and you being cleverly manipulated are much higher._

"Favor? I don't need something as convoluted and meaningless as favor. As I said before, it doesn't matter to me in the slightest how you perceive me. Hero, villain, savior, destroyer. All that matters to me is completing my task whatever way possible."

"So that's it? When a World's in danger it's your task to put a stop to it, even if doing so takes the lives of the innocent?"

"Innocent you say? Tell me…was this after he showed whatever it is he did about Xera's brother? Did he even bother mentioning all that has transpired before all this? No, of course not. He is not innocent. That's why…his life will be mine. After I deal with the both of you."

Dante's black chains unraveled themselves from Xera as the young immortal grabbed hold of Xera's sweatshirt and tossed him directly toward Skyla's path, forcing her to unravel her ribbons from her weapon in order to catch her partner.

"A unified front… Distractions that will catch me off guard, sneak attacks, decoys… You'll need all of those and more in order to combat me effectively," Dante said, watching as Xera flipped around as Skyla caught his back beneath his arms, "But even with the two of you, your chances of succeeding are slim at best. So go ahead, try your best against me. But it will be all for naught in the end."

Zeridûl suddenly stood for a moment, "Is that so?"

The entity's voice echoed down from his throne again as he stepped forward, eyeing Dante challengingly before looking up into the void above.

"Then I suppose someone needs to boost their chances a bit. It's about time someone favored them, after all. But what do you care? That's just a convoluted and useless thing to you." A dark smirk split Zeridûl's lips as a bright light surged in the sky.

But the flash of a neon light from above suddenly tore the phoenix's gaze skyward as a streak of smoldering white light descended from the void above, gravitationally dropped from the sky itself as Zeridûl lifted an arm, then let his hand fall.

With little to no time to react, Xera pushed Sky to the ground and covered her with his wings, the light above them getting stronger before a small burning star impacted the ground, directly on top of the phoenix and his partner.

Zeridûl smiled as his throne room violently shook from the impact, an explosion of combustive white fire ripping out from the star's epicenter and blanketing the battlefield with a newly roaring blaze of scorching heat.

Kimura, Destiny's Cerberus, was the only reason why she and the two other girls with her weren't swept up in the ringed blast.

But the surge of energy wasn't enough to deter Dante in the slightest, just blowing past his smoking body as the sea of white crackled and glowed.

"I see… So then…is that it? That's your big strategy?" the immortal asked.

 _He's feeding him the best source of flame that could be. The lasting, burning flame of a star. Clever move since the fire will feed Stark's power, effectively recharging him and making him more powerful._

Dante soon watched blinding white light flow, singlqing that Xera's Affinity had activated and was taking in the fire littering the battlefield around him. Every morsel of energy from that fallen star filtered into his Aura before the phoenix's eyes emitted a stable white glow, pupils embering with white flame inside the illuminated colors of his irises.

Then that blinding white light faded away.

"You ready?" Xera asked quietly, removing his wings completely before pushing himself up onto one knee and giving a hand to Skyla.

The girl could only smile when she saw the rekindled light in Xera's eyes, "Always."

"Hmph… Don't get so cocky. You may have received power, yes, but the way you define power is vastly different from my definition of power. So…I'll show you real power…" Dante swept his blade to the side as he turned to face the pair as they helped each other stand, "and crush the both of you."

Dante dashed forward at blinding speed, moving for Xera first with a stab to his throat. But Skyla wasn't about to let him have his way.

She moved to strike at him but found her blade blocked by his bare left hand while Xera blocked the sword in his right, seeing him lift his left leg for a kick to her sides to send her away.

But the girl countered with a kick of her own, their feet meeting upon contact, only the force of her kick was stronger and forced him back, opening him to attack from Xera.

Even so he remained calm and met the phoenix head-on, keeping his focus split between the two. Xera struck at Dante full force with his flames enwreathing his weapon to allow him to even out the force of his strikes to be on par with the immortal.

But it wasn't the phoenix Dante was most concerned about. No, it was Skyla instead. He knew almost nothing of her Semblance or her abilities, only that she was very skilled, especially when focused like she was now.

Dante found his arm entangled in one of Skyla's ribbons, part of her dual sword weapon which resembled a certain cat-faunus' style almost. Instead of moving in for an attack like he expected from her, it was Xera instead who moved in with a powerful strike that nearly forced away Dante's weapon, even so, it was enough for Skyla to move in.

And she did exactly that when she pulled herself to the immortal and delivered a heeled kick that missed by my mere seconds. But that wasn't all she had to offer. She swung one of her swords at Dante, who raised his sword to the side to block, but was surprised when he was so easily forced away by just one swing of her silver blade.

She didn't stop there.

She began assaulting him with a flurry of explosively powerful kicks until she opened up his guard, just enough for Xera to flash by and leave a nasty cut across Dante's chest yet again, only now the cut was deeper than last.

 _I've underestimated the strength they gained. It's rather incredible in comparison to what I originally thought. But it's fine. They can attack me all they wish, but it won't be long before I'm used to their attack patterns. That…and Skyla Xerious' Semblance. It's a tricky one to match force wise…but…_

Dante moved back from a downwards slash Xera delivered and moved back further when Skyla leapt over him to deliver a menacing cross slash to the immortal's eyes, an attack he barely managed to avoid.

When Dante managed to firmly plant his feet to the ground he quickly stabbed for Skyla, soon finding his sword had been completely stopped by a furiously blazing hand.

 _Impossible..! With his bare hand..?!_

Without time to retaliate, Xera quickly planted a fist full of fire directly into Dante's chest, ignoring the armored hide protecting him. And when he grabbed hold of Xera's arm, he found that his stomach and chest were pierced by twin blades from Skyla, who had quickly slipped in.

"That's enough!"

Dante elbowed Xera in the jaw to force him away a bit, giving him room to grab Skyla's face and push her away from him.

Xera Stark was moving in for his next strike, but he found an Aura Sword piercing through his right shoulder, almost forcing him to let go of his sword.

Now that he had time, the immortal had the chance to deal with Skyla while Xera was recovering. He made to grab for her head once more, but she raised up her sword so that his powerful grip would find the blade instead of her wrist. It was still more than enough.

Dante immediately spun her around a few times and tossed her away like a doll, and blurred out of sight to reappear behind her, ready to stab her. But she didn't give in so easily. Instead of being skewered, she shifted her body midflight and grabbed hold of Dante's wrist, pulling him up with her.

With the little momentum she had left, Skyla shifted their positions and smashed Dante head-first into the floor with enough force to make a small crater.

Despite her successful counter-attack, she wasn't foolish enough to assume they had so easily won. This was far from over. She made to pull away with her ribbons, but was still too late in removing the last sword from Dante. With the grasp on her weapon, Dante slung Skyla up into the air and used his immense strength to sling her back down into the harsh platform with ground-breaking results.

Now, there was one more to deal with for the time being.

Dante lifted himself off the ground and quickly readied himself for the fast approaching Xera Stark, who tried to run him through with his sword, but he wasn't quick enough.

Instead, the immortal moved aside before delivering a powerful knee into the phoenix's gut and followed up with a crushing elbow drop to his back near his waist, effectively knocking the wind out of Xera before tossing him aside as well.

But it seemed as though he was a distraction, just like he instructed the duo to use against him.

When he turned around, it was far too late to dodge. So instead, he let Skyla Xerious plunge her swords into his body. Clearly, that wasn't all to her surprise attack. She pushed on the blades, expecting something to happen. But nothing did.

"It seems as though you've forgotten something fairly basic."

Skyla looked up toward Dante, who slightly towered over her as he grabbed hold of one of her arms to keep her in place.

"A battle between Huntsmen and Huntresses is far more sophisticated than dealing with Grimm. And in those types of battles, they involve strength, skill, intellect…but most importantly…Aura. I don't entirely know about your Semblance, but I know enough by now. And so…I can easily overcome your silly power by simply accessing my aura reserves, effectively nullifying any direct effects on my body. Anyone can do it really it. The only problem is…the person intending to overcome the others direct effect must be stronger than the other."

Dante raised up his sword, ready to strike down Skyla as he held her in place.

"I'll admit. The both of you surprised me with your sudden burst of power. It wasn't something I should have made light of so easily. Even so…it's as I told you from the start. Whatever strategy or effort either of you put forward...it's entirely useless against a power that overwhelms the both of you entirely."

Skyla struggled to pull away, but it was all for naught. She had been caught.

"Goodbye."

Dante moved to bring his sword down upon her, but as soon as he did, he remained completely frozen.

 _What...? Why...?_

When he looked to his arms and general body, he noticed something crucial had changed

It was gone. All of it. The form he was slowly assuming had completely vanished from his body. Not even a single trace of it remained.

His armor… The significant boost in strength and speed… All of it was suddenly non-existent.

Shock took over, unable to believe what had just happened. What did happen?

Dante searched his mind for answers as quickly as possible. He didn't run out of aura, that would be nearly impossible unless he forcibly dispensed all of it like last time. His power wasn't being negated. So why did-?

It then hit him suddenly. This was Zeridûl's World. He made it. Dark Essence and all.

So then…since they were in his World, and it was necessarily his essence…wouldn't it make sense for him to take back all that Dante unconsciously drew upon?

He had spent too much time thinking. And he was going to suffer for it now since he saw Skyla's fist heading directly for his jaw.

 _Damn it all…_

The immortal felt the full force of the young girl's explosive punch make contact with his head and sent him flying backward a considerable distance. Any other normal person would have had their head completely vanish. Anyone else with bones like his would have had their brain turned to complete mush from the sheer impact alone.

She was deadly. Far too deadly than he gave her credit for.

Did he feel the pain from her punch just now? No. But did it still feel uncomfortable? Most certainly.

"What? Didn't see that coming? I thought I was being too simple for you." Skyla landed softly to her feet, eyes suddenly looking for her partner in the moment she had.

"I'll admit… I've been completely caught off guard..." Dante said, rising from the ground as he grabbed his sword, "It didn't entirely cross my mind at first. Very likely because I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it for myself. It was my error for not taking this possibility into account. But…"

Xera slid into Skyla's side as they carefully watched the immortal rise back up, eyeing his partially blackened right arm.

"I won't give this up simply because the two of you hold more power than I do at the moment. I'm determined to see this through to the end."

"So are we. and if you still can't get yourself to change your mind...then we can't give up yet either." Xera said.

* * *

 **All I have to say is sorry for the wait and no omake this week. So double sorry. Life is being unpredictable with the amount of nonsense i have to work through. The only other thing I have to say now is that we're pretty much done in 2 more chapters at least, and after that, we return to our normal, previously schedule program.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created. **

**Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	21. Chapter 21: The Fox Devil and Phoenix

**Guess what everyone? I'm not dead! Yay~ I guess. Basically, intense sickness, which made me feel like I was dying, and getting some stuff sorted out as much as possible was why stuff took as long as it did. And no, Xera wasn't at fault, I kinda was since I messed up when he was actually getting back from vacation and such. When he did, we sat down for the day and worked our hearts out. So please, enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 21: The Fox Devil and The Phoenix**

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Students lay on the ground of the icy island of, each in varying positions of either pain or reluctance to get back up as the new arrival stood his ground.

Pyrrha was the last of her own team to still be standing, but she wasn't standing on her own strength. A partially gloved hand lay wrapped around her throat, holding her up on her own two feet as he eyed her coldly.

"Are you done?" he asked calmly, holding Pyrrha in the air.

Everyone was already exhausted from holding off two Dremoha for so long, fighting both head-on as a group on top of that.

They didn't have the strength for this. Not now. Maybe if they were rested, they could've taken him… But there wasn't any beating him this time.

"No…? Good."

The redhead was cast aside, falling and skidding across the ice beside her blonde leader as she came to a limp halt.

"Alright asshat! Time's up!"

Ciel charged him for the fifth time, fed up with both him, his condescending attitude, and most importantly, his extremely poor sense of fashion sense. Erasure was imminent.

Thus, she activating her Semblance to end things now.

Spacial Manipulation was only a part of her Semblance, one she abused greatly when darting around the powerful Niro Ezdeil she previously fought, phasing in and out around different locations around him until finally she darted forward from behind him and slashed.

When he reached out to grab her, Ciel had vanished, and silently spoke, "Time be still!"

And with a snap of her fingers, everything had ceased movement. The world around the young girl lost color and remained grayscale as she landed on her feet, brought her scythe to her side, and dashed forward to end the menace before her.

She only had ten seconds before time resumed flow. But all she needed was three.

Anything past ten seconds would heavily eat into her Aura, and she'd have to relinquish her grip on time itself.

When close enough to the black-clad cowboy, she whipped her skeletal scythe around her body and swung to tear the man in two.

Only, before she could, she saw his hat suddenly tilt up and the gloved palm of his hand to catch the weapon by the blade's edge.

Blood and Aura crashed together as the shock in Niro's sudden movement broke Ciel's concentration, dropping her halted field immediately as Niro grabbed the girl's weapon by the staff and threw her aside, straight-tossing her into Leo.

The twin dropped his aim for that moment and stood to stop Ciel's momentum, the both of them skidding back, but the brother keeping his sister in the fight as she landed back on her feet, a startled breath leaving her lips.

"Why didn't what work…?" Leo asked, before his eyes suddenly widened just as he was taking aim, "Wait, did he-?!"

"He freaking moved!" the girl yelled, slamming her scythe into the ground, "That wasn't supposed to happen..! That guy..! He must have done something before I used Chrono Reaper..."

"Or maybe you're just not strong enough to stop someone like me from moving entirely." Niro replied lowly, lowering the lip of his hat to overshadow his eyes.

"Bite me, douchebag!" replied Ciel.

The simple words he uttered silenced and froze the teens around him, stopping all signs of movement entirely. Not by time, but by tense apprehension to engage him anymore.

He wasn't weakened, not even by a small margin. Were they really that worn in by the fight? Or was it something about him?

"Anyone else?" he asked, looking around him, "Or can I finally speak now that you're all not attacking me?"

Silence and glares met him in return, continuing for a few short moments before the crunch of someone else's footsteps echoed out over the desolate island.

"And what does a man like you wish to say to us?" Ozpin asked calmly, but the grip on his cane was unnoticeably tight, "You are here for your target, are you not?"

"For the most part." Niro replied, tipping his hat up to the approaching headmaster as he eyed the silvered man with a casual ease, "But that's not my only motive for coming here."

"Then, if you fancy not hurting my students more than you already have, I'd appreciate you reveal what it is you're here for. Officially." Ozpin reasoned, his words spoken but no action was taken by Niro for several long moments of silence.

And then he moved.

The dark cowboy made his way over to his armored bullhead and hit its hull with the side of his fist, "Kyzal, open her up."

"Sure thing. The chick in the back finally calmed down. Thankfully..." the falcon faunus replied from the SS-17's cockpit.

Soon after, the bay door at the back of the vessel unsealed with a loud pop of pressurized air, the heavy barrier dropping down and opening fully as Niro made his way around to the back.

Black boots stood casually on the ice before the door's edge as it came to a soft standstill, Niro looking inside and beyond Nora Valkyrie, glancing to the back of the ship.

The same place the girl was staring. Only, Nora quietly stood up and made her way down the ramp, eyes low to the ground as she stopped at Niro's side.

Lime green eyes regarded her for merely a moment, before she stepped out onto the island and ran to Ren's side, where the rest of her team lay.

She was completely unhurt.

"Suit up, we're here." Niro said, his voice drawing everyone's attention away from Nora and to the bullhead again.

Dull footsteps tapped out into the atmosphere's cold air as someone unaccounted for made their way forward, a pale hand reaching out to grab hold of the extended piston that held the bay door open before a new figure stepped out onto the ramp and stopped.

Cerulean eyes looked around calmly, taking in all the faces that stared at him and breathing out softly at their confusion.

Shoulder-length black hair drifted in the wind as he made his way down to the ice, the only sound on the island now just the harsh thud of his boots on the metal of the bullhead's exit.

Those eyes looked around again as he moved past Niro, the cowboy turning to follow the teen as everything on the island stilled.

"I…wish this were possible..." Ozpin slowly said, eyes meeting the blue irises of the one who stood before him as the headmaster himself loosened the grip on his weapon, "But how are you here? Conscious and moving?"

Cerulean eyes turned to Niro as the cowboy continued forward, silently approaching Dante's siblings before moving past them as well.

"I can't explain everything right now," the young man replied, bringing his eyes back away from Niro and to the headmaster again, "but you'll all just have to trust me. Everything will make sense once this is all over."

Ozpin could only nod silently, dully almost, before a flash of intrigue returned to his experienced gaze to ask one more question before he let the young man go.

"And how is that man involved with all of this?"

Those blue eyes turned to Niro again before the pale fingers held loosely at his side clenched together, tightening into fists as he brought his gaze to the rift above.

"He's taking me to see my brother."

"Not just you." Niro interrupted, stopping just before Inuba, who stood protectively in front of a silently staring kitsune sitting on the ground behind her.

Niro was surprised to see no fear in the smaller one's golden-orange eyes, something he would've thought to be present in a frail creature like herself.

But part of him wasn't surprised.

"Storm's over." Niro whispered with a nod to the sky, "No lightning. She'll be fine."

"I don't understand." Inuba returned quietly, eyeing the cowboy with heightened suspicion, but nothing could refute the raw proof of just who exactly stood behind him just a few feet away, "What exactly do you two have planned?"

"Stop idling and find out." Niro returned evenly, eyes easily causing conflicting emotions to flood through Inuba's own irises before she glanced up to the rift above.

He was their enemy. To trust him now after he attacked them…

"You can trust him." the young man assured from behind Niro, the girl's crimson eyes meeting cerulean for the first time, "For now, anyway."

"Great. Now that we have that sorted out, buckle up you two." Niro finished casually, walking back to the headmaster and to the unexpected arrival's side, "We don't have a lot of time."

* * *

"You know Xera..." Zeridûl's voice filtered in, "I am beginning to think you should have added the immortal's fox to your ranks when entering. Perhaps if she were here, she very likely would have persuaded him before all of this would have happened."

"Maybe." the phoenix replied, but his eyes never left Dante before him, "But there isn't anything we can do right now to change that."

Minutes had gone by. And yet he was still standing. He was immortal afterall and regenerated faster than they could land hits. Even if that were the case, he could still be worn out. Skyla and Xera were still wearing him out to varying degrees.

"He doesn't even look all that tired… It's like we're only encouraging him to keep going…" Skyla said, wiping some sweat from her brow.

"He's stubborn that way…unfortunately…" Xera returned as he took a few breaths.

Dante simply remained where he was trying to figure out what to do next. He knew their way of thinking, they weren't the first to try it. He figured that their thought process led them to believe that since they were two and he was one, they could crush him now that the essence he absorbed had vanished. Despite this, he still didn't make it easy for them to approach. Not in the slightest.

But even that was proving to be problematic.

Dante didn't want to be here any longer. But he wouldn't let that deter him from his task. He could definitely outlast them, no question about it. The issue was, however, it would take too long.

But what else could he do really? Take their hits and hope they don't block his attacks? Still would take too long. Even dodging would prove too much. Especially with his right arm aching horribly as it did.

Inuba's healing was wearing off. And he knew full well if that happened, he'd be at an even more disadvantage.

* * *

 _What do I do? Do I fight harder? Or do I trick them into thinking I've given up? I just… I just can't let these fools take a huge risk like this. Not with this...smug miscreant who claims to bring no more harm upon them… They don't know what they're doing, it's why I'm here. And if I have to save them from themselves...then I will. I'm not wrong. I am NOT giving up._

"Just end this already! Enough is enough!" shouted Xera.

It wasn't enough. It was nowhere near enough. He would make them see. He would.

 _It's not enough… Not enough… I… I need…_

 _"Power, yes?"_

A woman's voice echoed through his head

 _That voice… No… It can't be…_

 _"But it is. My Sweet Champion… How long has it been since we last saw one another?"_

It was her. That sweet and endearing voice… It could be none other than her...

 _Too long I'm afraid…_

 _"Yet again you sacrificed much…"_

 _Indeed I did…_

 _"And yet again it did little to ease your pain and frustration."_

 _You're absolutely right… But still, how are you here? I thought you were gone._

 _"My Dearest Champion… I never left you. And I will never leave you. I always and forever will remain bound with you, no matter what may come our way or separate us for a period of time. That is the strength of our bond."_

 _Goddess… My silence has left me undeserving...but yet... I humbly ask that-_

 _He felt arms wrap around him from behind, softly embracing him like she always did._

 _"Hush now Sweet Champion, speak not of this nonsense of being undeserving. You are, and will always be, deserving of my power. All you must do…is ask for it."_

 _Then… Please… Give me strength…_

* * *

Xera and Skyla watched as Dante's katana, along with its sheath, disappeared in a sudden burst of what appeared to be white Aura, almost flame-like.

"Hey… Is he giving up?" asked Skyla.

"I… I don't know…"

Xera remained ever so cautious, even if nothing was happening around Dante.

For the moment.

Why do I get the feeling like I've seen this somewhere before...?

The phoenix couldn't help but feel an eerie presence coming from Dante, more eerie and ominous than the young immortal had been throughout the entire venture. This wasn't something Dark… This felt more wrathful than Dark.

When Xera finally locked eyes with Dante, his heart felt like it sank into the endless abyss below.

A demonic, piercing gaze of a menacing fox stared straight back at him

Shining, crimson red sclera glowed brightly like an angry crimson blaze. Black irises were encompassed by that plane of red, and within those reaches of darkness glowed a pure set of vertically oriented, white, oval-shaped pupils that nearly resembled slits.

He knew what it was that he was about to see. But like Dante's Shadow Skin, the phoenix had ever only "seen" it, never being unfortunate enough to be facing off against it.

And then, just like before, the air quaked once more from the massive pressure of Dante's now rising aura, flame-like white aura bursting forth from him and forming nine long white ethereal fox tails just above his tailbone, each spanning nearly seven feet long and glowing a brilliant pale white.

Then two prominently ethereal white fox ears appeared on his head as quickly as the tails formed.

The long fox tails fluidly whipped about in the air like elegantly raging fires in the wind, Xera now being able to see what lay hidden in the fur of each burning tail. Within the tips of each of the nine appendages remained nine katanas, sheathed and protected, each having white handles and white oval guards.

As the nine long tails behind him whipped around wildly, one of them moved upwards and branched down over his right shoulder.

"I was wrong earlier in saying that favor is frivolous and worthless..." Dante slowly stated, "Truthfully, favor from anything and anyone else I don't trust is more or less like that to me."

In a quick and fluid motion, Dante grabbed hold of the handle with his hand, resting it there as he continued.

"Are you ready, Xera Stark?" the burning immortal asked, piercing red gaze narrowing as he tightened his hold, "This is our power… Our wrath…"

Skyla leaned quietly over to Xera as she blinked for a moment, "See, now he's just straight up cheating. Please tell me you have a super phoenix form of some kind?"

Xera gulped, "None that I know of..."

The two watched as Dante breathed in, then with a loud voice that powerfully resonated off the rocks spanning the reaches of the darkened realm, he screamed "Dakini no Ikari (Wrath of Great Goddess Dakini)!" whilst drawing the katana from the tip of the tail, rapidly twirling the blade around twice until he leaned forwards into a pose, wielding the katana with both hands, sharp edge facing the sky.

Crackles of white flame sparked and lurched from the jet black blade, reflecting the rage he and his Goddess Dakini now shared at the enemy before him. The white flames grew into a miniature inferno around the immortal, completely consuming him and obscuring him from the sight of the duo that opposed him.

Skyla leaned back to Xera a second time, blinking again, "Am I allowed to say it?"

"Yep..." Xera squeaked.

"Well… Shit."

* * *

The bright blaze of white flame settled and faded slowly into the earth, forming a small ring of fire around the new unveiled form that hazily filtered into view.

From their short distance, it only looked like Dante assumed his Shadow Skin, but modified. His entire second skin-like form was bathed in a vibrant white, replacing the previous armored pitch black hide of his other.

Instead of normally having perfectly circular, glowing eyes, he retained his Fox Eyes. His maw of numerous sharp teeth, that were a part of the secondary skin encompassing his form, was all that remained similar to his Shadow Skin.

The rest seemed to be different.

The immortals hair remained white, only now with traces of black and white flame flickering off of his shining strands, drifting in absent motions on their own accord. Nine long, black-tipped white tails flowed wildly from just above his tailbone, each spanning nearly seven feet long, and two prominently black tipped white fox ears appeared on his head.

Dante's tails soon slowed, falling into swiftly brushing fluid motions, like that of elegantly raging fires in the wind. It was then Xera, Skyla, and all those who watched saw that in Dante's hands, the sword finally manifested as he kept his stance, the jet black blade brimming with pure white aura that also seemed to dance like fire.

"H-Ha! Is that it?!" Skyla taunted lightly, trying to shake the tension on the field as she raised her arms up momentarily.

Without warning, another one of Dante's tails leaned down towards his left, allowing him to draw another katana from the tip of the tail, which he twirled thrice into backhand style as he crouched back into his stance.

"Erm… Do you think he was already going to do that?" Skyla asked slowly, tilting her head from side to side as she reached the end of her comment, "Or only after I asked..?"

"This form is one granted to me by the Demon Fox Goddess Dakini…" Dante said, drawing their attention back to him, "A form bestowed only to those worthy of being a Champion. Xera, you already know part of what she is capable of. But tell me…do you know why she is also called the Demon Fox Goddess?"

The phoenix gripped the handle of his blade tightly as he lifted its edge defensively, "Because of her ruthless wrath on the battlefield."

"Correct. A being so powerful that not even the great Izanagi no Okami would dare cross her. You've seen and heard so much, and still stand at the ready to continue?"

"Strength comes in the form of physical power, yes..." Xera replied, Skyla entered a defensive stance at his side as she brought up her own blades, "But it empowers a belief just as much as it does your body. Your drive is what allows you to try so hard. We're not backing down, not even now."

"Very well then. I will make you understand the error of your flawed thinking, even if I must cripple you." The immortal took a step forward, forcing the two before him to tense their bodies and ready themselves, "You will regret this."

"We won't." Sky replied evenly, smirking.

Without another word, Dante lunged forward into a rapid glide, quickly closing the gap between the duo and moving towards Xera first. The phoenix tilted his sword defensively to block, but just as quickly found no one in sight, only feeling something crash into his back with great force.

Skyla only turned her head and watched as Dante passed her by with his foot planted into Xera's back, moving the two forward a considerable distance while the phoenix was sent flying. He quickly made contact with the ground, only to bounce off it and crash into a nearby pillar, cracking it completely and shattering its base from his light frame.

Skyla rapidly approached from behind, quickly forcing Dante to turn and face her while he leapt backwards a bit and clashed with her, keeping the both of them firmly placed. She saw Dante move back the left hand that held his katana backhand style, soon feeling the butt of the handle strike her stomach and sending her skidding on her heels.

Dante's head moved slightly to the right as an arcing wave of flame grazed his human ear, turning his focus to the phoenix quickly approaching him, his flight low enough to floor as he raised up his empty left hand and shot out shining, speartip-like shots of flame in multitudes. Dante stood his ground and quickly struck at the incoming projectiles one by one, his gaze ever so intensely focused on what came his way as he cut each explosive shot apart, causing them all to explode.

The fiery haze that erupted soon whipped away as the two clashed, one which Xera broke through the backing of Skyla's semblance to amplify his swing. Taking an opening, the phoenix made for a slash, only to find Dante duck under his strike, spin around, and forcefully whip his nine fox tails into Xera's body, launching him high up into the sky.

"You're a fool Xera Stark." said Dante with his hollow, echoing voice as he dashed after Xera, "You challenge a being you cannot even possibly hope to kill."

"That may be so..!" Xera grit his teeth and turned in the air, yelling back down at Dante as his wings burst with speed and sent him back down, "But we have to try! Even if it's impossible!"

Try was all they could do. Succeeding though...

Xera watched as Dante made a stab with his normally held weapon in his right hand, the blade just mere inches away from his face. But this was a feint. One that was too late to be realized as Dante quickly moved his left hand and planted the fist that held his other weapon directly into his face, sending higher into the sky.

Before Dante made another move, he found ribbons wrapped around his left leg that pulled him towards the dual wielder on the ground, ready to welcome her. But as he flew back down towards Skyla, Dante reared back his nine tails, and one after the other extended themselves and shot out like spears towards the young girl, who darted in between each tail that plunged into the ground.

As soon as the immortal landed, his tails returned to their normal length, allowing him to re-engage Skyla, their blades furiously striking at one another in rapid, blindings motions.

"I'm almost impressed with your ability to keep up." the immortal said, continuing to strike at her.

"Maybe you're just slow!" she replied with a retaliation, trying to catch him in his own words.

"Slow you say? Hmph."

Dante backed away from a swing at his head, and dashed forwards at Skyla, only to quickly blur out of sight when she struck at him. He then appeared off to her side and then moved in a blur, appearing opposite of her before blurring out of sight and reappearing rapidly around her. The speed at which he did so made it seem as though nine of him now encircled Skyla, all of them dashing around her in opposite circular motions of one another in blurs, making it very difficult to determine which was actually Dante.

"What's wrong? Am I moving too slow for you? I could always move faster for you if you'd like." he asked her tauntingly as he continued his tactic.

Skyla smirked and let him talk, the silver reaches of her blades suddenly brimming with bright purple, rupturing aura as she ground one quickly down the length of the other, a vibrating screech tearing out from her central position.

The ground around her melted away under an expanding, crumbling burst of invisible force, tearing into both matter and air as the girl kicked forward and slammed her blades into a harsh clash with the only real Dante around her.

"Neat little trick. Teach that one to your dogs or something?!" She asked coyly, more energy rippling down her swords as the air around her pulsated unnaturally.

"And yet again I've underestimated you. I've seemingly made a bad habit of doing so."

Dante blurred out of sight once more, moving behind her to strike. She managed to turn around just in time, moving her head back slightly to watch Dante's sword barely miss the bridge of her nose. Just as she skidded backwards to a halt, Dante was upon her already and struck down on her, forcing her into an overhead block.

The immortal heard wind rushing behind him and broke his clash with Skyla to turn and block Xera momentarily, jumping backwards and delivering a back kick to Skyla to send her further from him and the phoenix, both he and Xera soon striking at each other rapidly with the same intensity between himself and Skyla from before.

Xera was the first to land a powerful slash across Dante's body, making him spin around with the force of the strike. But the spin was not so simple. As soon as the immortal was made to spin from the strike, he used the momentum of his spin to strike outwards at Xera, leaving a lesser, comparable cut on his chest, leaving him open to attack.

Dante immediately moved in to take advantage of his newly made opening, missing his target when Skyla shoulder bashed into him with explosive force, sending the immortal overhead of Xera. The immortal tucked and rolled back into a stance when he hit the ground.

 _They're not giving much ground... I'll have to soften them up further. Break their morale. I've been gathering energy the entire time. Xera's fire especially helped in that matter. I should be able to use it now._

Dante plunged his left sword into the ground and grasped his other with both hands, leaning back momentarily before standing back up straight and threw his arms outwards, releasing his now spinning sword in the direction of the duo.

Xera stepped up and swung his sword at the one coming to take their heads, his own blackened blade crashing into Dante's and sending it soaring above and behind them, plunging into the ground once it made contact with the floor.

Oddly enough, instead of taking the sword next to him that he plunged into the ground, Dante charged forwards towards the duo, drawing his next two swords from two of his other fox tails, now holding both normally. When he got close enough, he brought his arms up and slashed both sword in an X formation that sent the duo back slightly, but this was only the beginning.

Instead of giving pause, a second after the immortal's initial strike, he continued by running at them and slashing at them rapidly with near-invisible speed, forcing them into pure defense as they continued to block his onslaught of slashes that came from numerous angles in front of them. To finish, Dante leapt up slightly and spun around rapidly, his sword striking against theirs numerous times.

Before touching the ground, he discarded one sword by tossing it and having it forced up by Skyla, Xera managing to discard the other with a powerful upwards swing. The phoenix moved in and stabbed Dante in the shoulder with his flaming sword. Dante's hand wrapped around the burning weapon, prompting Xera to take a quick glance to see the flames slowly being sucked into Dante's hand.

The immortal moved backward and to the side, sword still in shoulder and firmly grasped, to avoid a double stab from Skyla, allowing him to grab hold of her sword. With that, Dante quickly spun around twice and tossed them away from him in separate directions, but not far away as to completely put distance between them.

He then grabbed hold of two more swords, spun around, and sent them spinning in different directions, one for Skyla and one for Xera. Xera was the only one to dodge out of the way from the sword that planted itself in the ground, whilst Skyla spun around and struck the blade into the ground next to her.

 _Three swords left…_

Dante took a quick glance to Skyla before making a dash for Xera and drawing his next two swords. He knew the phoenix was faster than his partner, which is why he moved for him first. If he had moved for Skyla first instead, Xera would have easily been able to catch up and cutoff his attempt. And so, Dante swung his next two swords upward twice in an X formation before vertically slamming both of them down.

He thought he stuck Xera down, but his body vanished soon after. He had used Blake's Semblance.

 _Clever._

As the fake "Xera" began to dissipate, the real one came from behind his clone with a powerful stab at Dante. Almost too late to entirely react, Dante put enough force into his counter swing to block Xera's attack, but it resulted in him being disarmed of the sword as it plunged into the ground. Xera wasn't finished, swinging upward and outward, leaving a large slash across Dante's chest yet again for the duration of their fight.

Dante drew his last drawable sword and blocked another flaming strike from Xera, but soon found himself under attack from Skyla as she cut in from his left. Each of Dante's swords now held back an attacker, who were slowly overpowering him by the second. Not long after, it came to be that Skyla and Xera managed to put enough force behind their attacks to send Dante back and disarm him of his final katanas.

Dante skidded on his heels to a halt, kneeling down as his katanas flew past him and plunged themselves into the ground.

He was now completely disarmed.

"Got a magnet in those sleeves of yours? Or just planning something dangerous?" Xera asked, having been cautiously taking into account each of the fallen blades' positions.

His plan wasn't to recall them, it wasn't anything so simplistic.

"Whatever it is, we can beat it!" Skyla stated, keeping Xera's caution at the front of her mind as she swiped up and forward from the ground to send a concussive burst of focused, piercing air into Dante's chest, dry air pulsating again behind her swing as she tracked their opponent's eye movements.

Dante was sent flying, his back hitting the floor and bouncing once before harshly skidding across the floor. He stayed still for but a moment before swinging his legs backwards and flipping himself up so he could stand.

"Any other opponent would likely be dead if they faced you both like you do with me now. You truly are fearsome opponents."

"Not really…" Xera replied.

"We just have a good reason to not be holding anything back right now." Sky finished, sending two more mirrored air bursts his way in an attempt to push him further toward the edge of the wall-less throne room.

But he knew what this technique was now. Taking the hit was usually the best way to find out how it worked and what exactly was behind the attack. Unfortunately, this means of understanding could not be used by the majority, for they would end up injured or deceased.

The immediate second Skyla moved her arms, Dante raised up his arms defensively and blocked the two bursts, two large circles appearing on his forearms, the inner parts of the circles now cracked like glass.

"Dangerous individuals call for dangerous tactics..." said the immortal as he lowered his hands, "I warned the both of you before. But you didn't listen and arrogantly brushed it away."

Dante blurred out of their sight, reappearing a second later at one of his nine swords implanted in a circular formation around the duo, grasping the white handle of the jet black blade firmly as it flowed with white Aura once more.

"This time…will truly be the end."

When he spoke those words, the other eight katanas planted into the ground burst to life with white Aura, brilliantly crackling like fire. Then, something odd happened.

The Aura from the swords, save the one Dante had, began to extend outward and take shape. Shortly after, the Aura formed into flame-like clones of the current form of Dante, each clone grasping the swords tightly with their hands before moving in sync with Dante, standing up and placing the top of their free hands on the butt of the katanas, as if standing watch over the duo in the center, ready to pass judgement.

They were completely surrounded.

Dante, and the clones that simultaneously followed his movements, removed their swords from the ground and pointed them at Xera and Skyla in the center, who stood defensively, constantly watching each direction around them.

Then…with a chilling voice, Dante spoke.

"Burn this into your memory… Dakini no Handan (Dakini's Judgement)..."

Within the second he spoke those words, both he and his clones vanished in blurs, thousands of glowing white slash marks filling the space of their formation within a matter of three or so seconds. After the seemingly final slash, Dante appeared a good distance away behind Xera and Skyla in a kneeling stance, sword brought outwards while his eight other sword were now planted next to him in a horizontal formation, four swords on each side of his body.

Dante let out a quick exhale of breath as he twirled the sword he held twice before sheathing it back into a tail, his eight other tails grabbing hold of the handles of the katanas, tossing them up into the air, and letting them fall back into the tips of the tails, sheathing all of the weapons he had. When finished, Dante had turned around to glance at his work as he spoke once more.

"Do you see now Xera Stark? The difference between our power is like that of heaven and earth. Almost literally if you think about it carefully enough..." he began as he walked towards the phoenix.

Xera could barely stand from the numerous cuts covering his body, breathing heavily as he planted his sword into the ground and leaned into it to support him and keep him standing.

"Imitating others' techniques and abilities does seem like a perfectly logical idea in order to become stronger, beingable to pick and choose different abilities... But I'm afraid the great difference in power will always remain."

Before he knew it, Dante now stood before Xera only about a meter away, towering over him with his imposing form.

"You are now truly on your own."

"Y-Yeah…" Xera breathed out, warm blood seeping over his knuckles he gripped his sword held embedded in the ground, supporting himself as he protected Skyla's downed form behind him, "you're not the only one who's said that to me..."

The phoenix was able to hear Skyla's light breathing, still fully conscious, but the two of them took that attack almost in full. Only difference was that she wasn't able to move at all.

The damage was already done. But even so, Xera was still kneeling in front of his partner, ready to take any extra hits for her.

"Don't worry. I have no intention of fighting her now that she cannot move anymore. When performing my technique just moments ago, I made especially sure to focus on her. Unfortunately for Skyla, maximum threat level shifted to her when performing her 'air-burst' shots, considering you were my original target."

"A-And-" Xera coughed out a splatter of blood, the air and pain seizing in his breath for a moment before he continued, "w-what exactly did your technique do to her…seeing as we're not dead…"

"Two things really. In your case, the technique wasn't as effective given the protection your wings offered against my "vortex of slashes", however much they could. But specifically concerning her…" he said looking down at Skyla, receiving a glare from the girl before turning his head back to Xera, "When I focused on Sklya, I made sure to incorporate stabs in different sections of her arms and legs in order to prevent her from moving either of them for the remaining duration. See?" he said pointing towards her.

Xera didn't need to see to know the extent of her injuries. He already knew… And he knew fully that he wasn't fast enough to protect her with his wings in all that.

"As for the second… I may or may not have mentioned this before, but I will repeat just in case. My Aura works in a special way. Special in the case it is built almost entirely for offense. Usually, with injuries like that, given about three minute or so, Skyla would be able to have her Aura heal those wounds to the extent where she could fight again. However, infusing some Aura into my stabs allowed it to linger in her wounds, linger being the keyword. My Aura works mostly in the case to destroy or incapacitate my enemies. As such, any Aura infused attack of mine that leaves a direct injury on the body will remain unless treated by someone else."

Xera grimaced slightly at the words, burning that little note about Dante's Aura into his memory as soft flickering flames began to seep out of him and wrap around Skyla's wounds. His fire had healing properties. If they were there, he was going to figure out how to force them out, even if it took the rest of the fight and his energy to do so.

He couldn't have those injuries staying.

"You're just one efficient killing machine then…" Xera replied, his already low Aura getting lower as he expended it.

"Yes…" he replied rather dejectedly as he looked away momentarily, "I suppose you're right…"

He then focused his attention on the crackling flames trying to heal Skyla, but that's all they did. Crackle.

"It won't work. Not while my Aura is working against yours. But have no fears, she's not in any danger from bleeding out. As I stabbed in different locations, each stab injected part of my Aura into the wounds. Mainly, like I said, for the purpose of disabling the self-healing mechanic Aura offers for minor injuries. But…it had another purpose. I manipulated each injection of Aura to 'plug up' her wounds so to speak, and even went further as to prevent potential harmful blood clots and internal bleeding. However so, the injuries to her muscles remains. And as such, she won't be able to move at all."

Dante finally returned his cold, fox-like gaze back to Xera as he continued to speak.

"It's as I told you before… You are on your own now."

"Thank you…for at least doing that much," Xera returned, but that didn't stop him from feeling anger begin to rise at how he treated his partner and 'disabled' her, or so he said.

"Don't be so upset, Stark. Be grateful all I ever had in mind was to prevent both her ability to move and yours. Had I any true intention to kill either of you…this would have gone very differently and would have ended far sooner."

Xera didn't know how many of those words he could believe, especially after the killing blows Dante attempted throughout the fight prior.

Responding wasn't worth the breath either for the phoenix.

"You don't believe me then? Well…that's fine then… Like I said before, it…matters not to me how you view me or my actions. I do what I must and what is required…"

"Not that I don't believe you..." Xera replied, deciding this to be worth the breath at least, "but your actions speak louder than words. You've still made mistakes so far, and you're still human, despite not biologically being so. You should learn to start caring about yourself more and how others see you. It's better that way, trust me, I know."

"If only you truly knew…"

"It doesn't take a Seer to know what you seek. This is only getting more in the way of that." Xera continued to try to heal Skyla, despite what Dante said about his Aura.

There had to be a way to speed up the process...

"Hmph… Now that I think about it… Kitsuki might be the only one to know then…"

"She's perceptive like that." Xera replied.

If there was anyone amongst them now to potentially see through another's actions, it was her.

"I still don't think you understand what I mean… But that's unimportant now… Stand up if you wish to Xera Stark, but I will only put you back down to the ground. You will cease this. One way or another."

"You should know by now…" Xera pushed himself onto his feet, standing in an almost exhausted, heavy stance as he eyed Dante with a smirk, "it almost impossible to truly ground a phoenix."

He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand as he took up his sword, wings keeping himself steady as he stayed in front of Skyla's downed form.

Dante knew that simply because he was injured to the extent he was didn't mean he was going to give up, unfortunately. But he had to do his best to disable him too, prevent him from moving at all. He only ever came at them with the intent to kill, but never planned on doing so.

"You're wrong about him, Dante..." Xera tried to reason again.

If he was going this far to get that one point across, maybe he would at least give it a moment of thought to consider it actually being the truth.

"You're so naive… Just like-"

He stopped himself mid sentence and clenched his fist for a few moments before loosening his grip.

"No, nevermind. Come at me with what little you have left Stark. Even if it is meaningless."

Xera moved as quickly as he could towards Dante and swung down on him, hoping his attack would do something. But instead, it was only caught by Dante's bare hand.

The phoenix soon found the immortals foot firmly planted in his stomach, sending him back as he released his sword. He was dizzy and disoriented, and wouldn't be able to hang on much longer.

"Such a shame…"

Xera watched as Dante raised up Annivia's Talons, giving it a few quick taps of his fingers before raising up his right hand and chopping down on the base of the blade, completely shattering the weapon until all that remained was the hilt and handle.

"This is where foolishness lands you. Weak and defenseless." said the immortal as he tossed away the broken weapon, "You persist too long after your own defeat."

The phoenix weakly watched the handle of his only weapon clatter away, feeling a piece of himself suddenly disconnect from his soul as he glanced back to his partner behind him.

Her eyes were wide as she stared in the same direction he did, watching the handle bounce and slide over to the edge, nearly falling into the void. Then a soft gaze finally turned back up to Xera's own.

It was unfortunate, but necessary in order to make the phoenix stop persisting so strongly.

But even defenseless, he still pushed his wings into moving and gently picked himself up from the ground, hovering only just a few inches over the platform as he landed softly back on the ground a few feet away, repositioning himself again, directly between Dante and the throne.

"You can't be serious... You've just lost your weapon. And you still intend to keep at it?"

"I've already told you, this isn't some kind of trick or mind game… This is what I firmly believe to be real… And I'm going to stand here until you strike me with that sword again or actually find a way to believe me..." Xera replied quietly, letting his wings droop back down to the ground as it took all he had left just to stand there.

All Dante did next was stand in place and raise up his arms, as if he were freely inviting Xera to make his next move. Even if it would do nothing.

He would let Xera see that it was ultimately useless in trying to stop him from doing his duty.

But he did not move.

Why? Why was he just standing there?

If he wasn't going to move now, then there was only one way to get him moving. And Dante knew this would work guaranteed, especially since it was used on him many a time before.

He hated the idea, but there was simply no other way at the moment.

"You refuse to move? Very well then…" he said turning his head back to Skyla, "Perhaps I'll give you some motivation to attack me…"

Xera didn't even need a second to understand what the immortal intended to do. But he wouldn't allow it.

The phoenix found his legs quickly carrying him over towards Dante, even with the pain ripping through their muscles, fist emblazoned with glowing orange fire as Dante turned to meet him head on. And that was all he did. He stood still and took the punch to his chest, not being moved a single inch as Xera strained every muscle in his body to make the immortal move.

Then, the flames grew larger. It was then Dante's fox-like eyes widened momentarily, as if he just realized what he did was a mistake in allowing Xera to land a hit on him. And so he grabbed hold of Xera's arm and placed his other free hand on the side of the phoenix's face to push him away. But Xera remained unmoving despite Dante's efforts to push him away.

Xera slowly took another step forward to give him more leverage, the flames growing even larger until finally, he managed to extend his arm entirely, punching away Dante a small distance as he soon became consumed by the brilliant orange blaze of the phoenix's flames. The aura layering his skin cracked until his entire body soon became covered in cracks. And before he knew it, the form Dante had assumed shattered to pieces, reverting him to his original state while the flames continued rushing past him.

The flames died down shortly after, allowing Dante to stagger backwards as he took a few ragged breaths until final being able to lower his head back down to Xera.

"You...!" he said as he coughed up blood.

It was unbelievable... Inconceivable... What just happened..?

"What the hell did you do?!"

Xera gave no response, only standing his ground and readying himself.

"Answer me!" shouted the immortal as he dashed at Xera, fist ready to strike him.

But before his punch could even connect, Xera's hit first by planting itself in the side of Dante's jaw, making him reel backwards. But it was nothing for the immortal. It didn't hurt in the slightest. And because of that, he was able to immediately retaliate and land a punch directly in the center of Xera's face, making him reel back in a similar manner.

He did not give in.

Instead of falling to the ground, Xera retaliated by delivering a decently powerful round kick to Dante's side, but he only shook it off and delivered a jab to Xera's gut before delivering a round kick of his own into Xera's side. Although it broke nothing, the impact was still strong enough to do damage.

His persistence was unfathomable to the immortal as Xera quickly reared back his head and headbutted Dante, forcing him back slightly before the phoenix delivered a kick to Dante's chest to send him on his back. When Dante hit the floor, he quickly rolled out of the way from a punch to his face, swung his leg to sweep Xera's, and tackled the phoenix mid fall, causing the both of them to roll.

As they wrestled each other for control mid-roll, Xera managed to push off Dante, making sit flat on his back to allow the phoenix to quickly swing his heel down on Dante's throat. But before the heel could greet him, Dante managed to raise a hand up to his neck to block the powerful strike from the phoenix, now having a firm grasp of his leg.

While still on the floor, Dante raised Xera up into the air and slammed him back down into it. But just as the phoenix willed himself up slightly, he found himself pulled backwards by the same leg that was being held and spun around to face Dante, who was now upon.

"You damn idiot!" he said landing a blow to Xera's face, "You don't know anything! You don't understand anything at all about how things work!"

Blow after blow landed, and after a time, the immortal was more than certain Xera had been knocked out. But it was evident this was not the case when Xera grabbed hold of his next intended punch, effectively stopping him in place as he slowly raised himself up, forcing up Dante as he continued holding his fist. Before he could fully rise, Xera intercepted another punch and grasped it tightly, making sure to not let go.

He was sick of this. He wasn't going to have any of this.

The immortal angrily returned a headbutt from earlier and then delivered another powerful round kick to the exact same side he struck at before, but all he could feel was the tiniest of cracks, something that shouldn't have been possible given the force of his kick.

How was he taking all these hits?

Even so, the phoenix did not let up, and grabbed hold of Dante's leg to pull him in and deliver another punch straight to the center of his face. Only this punch was stronger than the rest, evidenced by how far back Dante was sent skidding on his heels.

"Just give up damn you!" Dante angrily shouted as he charged Xera, reared back his fist and let it fly.

The phoenix simply responded with a punch of his own, their fists collided with brutal force, only, more damage was dealt to Xera's immortal opponent as his fist was easily pushed back.

What he felt wasn't pain. But it was something else. Something he didn't understand.

No matter how much he tried to move his legs, Dante couldn't move them. They weren't allowing him to move. Yet Xera Stark pressed on to greet him a wicked punch to the immortals jaw, sending him on his back once more.

There was no pain... So why was it so difficult to stand back up?

All Dante managed was to take a knee, looking up only to see a devastating uppercut rise up directly beneath his chin, a decent cracking noise being made on impact as Dante flew back once more.

 _Damn it all… I don't understand you in the slightest… Why won't you stop…? You… are not right… When we first started this fight, you weren't opposing me… So what then? What have you been doing this entire time if not that?_

Dante, on his knees once again, slowly looked up to see Xera stark running right at him with whatever strength he had left in his body, solely focused on ending this fight.

 _You know… I think I was wrong earlier when I said you were exactly like him from back then. If anything...you're more like…_

From the immortal's perspective, Xera's charge moved slowly than normal But it didn't matter.

He managed to rise back up at last and staggered forwards slightly before moving into a full paced sprint.

When the two were close enough, both warriors had planted their front feet firmly into the ground, rotated their bodies, and let loose their arms.

Time seemingly moved even more agonizingly slower than it did; noise and sound became nonexistent for them both despite their roars filling the air. And their fists moved ever so slowly until finally…contact.

A loud, echoing thud sounded through the air, as all had watched, their eyes fixated at the two, now motionless warriors, their fists firmly planted into each others' jaws. And so it remained. Until one finally collapsed.

Unable to keep himself standing any further, Xera wobbled back and forth a bit until finally falling forwards, hitting the ground with a soft thud. All remained silent until Dante himself staggered back slightly and fell backwards on his rear, managing to keep himself propped up with his left arm as his right simply dangled in place.

* * *

"It's over…" Dante silently whispered as he took a deep breath and exhaled, taking a glance over at the barely conscious and moving Xera Stark.

He was impressed really. Even after all that…he still managed to stay conscious. That, and despite all his injuries, he was still trying to move.

All Dante did was close his eyes and let out a sigh as he stood back up.

"Give it up already…"

He had lost a lot of feeling in his right arm, barely being able to move it.

 _I can do this… Dakini no Hikari restored a lot of my Aura levels during that fight with Xera and Skyla… But…I still don't understand. HE forced me out of it. And even after forcing me out of it…I felt so weakened. What did he do to make that happen? Xera…you're not a normal phoenix. I don't know much about your kind, or your family specifically, but I'm not entirely sure you should have been able to do some of the things you did against me. And yet…_

"Well… It looks as though you're the last one, Zeridul…" said Dante as he turned and faced the Dark Entity, "Make this easier for yourself and let me execute you. I've just about had it with the shenanigans and roundabouts by now."

"Even after all that…you still don't see it..." Zeridul replied, his voice a fresh, icy tone that swept over the tense silence of the ruined battlefield of his throne room.

He calmly stepped forward, down the stairs of his platform and moving toward Dante, where he still stood in challenge.

"I don't trust you in the slightest bit. You may have fooled them with whatever you did, but you're not going to fool me in the slightest. You are not innocent in any of this. So, you better make your move fast. Otherwise, your head will be rolling at my feet."

"I never claimed to be innocent…just…re-enlightened about the error of my ways." Zeridul returned, making his way forward before stopping in silence a few feet before Dante, "That Gem showed me what I could be, and how lost and stupidly naive I used to be before my time with Xera's brother. I used to crave energy…to devour it… Now I crave to create it."

"And yet the steps you took along the way clearly proves that all to be true." Dante replied, emphasising a word so rich in sarcasm it might as well had been venom, "Enough already. Draw your sword. Gem or no gem, I'm taking you down."

"I have no desire to draw a sword on a man who has no more ability to fight anymore." Zeridul said, waving his hand to the side and levitating the embedded gem by the stairs over to the two of them, "And you can have your Gem. It's yours to walk away with and do whatever you see fit of it… I no longer have a need for it now that I've sustained a place for me to exist outside of mister Stark's brother."

The softly humming Gem soon moved forward and grew dull, landing with a soft tap at Dante's feet as the magical ties it had with the realm around them suddenly shut off.

"You still don't get it, do you? Not only have you done the things you have, but you also used The Gem to make all of this. Using The Gem alone warrants death. Something like that should have been destroyed instead of kept around. But it's fine. This one is the last one after all. Either way, I'm not letting you walk away from all this. And trust me…I still have a lot left in me to keep going."

As Dante said this black and white Aura flowed from his body, its sheer pressure making the air rupture and quake violently.

"Time for talk is over. Just die." Dante said, swiping his sword out to his side.

"Don't fool yourself with what little energy you have left." the entity said, taking a step forward to lay two fingers onto Dante blazing sword and lower it, bringing it back down to Dante's leg again, "Save it for the trip home. I have a lot to atone for… Will you not allow me to right a blind past?"

"Death is your atonement for your actions."

Dante's sword flowed with obscene amounts of black and white Aura, prepping for one of his most powerful attacks as he raised the sword up into the air, the violent torrent of aura now flowing into the air, sounding like a low toned demonic growl as Dante held up his sword, ready to lower it at any moment.

"Death won't save lives, or create a home for those who seek retribution from their race." Zeridul quietly replied, taking his hand from Dante's sword and looking to the immortal's eyes.

If he swung…he wasn't going to stop it.

"Master, stop!"

Dante's eyes widened momentarily when he heard her voice behind him, prompting him to quickly turn his head to make sure he wasn't hearing things.

Apparently not.

"Inuba…?"

The torrent of Aura died down as Dante lowered his sword, still in a bit of disbelief.

It wasn't simply Dante's kitsune partner who was present now, but one other and… No… That couldn't be…

He was supposed to be out of commission…

Destiny had finally tore her eyes away from the fight, Weiss's exhausted form cradled in her arms as she looked to a pair of passing black boots and the drifting tail ends of its owner's trenchcoat.

His back was swordless, barren of its usual 6-foot claymore as she watched the new arrival pass by Ruby.

The small girl froze when she saw him walk by, in fact, everyone grew still as he made his way forward.

"You still need to heal. What are you doing walking around?" Zeridûl asked, turning his gaze to a pair of cerulean eyes as a calm stare fell back to his own.

"Figured I was needed..." he said, turning his eyes down to pass over Skyla on the ground… then eventually move over to Xera, who'd just now only managed to roll himself onto his back, "Looks like I was."

Without hesitation, he lowered one knee to the ground as he leaned down a placed a hand on the phoenix's shoulder, the sudden look on Xera's own face turning confused as everyone's focus followed the young man's movements.

"I don't know too much of what's been going on outside of the AoD, but I know one thing..." he said, turning his blue eyes back to Dante's own before glancing to the Dark Entity beside the immortal, "That man is the only reason why I'm even still alive… That, and the hope of at least seeing what's left of my family again before we both almost perished."

"Man…" Dante scoffed, "The only reason you're alive is because he needed to keep your body alive together as much as possible. He is, or at least used to be, a parasitic type. He needs a body to survive outside of whatever hole he crawled out from."

"And I offered it to him." the young man replied evenly, turning a critical eye back to Dante as he stood up from Xera on the ground, "You don't know this, none of you do, but after the fifth trial…I gave in. He was the sixth, and final entity they tried to force into me…and I was ready to die."

A cold, icy haze drifted around his pale fingers as he stared down at his hand, softly clasping it shut to dispel the drifting mist seeping from his palm.

"He had every opportunity to force me out and claim my body as his own, but he didn't."

That closed fist soon fell and loosened, returning to the young man's side as he brought his eyes back to the immortal's own.

"He told me in the very waking moment of his entry, to fight it. To stay alive long enough to get me out of the organization and back to my own life. And for the first three years…he sacrificed almost all of his energy just to sustain my bodily functions and keep me breathing, rather than take the open door and just take control."

"Dumb luck that he had less energy for total control really if he was even captured by humans here on Remnant. Still rather embarrassing for something of your caliber."

The new arrival smirked before continuing, "That's what I thought too…until he used his energy to destroy a Dremoha grimm I'd been fighting for a test. It was the first time I felt it and the first time I felt how incredibly vast it was. He wasn't captured while he was awake. He chose to lie dormant instead and enter a sleep stasis… That's how they managed to obtain him."

"You do realize that since you were compromised, your word is as useless to me as his is, right?" said Dante pointing back at Zeridul.

"It takes a long time understanding someone who used to be evil to every extent." he replied, unfazed by the comment returned to him, "I didn't believe him either. Nobody would've. But…after five years of living every minute of our lives together…I learned that his entire view of humanity had changed since he fell asleep. And from there, I started telling him about what the world was like; to be human and to have a family."

"Five years compared to ten. Who do you think knows more about this kind of situation, me or you?"

An earnest chuckle left the young man's lips as he shook his head, "You may know about his kind, but you don't know him. Out of everyone here, I know who and what he is better than all of you, and I know what his honest intentions are. It took me all those years to finally understand that."

"And out of everyone here, I know how easy it is to mess around with someone's memories and fabricate whatever the hell with someone's thoughts and feelings. You're not convincing me in the slightest."

"Then maybe this'll convince you." the man pulled out a simple black scroll, tossing it to Dante to let him have a look, "On that scroll are all video records of my trials and medical records of all aspects of my body, including mental fortitude, recognition, and integrity. Out of all of you…my brother's been the only one smart enough to actually look into them once he got ahold of the information."

If memory alteration occurred at any moment of the trials, or any mental damage at all, the entire experiment would've been shut down and restarted.

"Right, like science can clearly and accurately define magic. You gonna waste more of my time?"

"The AoD specializes in magic, believe it or not." he returned, "It's devoted its entire research base, for countless centuries since its founding, on the discovery, adaption, and learning of the oldest magic known to them. Something that was traced back to the literal beginning of existence. Affinities. And they've been studying this for far longer than any of our lifetimes combined. Their developments understand and read magic more than you do."

"Oooo, sorry, wrong again. Humans understanding and reading more about magic? Do you think realize how limited things are on Remnant in comparison to all other Worlds out there? Realities for that matter? Do you even know about half the stuff you're spouting? Obviously not."

He smirked again, "The universe is a lot bigger than you'd think, and jumping them to run parallel existences makes it vastly more expansive than you could ever imagine. And as for humans, they may be ignorant in your reality…but not here. Remnant is one of the oldest planets developed since the dawn of creation, and they've been digging up its mysteries since humans first inhabited the planet."

"You think I don't know that you idiot? I don't doubt human's capacity for knowledge, I admire and fear it. But here's the thing, there are pigeons that live in a higher plane of existence that have lived far longer and know much more than what you or humanity could possibly know. If you think that a bunch of humans killing others and messing around with things they shouldn't is a lot, then clearly you've no idea what you've stumbled upon. So, run back home and do whatever it is you do."

"I see…" the young man sighed, knowing when something was so helplessly askewed and unbacked, "No wonder why you couldn't even win a fistfight with a phoenix in your currently most powerful state. You drastically lack something that most others don't even see."

"First, I was powered down. And second, I'm sorry, who's taking a nap right now and who's the one still standing again? Remind me."

The man hummed amusedly as he looked around to everyone present, including Xera who still lay on his back, "I think you've missed the entire point of that bout. Winning was never about beating the other person into the ground, it was about proving a point. Believe it or not, you started to believe it yourself by the end there. Why don't you accept that? My brother may be on the ground, but his reasoning stands taller than anything you can dig up from whatever World you came from."

"His reasoning...is flawed and childishly naive… Something like that is flimsy and easily breakable…"

However painful it was at the moment, Dante extending his right hand towards Zerath as numerous black and white Aura Swords appeared around him, blade points close enough to almost pierce him.

"Master!" pleaded Inuba.

"Don't be so full of yourself…human…"

"I'm not the one who's full of myself." Zerath replied evenly, brushing the tip of a floating sword with his pale finger as those around him suddenly shattered into vanishing fragments.

Cerulean eyes glanced to Zeridûl for a moment, seeing a subtle flash in his crimson eyes as he recognized the Aura nullification field sweeping over the small area around him.

"And you…" said Dante turning back to Zeridul, "Don't be so arrogant enough to think I can't kill you without Aura."

"I'm not the one arguing with the one who's supposed to be resting and healing." Zeridûl replied, part of him noticeably worried while the rest of him retained the full composure he'd been displaying throughout the entire course of events.

"Humans are strong because they know death. It's through their weaknesses that they can excel far beyond anyone else out there. You can learn to respect them or you can continue to see them as nothing more than cannon fodder or ignorant worms infesting a spinning rock in space." Zerath continued, dismissing Zeridul's stern gaze and walking back over to Xera, "But I don't expect someone who has as much vast power as you do to ever sympathize with people who've lived with nothing."

You people at least started with something… I started with less than nothing...

"Nothing…you say… Hmph… You people really know nothing at all."

Out of all who were present, it seemed that only Inuba herself knew what exactly he spoke of at the moment. Which made this situation all the more difficult.

"People shouldn't misspeak when they know nothing about what they're talking about," Dante said casting his cold gaze to Zerath once more, "They might end up losing their tongue."

"Hypocritical and predictable too, I should've known." Zerath shook his head and reached down, pulling his brother up from where he lay and lifting his beaten form into his arms, "Don't assume you know us, and we won't assume we know you. You have no right to, and neither do we."

"I think you might be a little deaf or just downright stupid. Didn't you hear what I said? I told you don't be so full of yourself!"

Dante swung down his sword with enough force to make the earth rise in jagged formations of rock that traveled towards Zerath with great speed.

"Petty too…" Zerath noted, watching as the rising spines split from a piercing glow of lime green light and passed him by, his stride not so much as faltering as he began taking Xera toward the stairs, "Maybe I've been talking to a wall this whole time."

"And just who the hell are you douchey cowboy?"

"Just a guy passing through. Someone pulled me into your little childish debates and temper tantrums, and now I'm here," Niro stepped forward from the stairs and crushed the risen stone back into the ground with collapsing strands of his Aura, "And sorry princess, last I checked, Xera was my target. If anyone kills him, it'll be by my hand."

"It's finished Dante. You can still take what it is you came for and leave." spoke Zeridul.

Dante lowered his head slightly as he chuckled.

"You're right. I can still take what it is I came for." he spoke as his grip on his sword tightened, "Remember what I said? I don't need Aura to kill you."

His hand reached out and firmly grabbed hold of Zeridul's, yet the Dark Entity seemed unfazed by this action.

"Your life is mine."

All had stopped in their tracks, save for Zerath, but none would be able to move fast enough, not with how close he was. Zeridul was his.

He raised up his sword quickly, and-

"Master stop!"

His entire arm remained as still as stone when he heard her plea. Dante knew not why, but…

"Please… Enough…"

Dante growled slightly before he pushed away Zeridul, leaned over, and grabbed what it was that caused a large part of this mess.

"You know what this is…right?" said Dante raising up The Gem so that his partner could see it.

She shuddered slightly when her eyes fell upon it, but she shook her head to regain her senses.

"I do. But that alone shouldn't be enough to cause such feelings of mistrust and hatred towards-"

"Do you remember Adaryon? Was exactly the same as this guy and fed us practically the same old story they've been giving us the entire time. You remember what he up and did next after we put our trust in him, right?"

"I do. Which is why it was difficult for me to believe mr. Stark when he explained the situation to us on the way here."

Dante looked up from his partner and met Zerath's gaze for a few moments before the immortal turned his head away.

"Situations like these are understandably difficult to see through. And your skepticism is even more understandable given what we've seen and experienced so far throughout our life. It's true. They do not understand. They may very well never understand. But...we can't let our past fears and troubles cloud our judgement and confuse us. Otherwise...we'll make mistakes we can never take back."

Dante shut his eyes and tried to close his heart from her words, but he could never simply disregard her words.

"I know that it is trying and difficult… Such cases are never quite so simple or entirely clear. But please… I ask you to have faith in their words."

His grip only tightened.

"Having faith…is what got me where I am in the first place… I won't let the same mistake happen twice…"

"Then…"

Inuba took a few steps forward before folding her hands together and spoke.

"Please. Have faith in me."

His eyes widened upon hearing her words, his arm that held The Gem lowering to his side as he bowed his head.

"Have faith in me as I have faith in their word that Zeridul isn't as terrible as he seems."

His mind was terribly doubtful, but his heart… It told him to disregard his mind.

She never led him astray. And she always came through or was correct when she had asked for him to have faith in her. If she's strongly vouching for this...then…

Dante opened his eyes and raised his head slowly, meeting Zerath's once more before he finally turned to Zeridûl and gazed long and hard.

His heart was set on what he was to do.

Without word and without warning, Dante quickly brought up his sword and swung down, his strike cutting into the wall and throne and creating a smoke screen that obscured the view of everyone in the room.

Inuba gasped as she saw this, the majority of the others taking on a stance of concern as Zeridul's fate remain unknown currently. But when the smoke eventually cleared, it became clear as to the final result.

The kitsune was able to take a small sigh of relief when she saw what she did.

Dante did indeed strike at Zeridul…but stopped a literal centimeter away from the Dark Entities neck. The immortal and the new self proclaimed king kept their gazes sternly fixed upon one another, both not even taking the time to blink.

According to the general consensus...it was over.

Dante dislodged his sword from the horizontal cut he made in the throne of stone and lowered his weapon, sheathing it even. But shortly after, he grabbed hold of Zeridul's collar and brought him close.

"Listen and listen well. The only reason you're alive and still breathing right now is because of my partner. So you better be damn grateful to her that you get to keep your life."

"It's not every day one gets saved by a fox… I'll be sure to give my thanks." Zeridul replied evenly, still indifferent, despite coming so close to losing his head.

"The second I find anything off or out of order, I will be back to find you. Make sure you commit that to memory."

"You won't have to. But if you do…the doors will be open," the entity said with a smile, "Now leave, while people are still breathing. People need to heal."

His mind was screaming for him to not leave, to finish what he started. But…he valued his partner's words and their impact on his heart more than anything. And because of that, he let go of Zeridul's collar and stepped away slowly, soon reaching down to grab hold of The Gem.

He stared at it, and continued doing so as he descended the steps towards Inuba and the stranger. But...something felt off…

His mind was telling him constantly to turn around and go back, but the fact it was doing it so strongly… Something was very wrong.

His legs became weak and his head feeling very uncomfortable as he collapsed to his knees, holding onto his head while letting The Gem clatter to the ground near him. He was becoming weaker, and losing consciousness, but more importantly...he felt something was very wrong indeed.

Why exactly was he here again…? What had he been doing for the past few minutes or so..?

He could barely hear Inuba's words as they faded away. And shortly after, unconsciousness followed as he collapsed in Inuba's arms.

"Master?! Master!" she said shaking him slightly.

"Is he alright?" Destiny asked, Weiss too exhausted and Ruby still too stunned to speak.

"I-I don't know what's wrong with him!" she replied, fearful of what was happening to her Master.

"Take him out of the realm." Zeridul said, opening the rifts doors in the distance as he gestured down the stairs, "The realm's had a negative effect on his body and energy since his arrival… I'd advise he leave its proximity as soon as possible."

Inuba's fox ears perked up suddenly when she heard what Zeridul said.

"This World… It is made in similarity to the Dark World, is it not?" she quietly asked.

"It's built to house Dark Entities. In that way, it needed to carry over several similarities to my home World."

"It's…" she paused momentarily, making sure of her theory yet again before she said, "I don't think it's the realm that's causing this…condition of his..."

"Then what is?" Destiny asked, knowing that look in Inuba's eyes.

"I'm more than certain of it now… Despite strenuous or extremely stressful situations...Master is never this unreasonable… He would never just simply disregard someone's words or causes blatantly like has done so."

Destiny narrowed her eyes, Inuba still not answering her question if she knew for certain what was causing all this.

"When last we entered the Dark World in our Reality…there were no psychological changes or abnormalities in either of us. And that wasn't by simply entering at first. It was for the duration of our entire venture through it, even to the lowest Circle."

"Meaning?" questioned Zeridul.

"This Dark World, both the one here and in our Reality, is full of Darkness Essence. I have spent nearly all of my life in his presence, almost never leaving his side. And of all the times I've observed his interactions with Darkness Essence, it has never had mental effects on him. It only served to bolster his power considerably. I'm assuming he underwent a partial transformation as he entered?" she asked, looking towards the others for an answer.

The looks on their faces were the only answer she needed.

"And despite that, did he seem colder, but still acted reasonably until he reached the throne room?"

"That, and he was a huge prick about everything too." Destiny supplied.

"I see…" she said looking off to the side momentarily, "Please, hold him for me." she said quickly handing him off to stranger of the group, Niro.

The cowboy simply dropped Dante to the floor with a hard thud and stepped away, "He's your problem, not mine."

The only thing saving Dante's head from the fall was it landing roughly in Ruby's lap, the girl wincing slightly as the back of his head struck her thigh.

Inuba seemed almost more displeased with her Master's position rather than the fact Niro had intentionally dropped him…

She shook her head and focused her attention on The Gem she picked up from the floor, lifting up eye level to examine it closely.

She could hear its whispering, its desire to be used to fulfill her greatest desire. Doing so would be more than easy to accomplish with this in hand. She could finally have what she wanted most...

Inuba immediately shook her head and cast away the thoughts in her mind, casting her crimson eyes towards Zeridul.

"You could hear and feel it as well, yes? How it called to you constantly?" she asked him.

"I learned to block it out." Zeridul replied simply.

"Because you felt it more than wanted to grant your desires, but rather twist them? It is the main reason why you hastily wished to be rid of it after using it, yes?"

"For the most part." the entity said, but it went unsaid whatever other reasons he had for disconnecting the Gem from his realm.

"It's as I feared then..."

Inuba turned to face the others to explain her discovery.

"I don't believe my Master explained this to you…but this gem, A Gem of the Ancients, is a gem that makes your desires into a reality, be it power, wealth, or something else entirely. The Gem itself has no singular form of consciousness…but instead possess a plethora of them, all housed within this gem. And because of that, the gem more than anything desires to be used. It will do anything in order to make a person use it. Even influence a person's actions and amplify their want, their desires. It will even use someone's greatest fears to influence action of usage."

"So you mean…?"

"Yes… I strongly believe that this Gem was influencing my Master's thoughts and actions. Wasn't it strange to any of you? Someone perfectly sane and reasonable becoming the exact opposite suddenly with no reasonable explanation?"

"It was strange for all of us, but he was still a prick." Destiny said.

"We just thought it was the realm affecting him…" Ruby muttered quietly.

"He doesn't naturally act in such a manner. He can be rude with others at times, yes..." she said glancing at Destiny, "But he would never abandon reason for past fears. Never willingly. The Gem greatly affects those who have stronger desires…but…it also affects those with a multitude of fears, or those with numerous troubles."

"So…it had a stronger effect on him due to his past…" Destiny reasoned.

"Life has never been the easiest for him. But despite those troubles, he always rose to the challenge and went above and beyond. It, however, would not be a surprise that one would have many a trouble after the extensive exposure to all that is wrong and evil."

Inuba's gaze turned to Dante, who still remained unconscious, before she gazed sternly at the Gem.

"This is the last time you and your kind will plague another World. Be forever absent."

White flames crackled to life in Inuba's hands as The Gem seemingly shrilled quietly whilst the kitsune burned away its existence. Within a matter of seconds, the last of the three Gem of The Ancients became a puddle of slag at Inuba's hands, said puddle soon quickly evaporating into nothingness.

Inuba let out a sigh of relief as she approached Ruby Rose and took her Master into her arms once again.

"I'll close the rift once you're all out. It's best to keep it away from your World for now," Zeridul stated, his eyes casting out into the black sky beyond them as he gestured toward the exit, "You all should be able to make the return trip. The bridge will take you back to the island."

"Thank you for your kindness, even in the face of the situation. But please…do keep your word. Not only I, but we…have our faith in you that you will continue to do what is right." said Inuba bowing her head slightly.

"I suppose this'll just be the start of atoning for what I've done…" Zeridûl finished, glancing over momentarily to Zerath himself before turning around and making his way back to his throne, "I'll be seeing you, Zerath."

"No final goodbye?" the Stark brother asked, watching Zeridûl slowly pass him by as he still held his brother in his arms.

"None needed… An old friend can drop by from time to time, can he not?"

"Fair enough…" Zerath replied, turning away and making his way over to the stairs, "Just don't expect a welcome party every time."

"I won't." the entity returned, "But I will expect whiskey. I believe that was our favorite."

Zerath nodded, "Will do."

But his steps soon stopped beside Skyla on the ground, his gaze falling to her for a moment before cerulean eyes glanced up to Niro nearby.

"Think you can manage her?" he asked.

"Pity…she looked comfortable lying on the cold, hard ground like that." Niro replied, making his way and picking the girl up into his arms.

The small girl grimaced heavily from the movement to her body, glaring up at the one holding her as she was carried alongside Xera, "I swear, if you drop me-"

"I'll be sure to make sure it's on the stairs if I do." Niro replied evenly, flashing the girl a smirk as he followed Zerath down the steps and drew closer to the opening rift in the distance.

* * *

Inuba allowed the others to move ahead and knelt down next to the unconscious Dante, taking him into her arms.

"I'll handle him ms. Rose. Thank you for taking care of him."

"U-Uh, sure! No problem! Hehehe..."

The reaper in red quickly sat up and watched Inuba effortlessly pick up Dante, holding him tightly in her arms.

"Is he going to be alright? What exactly happened to him?" RUby asked.

"With some rest, he'll be just fine. As for ms. Xerious and mr. Stark, they too will be fine once we return and I treat them. For what caused him to collapse... The Gem exudes a sort of mental drain if someone under its influence refuses to make their desire granted. Usually, the drain is too great for someone to handle. But with the mental stress of the fight and the drain from The Gem... It proved a bit too much."

"That's...good. I mean, good that he'll be fine!" she corrected.

"It's quite alright. I knew what you meant."

Inuba and Ruby walked together, following close behind everyone else as they descended the steps towards the open rift that would take them home.

"I don't..."

Inuba turned her head towards the reaper as she cut herself off momentarily, taking a deep breath before looking towards Inuba once again.

"I don't blame him or anything. Even if he was confused because of that stupid Gem..."

"I see..." said Inuba smiling slightly.

"From the way it all sounded, he was trying to stop something bad from happening. He sounded...afraid almost. Not for himself, but for the rest of us."

"Things haven't been the easiest in our lives, Master's in particular. So much was filled with uncertainty and painful experiences despite all the good that's occurred. Mistakes that could have been prevented were made. And so if there's a potential tragedy in the making...one that he notices... He'll try to do what he can to prevent it. The Gem acted on hes desire to prevent the pain or future of others and made him unreasonable."

"I can understand that... Not wanting others to hurt... He really is a nice person. Not that I didn't think any different before!" said Ruby waving her hands innocently.

"He really is..." replied the kitsune as both she and Ruby finally passed through the rift.

* * *

 **I've already hit you all with a lot of words, so I'll spare the pain of more. Hopefully I can get right back on track with the scheduling, not being late and stuff I mean. Like I said, lot's of stuff back and forth and a lot of it unseen. Let's hope I don't get hit with more.**

 **All that's left to say is that there's one more chapter to go before we get back on track and start tracing events in tandem with vol 4. Be ready for it.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	22. Chapter 22: Of Sweets and Departures

**Well... It's finally here folks. The last chapter of my collab project with Xera Stark. It's been well over half a year (or a year, can't recal when exactly we started) since we started this collab and it's been fun and interesting for the both of us as went. We came up with a plethora of new ideas and concepts as we went, and had awesome scenes overall. This by far won't be our first and last project together. So enough, we'll be working together again. Only next time yours truly is taking the lead.**

 **Now that that's over with, lets begin the final event of this arc! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 22: Of Sweet Treats and Departures**

«»

The last of the star-lit void rocked in motionless, echoey abandon as the party that entered to claim a life left with that life still intact.

Four members of the extended party all carried someone.

Two in white, those being an heiress and the team's immortal. And the other two were partners in black and purple, Zerath himself carrying his younger brother in his arms as his boots took him closely to the edge of the dimension's rift.

The island lay about a couple hundred feet below now, the opening to the tear in this reality still suspended in the air to keep it from touching base with the world it formed within.

A chilled, icy blue mist sifted out of Zerath's pale fingers as he gripped his brother's clothing, Destiny slipping over the edge beside him with Weiss in her arms.

An eagle came soaring to catch her before she fell too far, taking them down to the black island beneath them.

The soles of Inuba's sneakers flaired white as she fell too, lowering herself and her master to the ground before gently touching base with the others.

"Try not to hurt her on the landing." Zerath said smoothly, catching the side of Niro's gaze before he stepped off.

"Wouldn't dream of it." the cowboy replied with a condescending smirk, making his words feel contradictory before he stepped out.

"I'm surprised his hat stays on his head with everything he does..." the elder Stark sighed quietly, watching as Niro plummeted aimlessly to the ground before shattering the ice on full impact, Skyla still cradled in his arms.

She hadn't even flinched, which meant somehow, she didn't feel the fall.

Maybe his arms were just that cushioning…

"I can take you down too, if you need." Zerath glanced to his other side as he spoke, meeting the hesitant gaze of the team's reaper as she glanced down from their floating perch.

She had something with a black sheen nestled in her hand, but it was held just out of view.

"T-That's fine. I'd rather you focus on getting yourself and Xera down first." Ruby replied, glancing over for a moment before she gave a small smile, "Don't worry about me. Beacon's all about landing strategies, after all."

Zerath nodded as the girl grinned, hopping off from the bridge and back into her world, vanishing in a small burst of rose petals before reappearing just above the ice far below them… killing her momentum in a brief instance of her fluttering cloak.

"She's...momentum based…" Xera managed to say, his eyes having been closed the whole time as he focused on wading off a numbing exhaustion weighing over his body.

"Save your breath, Xera. You'll need it..." Zerath returned softly, his cerulean eyes finding their way back to the realm behind him as he watched the dark citadel drift motionlessly in its empty void.

It almost felt too solitary and empty now that they were leaving it...

The opening to the rift began to close behind him as he stood facing the bridge now, eyes trying to find the throne room peak of the city of Eryndus for just a few extra moments before he took a shallow breath.

"You're finally making things right… Just the way you've been wanting to, all this time."

Zerath took a step back over the edge of the rift, stepping out onto the narrow platform of a risen pillar of blue ice as he watched the distorted doorway into Zeridul's realm slowly close in a deep, rumbling resonation.

And when the slit in the air in front of him finally sealed shut, all the noise of the storm, the rocking of the waves, the rushing of the winds, it all grew still and quiet.

As if the force pushing them all in motion suddenly slipped away.

Zerath's ice pillar slowly began to lower, sliding back down into the island below them as the clouds above finally began to quietly disperse.

An orange sky filtered clearly through the unveiling dark curtains. The gray, swirling clouds pulling further and further out in a slow dissipation as Zerath finally lowered far enough to step foot back onto the island.

* * *

"It'll take another eight minutes for the storm to clear." Glynda Goodwitch informed, her gaze casted out across the waters as everybody involved with the venture out lay in scattered groups on the island's destroyed plateau.

The bullheads around them still stood, quietly purring as each of the vessels' pilots focused on last minute repairs after that last Dremoha fight.

Kyzal still remained in the tinted cockpit of his pitch black bullhead, shoes kicked up on the dashboard as he let his own Star-Streaker purr quietly on the ice.

"We can wait. We're not going to fly back through that storm with the injured onboard." Blake spoke quietly, a small stash of medical supplies laid out beside her as she stroked the soft ebony hair of a resting phoenix.

She'd just finished cleaning and bandaging the wounds she could find on his body, a job done just to get them back to Beacon without any major problems.

That, and she didn't allow anyone else to take the job over her. By the time Zerath made it over to the group, she was already demanding Xera be taken care of before they could do anything more.

As for Skyla… She was still being carefully bandaged by Ciel, her wounds only closed now through Inuba's healing magic just to stop any prolonged bleeding.

"Alrighty… Foxy fixed up everything and dulled the pain as much as she could. You'll feel a little numb, maybe slightly tingly, that sort of thing." Ciel spoke lightly, helping Skyla sit up for now as she supported her back, "As my doofus brother Leo says, 'In short', you'll be totally fine."

Skyla held up her arms as soon as she was sitting on her own strength, turning her hands to gaze down at her palms for a long few seconds before squeezing her fingers closed, "Is that because you're short?"

The girl let a cheeky smile play across her face, despite everything that happened to her and the current state she was in.

She was still Skyla.

"I've got to ask…" Ciel spoke with mild hesitation in her tone for once, "I took a look over those wounds before everything got…re-mended. They were really precise. Did...?'

"Did Dante do this?" Skyla finished for her, letting her amethyst gaze fall on Ciel's own as she sighed, "Technically..? Yes."

"Technically..?"

"Yeeeeah…" Skyla loosened her fingers before stretching her arms over her head, hearing the tight muscles pop as she strained back and laid out onto the ice again, "There was this Dark Essence stuff in there, that did something to him. But there was also this gem thingy messing with his head. We had him on the ropes at times, though after he attacked us. Turned out there weren't any baddies in there, but I think that'll be explained to you later."

"Did he at least pull some cheesy one liners like 'Witness my power!' or something like that?" Ciel asked with a smirk.

Skyla nodded before holding up her finger to add onto it, "That and a bunch of stuff an executioner would say."

"Well…big brother gets a little scary when he's stressed out. Okay, not a little, but a lot. Like, so much so the boogeyman's a joke. And he can't even scare a puzzle to pieces."

"I wouldn't say scary…" Skyla replied, letting her arms stretch out at her sides as she relaxed into the cold ground, "I was more worried about protecting Xera than anything else."

The purple girl's gaze fell to the side as she turned her head, finding her partner just across the ice with his head nestled back in Blake's lap.

Amber eyes weren't looking anywhere else but on her partner's softly breathing face.

"You know… We've seen a lot of our big brother while growing up. Like watching Saturday morning heroes shows and stuff like that. Though…a lot of people might agree he wasn't exactly what you'd call a hero starting out way back then. He's made a huge difference over the years, regardless how he started out. Sometimes though…I'm pretty sure he thinks he needs the 'old him' to solve really tough problems."

Skyla frowned, knowing this problem was a tough one… but also knowing which choice Dante made in the end, "Xera gave Dante a choice when we finally reached him… We'd found out that Zeridul wasn't doing any of this out of malice. In fact, he's the reason why Zerath's still alive."

Skyla's eyes turned back to Ciel's own before staring up into the parting sky.

"Xera didn't say anything after we found out. He just…went quiet. So I spoke for him and made sure he got up the stairs alright." Her frown fell as she furrowed her brow, "He looked conflicted. But it wasn't until we got to Zeridul that he finally made a move to try to stop Dante. He gave your brother a choice… Turn around with the Gem and let this one go…or go through him and finish the mission."

"Right… But, I mean… If it was really a 'go through' type of situation with him… To be honest, I don't think you or your partner would be here right now. Alive I mean. That much was clear when I saw your wounds. Literally, they weren't deep enough to be like permanently crippling or anything. The only thing you were at risk of was being fresh vampire juice. Bleeding out if you got what I meant there."

"Still, he could've taken the peaceful option and destroyed whatever that Gem was in the process. Xera made it clear that he wasn't going to move out of Dante's way if he went any further and Dante still decided to fight. He even made the first move." Skyla sighed again as she picked up a shard of ice lying at her side, holding it up to look at it.

"Yeah, true… But look at it from my big brother's perspective for a bit. You're all there to face the big baddy together. Then, all of a sudden you're taking the bad guy's side, even though now we know he wasn't so much of a dick like we thought? Definitely something amiss there. He probably thought you guys got brainwashed or something by uber Dark Entity magic or whatever. Which, if you think about it, was pretty possible since you guys separated into two's for a while."

The cloaked girl must've been relaying what was happening at times while they were in there, but Skyla still tilted her head for a few moments before shaking it.

"Xera already knew all that… He knew what it looked like, and he knew he could've been killed taking that side but he still did it. It's why he was so silent and distant during that final stretch." Skyla let her voice grow softer as she looked back up at the sky, letting the shard of ice between her fingers slip back onto the frigid ground, "In the end, he probably knew he was going to have to fight Dante. He even tried to keep me out of it… They both did. But…Xera probably knew that was the only way to prove to your brother that it was Xera making that decision, not magic making him do it."

"Still, situation like that? It's gonna be really hard to prove otherwise." Ciel said, moving to sit down next to Skyla, "I may have only actually known my big brother for like, the better part of 2 months or so, but he's not a kind of overzealous murderbot that's also a huge huge jerk. Like Douchey Cowboy over there for example. Probably hates sunshine. And just joy over all."

"He may not be, but I'm amazed Xera managed to get through to him in the end. But, it was really more Inuba's doing that stopped your brother after a few tries…" Skyla bent one of her legs up, partially just to remind her that she had function in her muscles again but also just to get more comfortable.

"Yeah… She just has that effect on him. Like no joke, anything she says is law. She tells him to put the cookie down, he's putting the damn cookie down faster than Sonic the Hedgehog can wind sprint."

Skyla closed her eyes, smiling lightly at that, "Don't know who that is…but I can relate."

Off to the side, Blake had finally glanced up to see the soft reaches of a bundle of white fox tails filter into her vision.

She looked confused for a second… but that confusion washed away when she noticed Kitsuki softly sitting on the ice beside Xera's arm.

Her golden-orange eyes met amber for a moment in worry, but Blake dissuaded those thoughts with a soft smile.

"He'll be fine."

She didn't know if he'd be fine herself, to be certain, and Kit seemed to notice that uncertainty… but even so, Kitsuki smiled with a nod and let her tails rest over Xera's torso and stomach.

His black wings were limply draped beneath him, but only for a little while longer before Kit reached over and pulled the expanse of light black feathers over her tails.

She gently rested the appendage over part of Xera's body, and that brought another smile to Blake's face.

"Thank you."

Kitsuki was just making sure he wouldn't get cold on the ice.

"E-Excuse me…" Inuba spoke up, Blake noticing her approach soon after Kit's own, "I have to resume healing him. Doing so for an extensive period of time will cause him to absorb too much aura to sustain his own supply, which is currently a bit unstable from the massive strain of power he absorbed overall."

Kit nodded as she lightly slid Xera's covering wing from his body, letting the other kitsune have access to the teen's body again.

"This is the fourth time you've come back to heal his wounds," Blake noticed, watching as Inuba knelt down beside the phoenix she cradled in her arms.

The faunus could only blink slowly as her cat ears remained flush against her head, realizing how bad his wounds must've been.

"His wounds are bit… complicated. His unstable aura levels are making it difficult to treat his body without putting more stress on it. That and… the aura in his wounds is tricky to draw out. Once I remove this last trace of it, his aura will stabilize enough to treat his wounds more effectively without interference."

Soft white flames blazed around Inuba's hands as she placed them on the phoenix's body.

"He'll be fine once I'm finished."

"Will he be able to move around freely after this?" Blake asked, letting her gaze drift to Inuba's eyes as she wondered how long Xera was going to be out of commission for.

"The wounds he was given was simply meant to stop his movements, nothing life threatening or permanently damaging. Once I repair and seal up his wounds, he'll need rest before he can move properly and some light stretching to loosen up his muscles. A week at least, two at most."

"Five days, actually," a light, softly analytical voice spoke out from between them. The feminine tone carried an almost unnoticeable robotic inflection, but somehow it carried with it a genuine care in its words, "If his body can stabilize tonight, recovery should move smoothly."

Kitsuki's ear twitched for a moment as she reached into Xera's pocket, pulling out Xera's closed black scroll.

Somehow, it remained undamaged.

The slit running down its connected seal glowed a vibrant purple as that voice spoke again.

"I'll continue to monitor his vitals, with miss Belladonna's help, if she's willing." Karazil added, catching the cat faunus's attention.

As well as Inuba's.

"That will be most helpful. Thank you."

"It is my pleasure, miss Kitsukami." the voice returned, it's purple glow brightening to match the feminine rise and fall in inflection.

"Karazil…" Blake slowly said, hearing the AI hum in response before continuing, "Is he still…?"

"The treatment's dissuading it, but I cannot make any assumptions until he becomes stable." Karazil replied softly, Blake slowly nodding in return.

It seemed the cat Faunus knew the AI.

"Forgive my lack of communication." Karazil continued, lightening her tone to shift the conversation back to her, "I meant to keep in contact with you, miss Belladonna, but the dimension locked me out from access to anywhere outside its gate. Inside, I'd only managed to stay functional until halfway in. I had to put myself into a stasis until I finally sensed we were out of the realm."

"It's fine…" the raven-haired girl replied, quietly keeping her gaze low, "There was nothing you could do about it."

"Dimensional interference is always tricky and difficult on technology. The best way to keep contact usually is a psychic link since it's more 'magic' based persay." stated Inuba, "What is his BP currently?"

"112/68. Blood pressure is heightened due to physical stress on his body, raising his mercury levels, but he's slowly stabilizing through your medical treatments. He'll be able to rest soon."

"That's good then. Once fully stabilized, we'll put him on the airship and take off for Beacon. Once back, all we need to do is keep him under observation and treat him when necessary."

"If my analysis of his body was accurate, he may be awake and moving in just three to four days. His body seems to possess a heightened state of repair that's currently unpredictable, which is why I cannot give an answer for certain." Karazil explained.

"But that means he may heal faster than normal?" Blake asked quietly.

"As far as I know, it is entirely possible." the AI replied.

"Even with that mind, he should still rest until able to move on his own without causing his body stress." Inuba added.

"From the data I've gathered, mister Stark tends to be stubborn when it comes to his personal health," Karazil replied, catching Blake's attention again as she glanced down to Xera's closed eyes.

"He'll need to be less stubborn about it this time. Keep him to his bed until he actually does show improvement when he awakens." Inuba firmly stated.

"While I lack the physical capability to carry out such an action, I'm sure miss Belladonna will take up that role for me." she said, an almost casual tone layering over her voice.

"I-I have no problem with that..." the cat faunus replied after a moment, noticing the glance of two kitsune turn her way.

"N-Not in that manner...!" Inuba said quickly, stumbling over her words after realizing the meaning behind the AI's statement.

"At his age and physique, it is only natural that-"

Blake's swift hands covered the speakers of Xera's scroll as it continued to softly glow in her tight grasp, a hot blush sifting into her own cheeks as she stared down at the ground.

"D-Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him," she muttered quietly, but reassuringly, keeping her grasp tight until she knew it was safe to let go.

Kit could only tilt her head as the conversation unfolded, one of her ears twitching before they both drooped in confusion.

"Forgive me if I breached any boundaries." Karazil's voice came back alive now, Blake's frantic hands returning to her side, "I felt a humorous remark in a light tone might brighten the mood. But after a quick scan, I must refrain from doing so too often. Both of your pheromone levels have risen substantially in wake of my words."

"S-Such matters aren't and shouldn't be spoken of so easily in the general presence of others." stated Inuba.

Blake couldn't help but nod wordlessly in agreement.

"I am still learning when it comes to social skills. However, given that your significant other isn't in our presence, I felt my words would have no consequential impact save for what I expected for a response." Karazil replied to Inuba, her voice almost sounding mischievous.

She seemed to want to say something in return, but stopped herself and continued focusing on her treatment, despite the small streams of smoke emerging from her red-faced person

Karazil seemed happy with herself, given her tone of voice, "Miss Belladonna-"

"K-Karazil..." Blake cute the AI off, the glow on the scroll stopping for a moment as it listened, "do you have an off switch?"

"I do. It forces me into a stasis of minimal conscious function."

Blake's cat ears perked up as she nodded.

"But I will refrain from ever divulging such sensitive information to anyone except mister Stark."

And they went flat again, falling as quickly as Blake's lips formed a strong pout.

A soft crunch of ice quietly filtered into their surroundings as Zerath made his way over, "How is he?"

"Doing well enough for the moment." Inuba coldly responded.

The tone of the response caught Kitsuki's ears immediately, bringing both to go flat on her head at the shift in mood.

"I suppose that's to be expected, given your abilities." Zerath replied evenly, his face carrying a worried indifference as he stood just a few feet from the group.

"Shouldn't you be elsewhere at the moment?" asked the kitsune.

"Contrary to your tone, my worries and focus are on my brother alone. I am exactly where I'm supposed to be." the elder brother replied in an almost polite manner, just with mild reluctance to do so, "I want to thank you, though. You've done a miraculous job healing his wounds and stabilizing him."

"Your thanks isn't necessary. Now please, stand elsewhere so I can concentrate on my task."

"Is it such a bother for me to care about my brother's wellbeing?" Zerath asked, turning his gaze slightly to regard Inuba in an indifferent glance.

"It is a bother having you in my presence at the moment given that I am resisting the temptation to give you a mild burn."

Zerath's brow furrowed for a moment as he looked back to Xera, the two other girls around his brother looking his way now, "I'm unaware of any offense I've made, but I'll leave if it means he'll get his treatment."

"Unaware...?" said Inuba softly as she stood up and turned towards the elder Stark brother, "Have you no shame...?"

"Shame?" Zerath asked, following Inuba's eyes as she stood, "If you're trying to rile me up like your master attempted to, I'm sorry to say that it's not going to work. Like I said before, Xera's my only priority here."

"You even have the gall to deny it…"

"It's impossible for me to deny anything at the moment, given no accusation has been made." he replied evenly.

"You insulted my Master like some ignorant miscreant is what you did!" she said, raising her tone as she faced Zerath fully.

"I don't recall ever insulting him..." Zerath returned, facing her with a mild narrow of his eyes, "I simply voiced observations I was making through the words he was saying and the actions I'd seen him do. I'm honestly surprised to see you defending someone willing to beat my brother and his partner close to an inch of their lives."

"Your brother made the decision to take his stand and landed himself in such a state! And neither you, nor anyone else has the right or the privilege to speak lowly of him as if he were some mindless beast!"

"Hmmm..." Zerath hummed for a moment as he saw where this was going, "I don't believe that's very fair, is it? Wasn't it your master who insulted the whole of humanity and the intelligence of humans? Is he that privileged to make such a claim..?"

"As if you're so innocent with you making such arrogant and ignorant claims?"

"I assure you, no arrogance of mine slipped into my words. Nor was it ignorance. Your master knows what he said and so do I, and any retaliation was done in response to an insult or inhumane claim coming from his own mouth." Zerath calmly narrowed his gaze further as he slipped a hand into the confines of his pocket, "He's an instigator. I merely just mutually returned what he was already putting out."

"And you are an ignorant human being unaware of the true terrors that reside in the shadows. HE is the reason why said creatures lurking in the Darkness dare not raise their heads in order to harm others. And he has more than likely saved you all more than once in some form or manner. When someone such as yourself shows such gross disrespect without knowing all he has done for others, you do not deserve the right to rest so easily and peacefully without consequence."

"On the contrary, I'm well aware of the Worlds and the Darkness outside of this realm's reality. Merging minds with an ancient Dark Entity would do that to you," Zerath replied, "And forgive any disrespect, but if he's such a mighty hero of the Worlds then why attack people who are of no threat to those very existences? And to add to this brief list, why belittle and mock humanity as a whole while doing so? He not only insulted this reality by disregarding any respect for it whatsoever, but he also put himself on a higher pedestal than anyone in that dimension or on this planet. I don't know about you, but I've found that those with power tend to believe themselves to be strong, and in this case he continuously spouted about how his own strength trumped those around him. Now, tell me, do I have this wrong? I'm only listing off exactly what I watched him say and do."

"You are wrong. The only person or being he made retorts against is you and you alone! A simpleton who would rather speak ill of someone rather than appropriately diffuse the situation! A simpleton who more than earned what was said to you. And he never put himself on such a pedestal, Mr. Stark. You formed that ignorant and baseless thought off of whatever information you could grab at. You WILL apologize for your insults."

Part of him was wondering if she even heard herself when she talked… "As I said before, all of what I said was in response to your master's words. Any observation I made was built from what I saw from him and what he spoke. No apology is needed for something I never did. If anything, it's your master's actions that speak loud enough to require him to apologize for what he's done."

"Then clearly you've become more senile since your re-awakening. Now…apologize!"

Everyone around the two took notice of them as Inuba's entire being flared up with a strong burst of white flames, threatening to consume the elder Stark brother. Ice or no ice, nothing would save him from her flames.

Zerath hummed again before sighing, letting his clenched fingers grow loose and fall open as the temperature around him began to drop despite the rising heat.

"Throughout this argument, only one of us has seen the apparent reoccurring need to insult the other." the cerulean blues of his irises suddenly glowed as a field of light blue mist began to simmer inside the heat rushing against his body, "It appears you two both share that personality trait… I'd have at least expected more tact from at least one of you."

It seemed he'd found the two of them to share the urge to instigate, rather than quell.

"You… You...!" she raised her hand and made to slap him across the face, only for her burning wrist to crash against his raised forearm.

"I see…" Zerath muttered, the mist around him growing stronger as Inuba's heat threatened to break through it, "You both love to strike first too… it seems…"

Inuba's other hand started to rise as her flames grew larger and began melting the ice protecting the elder Stark brother's forearm. Shortly enough, he would be losing said arm. But before that happened, something suddenly stirred in both their peripherals.

"D-Dante's… not… like that…"

Zerath snapped his gaze down to find slivers of Xera's colored irises beneath partially open lids, only for them to close away again as the phoenix let out a struggled breath.

The elder Stark took a step back to let Inuba's arm fall from its lock with his own, his gaze turning down to watch the rise and fall of his brother's lightly breathing chest.

Maybe there really was something he was missing...

"Okay Foxy, let the popsicle off before you melt him into a puddle, yeah?" Ciel suddenly slipped in, tugging on Inuba's detached sleeve to move her back to treat Xera.

And she did exactly that as her flames died down, allowing her to kneel at the younger Stark brother's side to continue treating him.

"Let's get one thing straight here, Icee. Take a knock at us, sure, fine. Take a knock at my big brother though…" Ciel said as she approached him menacingly, grabbing him by the collar, "and it's not only Foxy you'll have to worry about. I'll drop you in a bottomless dimension to drift in it until you die. Got it?" she said as her sclerae turned black and her irises a glowing white for a few brief moments.

Zerath simply nudged the hand away with the back of his as he stared back into her glare with an indifferent gaze, "If we're exchanging threats now, then I believe I need to make something clear. You attack the last member of my family again without good reason…any one of you…I can assure you I'll sooner die than ever give up making sure your lives are all a living hell. And besides, a baseless claim is only designed to instigate, is it not? Foxy and her 'Master' need to work on their little tempers."

"And you need to work on not being a douchebag like Nosferatu over there." said the young girl pointing her thumb behind her at the cowboy clad in black.

"Hmm... Then I'd suggest you all work on not jumping to violence every chance you get then. Do we have a deal?"

"I don't think you saw me take a swing. And believe me, you wouldn't be able to if I did. So sure, deal, seal or whatever. Now take a hike so Foxy can work in peace without you stressing her out."

With just this small exchange, Ciel was beginning to question Zerath's relation to Xera. He obviously enjoyed running his mouth without thinking, definitely was less smarter, and in addition to the young girls mental notations, a real douchebag.

"If you were paying attention, you'd have noticed it had only been you two and him who'd been making threats this entire time. But I suppose it's only fair, besides..." he turned away as his hard gaze suddenly softened, a tense breath leaving his lips before he started to walk off, "Xera's the only thing I care about. I wouldn't underestimate someone with nothing left to lose…"

 _Is this bastard seriously making another useless threat? Maybe I should have let Foxy roast his ass... Then again, I'd like to break his legs myself. And face._

"Man, do you love the sound of your own voice or something? Just shut up, go stand in the corner like the little five year old you are, and let her work in peace. Sheesh, the mouth on this one..." replied Ciel, not moved by his last remark.

Zerath gave a small wave over his shoulder as he went away, "You'll learn to get used to it… If you're around long enough."

 _Maybe I should drop him in a hole right now... Ugh, whatever..._

"Seriously… What a chatterbox… It's like one of those stupid little automated snowmen at christmas that just squeak endlessly…"

The young sibling let out a sigh of relief and sat down on a small clump of ice, crossing one leg over the other as she rested her chin in her hands.

 _Well... I guess we wait now..._

* * *

It wasn't much longer until Inuba was finished healing Xera enough to have him transported.

"Alright, time to get up." someone suddenly said, black boots stepping roughly against the ground next to Blake and Xera as the lip of Niro's hat grew darker from the sun at his back, "Storm's fully cleared."

Inuba noticed Blake looking up to see the light dancing on the sea, a calming breeze gently sweeping over the island now as a golden orange hue overwhelmed the cold red the ocean used to be.

Gentle waves now lapped against the island, their surroundings no longer clouded by a swirling storm, dark and dreary… The wall of wind and tornadoes had now completely dissipated.

It was just the sunrise on the horizon and the ocean…

"Oh save the romance and just get up. You can enjoy the view in the bullhead." Niro muttered, stepping away as he headed toward Zerath next.

"Not so fast there Linkin Park. I'm going with." said Ciel, hopping up onto her feet, "And I'm bringing the equally cute and awesome explosive purple one with me too."

Skyla's arm was seen quietly lifting a fist in the background from where she still lay.

"Suit yourself." Niro replied, dismissing Ciel with half a wave as he made his way over to Zerath.

Everybody else seemed to be quietly boarding their vessels around them, sticking together as teams.

"I think the common consensus is to just get off the island and go home." Zerath commented quietly, looking around to see student after student disappearing into the five other bullheads.

"Smarter than sticking around to watch it crumble to pieces." Niro replied, his words only emphasized by a large chunk of ice breaking away and falling into the gentle water at the other side of the island, "Kyzal! Wheels up, we're leaving."

The black cowboy made his way to the ship just as Blake carried Xera's passed out form onboard, the cat faunus strapping him in first before getting situated next to him.

"Ciel!" Skyla called out, rolling slightly onto her side to make eye contact with the girl across the way. Sky soon made grabby grabby motions with her hands, "Pick me up."

Ciel immediately appeared within the blink of the eye from the far distance that spanned between them, asking with a bow "How may I be of service today mademoiselle?"

"Carry me to freedom!" Skyla requested simply.

"Aye!"

Ciel gently picked up Skyla and carried her in her arms as they appeared before the airship door.

"Though technically we're traveling into hell with the wannabe One Punch Man aboard. But hey, if things go wrong, or very wrong, I can get the four of us out in an instant. And Cowboy Nosferatu will cry and cry and cry holding the teddy bear he probably has in his coat pocket." stated the girl as she strapped Skyla into one of the seats, strapping herself in next to her.

"Relax shortstack," Niro said, stepping past Ciel and Skyla as they made their way onboard and letting Zerath board behind them as well, "We've already worked out a deal."

After a quick check outside, he met the golden-orange eyes of a short kitsune girl standing outside with her tails between her legs.

"Coming?" he asked.

She meekly nodded then slipped past him, wiggling her way into the seat on the other side of Xera as Niro closed the compartment door behind her.

"Take us up, Kyzal," Niro called out to his partner, taking hold of a handle above him as he remained standing.

"Welcome to Falcon Airlines, everyone strap in and hold onto the person next to you. We'll shortly be accelerating to a nice cruise speed beyond the sound barrier and I'd appreciate it if nobody screamed." Kyzal spoke through the intercom, the vessel beginning to shift as its engines flared up and began to lift it into the air, "If any of you happen to be looking for the bathroom at some point during the ride, please use the door at the back of the ship."

Kit glanced to the back of the ship and only saw the closed bay door of the vessel.

"If you get sick, also please use the door at the back of the ship."

"I'll just open a small rift and send the goods to you know who's lap." whispered Ciel to Skyla, the two giggling to each other.

"All in all, I hope you have a magical ride on today's romantic airline." Kyzal finished, the intercom shutting off a moment later.

And then their airship lurched forward with the sunrise shining through its windows.

* * *

 ** _Soon Dante... Soon...we will be whole once more..._**

* * *

 **Four days later...**

Bright sky blue eyes slowly cracked open to stare at the white ceiling above him. Letting out a silent groan, he shifted his body up and touched his head with his left hand, shaking his head slightly to shake away the uncomfortable feeling in his forehead.

How long had he been out?

More importantly...what happened?

Shutting his eyes, he slowly recalled everything before now. Their entry into the realm, standing at Zeridûl's door to his throne room, and then... His fight with Xera? Why were they fighting?

...

The young immortal remembered now... Irony had struck him as cruelly as it ever did.

When they entered the Realm, Dante was more than certain Zeridûl possessed The Gem of the Ancients. It was then he warned Xera about the Gem, and it's mimetic effects on others. The irony in the situation was that it wasn't Xera or the other who fell under the Gem's influence...but Dante himself...

"Damn it all..."

"Master?"

His head jolted upwards slightly before turning to the voice of his partner Inuba, who sat in the seat next to his hospital bed. His eye met her own crimson read as she stood up and looked him over, and then...hugged him tightly.

It wasn't unwelcome, but it was certainly surprising.

He never really understood it, but her touch had seemingly always had a...soothing effect on him.

Was it right to say it was a nice feeling?

As if she just realized what she was doing, the kitsune quickly let go of him and stood straight at attention.

"H-How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I guess..."

Dante tried moving his right arm but found himself unable to, prompting him to look down at his arm to see it completely wrapped in bandages and placed in a black sling. Lifting up the sleeve of his hospital shirt, he could see the bandaging covering his arm all the way up to his shoulder.

It was to be expected given what happened...

"I hope this didn't give you too much." he said nodding to his right arm.

"Not much, no. But..." her fingers found themselves pinching his cheek, sending out minor waves of pain. "You still overdid it.

"Owowowowow! I get it, I get it!"

Satisfied with his small punishment she let go and left him in peace.

Rubbing his cheek slightly, he looked at Inuba with concern in his eyes, unable to ask what he wanted. Luckily, she knew what it was he wanted to ask.

"Mr. Stark and ms. Xerious are doing well, Master. Although, mr. Stark took some more time given the, um...circumstances involved."

"Right..."

"He's doing much better now. Exhausted more than anything, but he'll make a quick recovery soon enough. There's nothing to be concerned about."

At least he was okay... And alive...

"I was also able to confirm your theory from a while ago. Do you remember asking me if there was something unusual that could make a body light enough to stand on snow?"

"I do."

"It turns out that because of mr. Stark's phoenix Faunus heritage, his entire bone structure is hollow, hence why he is able to not only stand on snow but also fly as effectively as he does."

"How did you find that out?"

"Well... I had to mend some of his bones..."

"Ah... Right..."

It was going to be difficult facing the others after what happened...

"Master, no one blames you for what happened. They all understood what transpired after I explained the situation to them and forgave what happened. Although, I don't think we'll be on good terms with mr. Stark's older brother."

She deliberately left out his name. Did something happen between them?

Looking around, he wasn't able to see his brother or sister anywhere.

"Where's Ciel and Leo?"

"They're actually helping with the others in setting up the going away party for us."

"Going away party? Um, cool I guess?"

"Very! Ren and I will be working on a cake together! And we'll be sure to make it a masterpiece!"

"Sounds like fun." I said with a smile in regard to my partner's excitement for baking, "Ready to go home after this?"

"For the most part, yes... But..."

"Right back at it. We still have some ways before hitting Mistral..."

The young immortal's thoughts shifted towards Ruby. His Ruby, not the one in this Reality.

She was always on his mind to be honest, especially after being separated from one another for so long.

The girl in the white cloak told him that she too, along with Jaune, Ren and Nora, were making their way to Mistral. It wouldn't be surprising if they met each other along the way, even with the two week head started Dante and Inuba had.

By the time they would get back, their chances of linking up together were more than certain.

All Dante could do was hope she was alright and faring well. All of them.

"Oh... It would seem mr. Stark wishes to see you." announced Inuba as she looked on her HoloScroll.

"That so? Well, better not keep him waiting then..."

Dante moved the covers off him and let his feet touch the slightly chilly ground. When he stood up, he took a few moments to stretch before looking for his clothes, which lay on a chair next to Inuba.

Everything was in place and had been mended, even his white coat. The sleeveless, soft fabric black collared shirt and grey jeans were more than likely extra's amongst their supply of clothing, while the white coat Dante wore usually more than likely mended itself given the materials it was made out of.

Grabbing his clothes, Dante headed inside the restroom in his hospital room to get changed and see what it was Xera Stark needed to see him about.

* * *

It took Dante a few minutes to reach the outside of the forge room considering he was stopped and greeted along the way with the others. As soon as he entered inside though, he moved out of the way quickly to let Blake pass him by, giving the cat Faunus and awkward nod before hurrying himself further inside.

"Hello?" Dante said, looking inside awkwardly, "No severe bludgeoning today, honest. Unless you're a masochist and ask me nicely. Still wouldn't do it though."

"I don't think Blake would like it very much if I tried to challenge you again… Or Skyla for that matter…" Xera replied, motioning Dante over toward his workstation as he set the displayed design to slowly rotate for viewing.

"Oh, well… Only slightly worried then?"

"Don't be. I just need your help with a little project." the phoenix replied, "Though…it may also require you as its test subject."

"Oh boy. Science. Can't wait to get zapped." the immortal commented, making his way over.

"No zapping considering this is a gift for you. You don't have to use it beyond the testing I want you to do with it, but it's an option in case you ever want to bring it out on the field."

Xera tapped the back end of his stylus on the workstation before pointing it up over his shoulder, gesturing to the design he had on show.

"A gift huh...?"

"For helping. And...for not killing me or my partner. Even in your strenuous state." Xera replied.

"I… I don't think I helped to be honest..."

What he did towards the end was not helping.

"Everything still got done in the end, and…I found out a lot more about what happened to my brother all these years. So, you did help, even though we ended up fighting in the end."

"You know it's funny… There I was telling you to be careful of mimetic effects. And I fell into it like an idiot. And then, I…"

"You weren't yourself, so don't worry about it." Xera said, turning to face him as he reached the other side of the phoenix's workstation and stopped.

"I am worried about it. That…is not what I am. I can recall a few things here and there, but…I was never like that. Was I a bit of a polite and silent jerk back then when I was younger? Absolutely. But I was, and have never been, unreasonable."

Xera stayed silent for a little while in response. This part of the conversation, which he'd been expecting wasn't going to be easy.

Even after thinking about what to say beforehand too.

"I know. It's why I figured a fight might break through to you." Xera turned back to his station as he rested his arms on the surface, keeping his gaze on the design, "Weren't you always the one to say that a true fight is the best way to understand each other?"

"There's other ways to get to understand a person's thoughts or feelings. But yeah, swords and fists do the trick just as nicely."

"Funny how it ended with both…" Xera commented.

"Yeah… I guess so… But all in all… Sorry." Dante slowly replied, resting his hands on the workstation now.

"We made it out nonetheless, which is really what matters. I'm still worried about how Skyla's fairing, even though she's moving around as if nothing happened now thanks to Inuba… But…" Xera brought his gaze back to Dante now.

"Again… Sorry. I never had any intention to kill either of you. Just…had to make it look that way to get you to backdown."

"Didn't work too well on us, but you're fine." Xera replied with a small smile, noting the fact that neither of them backed down at all, "In the end, I got what I was looking for when I went in there…"

"Right… So, what is it that I'm needed for?"

Xera's smile grew as he leaned back in his stool and swiveled it around, flicking his stylus up to point it toward the rotating design before tapping the screen and letting the digital blade disassemble itself.

"We're about to learn what Hot Aura Fusion can really do."

The phoenix moved to allow Dante a better look at Xera's "project". It was... What even was it?

"What the heck is this thing...?"

Xera let his irises begin to flicker with orange flames as he glanced to the forge, "This right here is a weapon I'm making for you. For whatever use you might get out of it anyway. As for the process, I'll walk you through it."

"Oh goody. New toys and uber cool science. Yay."

"You'll like what this thing can do. So, you don't have to be excited yet about how it's made and how it works."

"No need to say anything else. Let's get to work."

* * *

"Dang big brother! Your list of tunes is sweet!" commented Ciel looking over Dante's HoloScroll, specifically his long expanding list of songs, which were currently playing through the speaker system in the ballroom.

"What can I say? I know what everyone likes. Well, mostly." replied the young immortal as he watched his sister go through the list.

"How long have you been building this list?!"

"Uh... Since two years ago? Our friend in the cloak brought over my old HoloDevice that had everything on it. A bit of tweaking and I turned it into a Scroll, and then, a HoloScroll like what we have now."

"Cool~!"

Dante could only smile at his younger sibling's enthusiasm before she pushed back his display, allowing him to close it. He and others danced for a bit, but the young immortal decided to take a break for a while, mainly because dancing with one arm seemed weird to him. And so, he sat at one of the tables and enjoyed the sweet blood orange soda refreshments and the graham cracker bowls. Thanks to Dante, only two out of the five large bowls of Graham crackers remained.

Taking a quick look around, Dante saw Velvet and Yatsuhashi at one end of the room being intrigued by Kitsuki over at one of the white table clothed tables.

Cuteness in it's prime... Both healthy and deadly.

The immortal also took note of how the tables were scattered about the perimeter of the room, some of the tables covered in a black covering to alternate between the designs.

Xera's eyes scanned over the white roses centralized on the black tables, and found the same vice versa case to be on each of the black tables around the room as well.

Taking another look around, Dante could see Rideat, one of Xera's friends, focused on installing some wiring in the base of one of the exterior pillars, the cables seemingly running up inside the column itself.

All in all, everyone seemed to be having fun.

"How's the head?" Zerath asked even, his eyes finding Dante sitting at a table near the outskirts of the dance floor. Apparently, his image of the immortal fell short of the way his brother viewed him…

Simply hearing his voice made him jump as his head slowly creaked towards the elder Stark brother, trying to remain calm as possible.

"Um… Okay..?" he replied rather meekly.

The Stark brother slipped his hands into his jacket's pockets and retained an indifferent gaze, "I was…told you don't ever act the way you did in there. Xera seems to say the same. Do you remember everything you said and did in there?"

"Y-Yes..?"

An unnoticeable frown formed over Zerath's unreadable face as he heard that, "Then I just have a question for you, if you do."

"Alright… I guess…"

Having him here was more difficult than he imagined...

A short silence fell before cerulean eyes calmly brought their gaze to the immortal's irises.

"How much of it do you regret?"

It was that kind of question… Terrific…

If Dante had to think about it, some of it was deserved. But only a small amount of it compared to the rest.

"What I did? What I said? Both? You and your brother have a knack for being irritatingly vague, so I can't answer your question really unless you specify."

"Both." Zerath considered that specified.

"In all honesty… yes and no. A lot of it I did regret. A lot. But there's few and in between that I don't entirely regret."

Dante leaned forward a bit so that his arm could rest on the table.

"Optimism is a great thing to have. I won't bag on you for it. But there is such a thing as misplaced optimism. And your brother was virtually in that territory at that point in time. I've been in many world ending scenarios, and thankfully, in the end, it all worked out as best it could. Like I said, optimism isn't a bad thing, but it can get others killed. And even under the Gem's influence, I didn't want to let your brother to make that kind of mistake on a belief."

Taking a sigh, Dante leaned back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other, staring at Zerath directly this time.

"Then there's you." replied the immortal simply.

"There's also a little thing called hope. It falls between optimism and misplaced optimism. There was a long while where my brother had that at the front of his mind…" Zerath let his hands sink into his pockets as he glanced away.

It was easy to tell Xera couldn't fall into that belief anymore. But even so, he still managed to draw on that to try and stop Dante from doing something he might come to regret.

"He thinks differently now. It's better that way, so I know he knew what he was doing when he challenged you." After a moment, Zerath finally looked back to meet Dante's gaze as he disregarded what he just said, "So, where do I fall in any of that?"

"While I did say some arrogant things in between, some of which you grossly misinterpreted, you weren't any better yourself. Again, when it comes to the category of who knows more about these situations and the concepts involved overall, not to toot my horn or anything, but I think I'm a couple dozen paces above."

It seemed some of the way he'd acted inside the realm really did stay constant… "I know what I said. My words were all spoken in direct regards to what you said in there. None of it strayed too far away from that guideline, but there's something you're mistaken about. Your reality and mine are different. What you know there may not necessarily carry into here. So all those places above you think you are is only relative to your own place of origin."

"Again not entirely true. There's similarities involved, no matter how hard you try to think otherwise. Fact of the matter is he was a Dark Entity. My knowledge of potential scenarios involved were more than applicable in this case."

"It may have been applicable, but you're comparing your extensively broad knowledge of a race to someone who's studied and understood one particular Dark Entity for 5 long years. That kind of specialization can give more than that kind of broad knowledge." Zerath returned.

"Five years is small at best, Stark. Even if it's just one compared to the entirety or majority. Before that moment, he gave us no way and no opportunities to place a single ounce of trust in him. At all. Having everything just put out there at the very end? One of three possibilities. Truth, trickery to escape, or trickery to attack while off guard. Even with you there it was still hard to believe. Maybe if your mind wasn't a complete mess, I probably would have picked up on something sooner. Even then the Gem wouldn't have been able to trick me into believing otherwise."

"Five years is longer than you might think. Especially for humans…who understand the concept of death much more acutely than beings of countless other origin." Zerath said, sliding his hands out of his pockets to cross them across his body, his shoulder leaning into the pillar to his left.

"Death might not be a reality for me…but I understand the concept of death. More than you'd know or realize."

"If you're wondering why nobody but Xera actually put everything together, Zeridul was following orders. My orders. We were looking to double cross the company controlling us, so there was nothing we could do to give the plan away. Underestimating its leader is the last thing anyone should do."

"I agree. Never underestimate the tenacity and potential cruelty of humanity, nor their capabilities overall. But you still shouldn't overestimate them either."

"Unfortunately, the one we were looking to fool doesn't follow those kinds of categorizations." Zerath sighed, letting his weight grow heavy as he let the pillar support him, "Knowing him… He probably knew what we were up to from the beginning. And even so, he's letting us go."

"Catch, release, observe. Someone like that is playing a very dangerous game. Make sure he realizes it."

Zerath already knew, he'd been cautious ever since their plan actually started to come to fruition. But… "The game grows even more dangerous when its greatest lethal piece is the most unpredictable on the field."

"True that..." said Dante sliding over a bottle of blood orange soda, "Reconciliation beverage, I guess. We don't have to be friends now, but…we'll hopefully get there eventually."

Zerath held up a hand, but he accepted the reconciliation part of the offer either way, "My physical body is still recovering. I need to give it time to rest and…avoid the harsher substances."

"Hence the blood orange soda you goof. Come on, drink it. I didn't poison it or whatever."

"Not that I don't believe you, but I'm keeping away from soda intake for the time being. Not that I ever drank it to begin with." His childhood was never exactly one of excess food outside of the necessity.

"Hey, its freshly squeezed, little sugar amount, mostly carbonated juice. Relax and just drink it already will you?"

"Sugar and carbonation run along the same line." Zerath said with a sigh, pushing himself away from the pillar to turn toward the closed door by the entrance, "Besides, you should know how stubborn a Stark can be by now."

"If watching Game of Thrones and spending time with your brother has taught me anything, that is more than true."

Zerath glanced back with a curious gleam, before letting it fade back into neutrality, "Forgive me if I'm behind in the trends of media. I haven't exactly had free time to delve into anything of that caliber."

"Remind me to get you guys a LinkBox for Christmas… Fine then, water." said Dante placing a glass of water in front of the elder Stark sibling.

Zerath took the water with a careful hand, chilling it to his liking once his fingers were around its glass, "LinkBox?"

"Let's us watch tv and internet videos from my old World Primordial. Pretty cool thing to have."

"If I may be blunt then, we've never been a fan of tv."

…

They were much harder to deal with than anticipated…

"Cake then? I guess? Unless you hate cake too?"

"It's a celebration." Zerath replied with a polite inflection inside his indifferent demeanor, "It would be rude to refuse a small piece."

"Are you screwing with me at this point to get back at me a bit?"

"No." Zerath replied earnestly, "I've confused enough people as it is. It's time I actually take a break from it."

"This wasn't confusing so much so as dealing with someone a tad bit difficult."

"I believe the same can be said for you." Zerath returned, taking a sip of his cold water. He'd already tested it for any alterations.

Like poison.

"What, you kidding? I'm like a tall, fluffy teddy bear people love to hug. That and I'm way easier to talk to."

"I don't get in the way of people's dreams… So if that's what you want to be…" Zerath shrugged his shoulder and turned for a moment, seeing Ciel rush to the door, "I won't judge you for that one."

"My god you are difficult…"

Zerath hid a small smirk and a hum into his glass as he say the door get pulled violently open, "We both are."

It seemed his brother finally made it to the party. Fashionably late.

"Well, end my suffering and go catch up with your little brother."

"I'm only willing to do one of those," Zerath replied evenly, only the slightest bit of humor unstifled in his voice before he walked away.

"Tch… Whatever man…"

With that, Dante himself walked off towards the balcony, where he could see his cloaked friend outside, staring at the fragmented moon up in the sky.

"I'm assuming you made all the preparations for us to leave?" asked Dante as he leaned on the railing next to his cloaked ally.

"Indeed. All we have to do now is wait for this party to conclude. I didn't know you had great taste in music." she said.

"I still don't know who you are."

"Touche. But all within a set matter of time."

"Yeah yeah, secrets and all... Still, you must be a big deal if you need to hide your power from the Holy Pigeons. Why help me in the first place if you know the kind of trouble I was in with those guys? If they found out you're helping me, they'd hunt you down until you're dead."

"I have my reasons for helping, non of which I need to share now. Just know and always remember that I'm always on your side."

That last bit was very much the same thing Inuba told him once...

"Alright, keep your secrets."

She could only chuckle with amusement.

"So... Is it done?"

"Done as in the last of the Gems has been finally destroyed?" she asked, "Then yes it's done."

"It's almost hard to believe... But I'm glad it's done. Now no one can get such power in their hands ever again."

"But there's always some other threatening force after some sort of power."

"And it's our job to put a stop to it. Just like its our job to stop the lunatic trying to destroy Remnant with God knows whatever means are available."

"You seem enthusiastic."

"Hardly. I'll just be happier when I go back and see Ruby is all."

"You'll get your chance soon enough once we get back. Last I checked, they're not too far behind. The chances of meeting up with them along the way are practically guaranteed, though, you'll still be slightly ahead."

Dante's eyes lightened up upon hearing those words.

"That's great to hear. So...I just have to ask again. For me basically. Are you're absolutely sure about ALL of them being gone?" Dante asked.

"I'm sure. Just relax, alright?"

"Fiiine."

"Don't 'fiiine' me," she responded, poking him in the forehead, "I'll take you back later. Have fun until then. Because once we go back…"

"Back to the 'Search For The Worst. I remember. Later," the immortal said, waving to her as she strayed away.

Xera waited for a moment to see his associate join the small crowd on the dance floor, though there wasn't any dancing to be had at all, "Heading out after the party?"

"Look at you all fine and feathery. Still not tired after all that metal working?"

"Nah. Believe it or not, the fire actually helps me stay awake more effectively than the stress of working with materials can put me down," Xera returned with a smile, "Let me know when you happen to test out that weapon. I want to know what the full extent of it can do."

"Well, it's not like I can call, write a letter, or send you a text saying 'OMG Xera, that cool thingy you made? Totes awesome.' or something stupid like that. You'd have to wait until you come to me or I come to you."

"I know." Xera said, slipping his free hand into his pocket, "If you were staying for longer, I'd have you running tests with it, but no tests ever make up for the real thing out on the field. Besides, you all really need to get back soon. I can't be hogging your attention in a reality that isn't even yours, after all."

"Yeah… It's just…I got to go handle a few things back there. No doubt everyone else caught up by now. At least, close to catching up."

"Don't worry about it too much. Your Reality should always be your priority. This was just a bit of a sidestop… Or a surprisingly big one, either or. But anyway, if the gift doesn't signify it enough, I'll say it again..." Xera's eyes turned gold for a moment before falling into dark green, something to prove how serious he was with this, "Thanks for the help."

"I really didn't do anything besides cause a huge screw up at the finish…"

"Not exactly. I'd probably be a corpse in the desert near Vacuo still if you weren't here..." Xera offered, shrugging his shoulder for a moment, "Besides, you're kinda the one who led us all through the dimension anyway. Not to mention you and your associate are also the only reason why Zerath and Zeridul were even able to separate from each other…" Xera continued, eventually getting to his point, "Without you, Zerath probably really would've been dead after all this."

"Still… I'm… Well, me. I should have been better than that. And I failed. Miserably. And you and others got to see worse than anyone else ever has. Worse than I knew I was capable of. Then again…"

"They say you never really know somebody until you've seen the side of them they like to keep hidden." Xera spoke, letting his voice stay even as he drew back on something his mom told him, "Whatever their reason may be, it's the side to them they don't want seen. We've seen you at your worst…if that really is your worst."

"That's the thing. That wasn't me. That has never been me. It was like…something else entirely."

It was almost like the night in the church.

"Then strive to never become that thing ever again." Xera said seriously, wanting to drive that one goal into him, "You've experienced it now, so you know what to expect if it ever happens again to you."

His words held some comfort...but it was never that easy.

"It never will… So, all this for a going away party? I mean, we might not be back for a good while, but it's not like we're going away forever or anything."

"What? Would you rather us do nothing and just let you leave quietly?" Xera asked with a somewhat cheeky smile.

He was glad to see he wouldn't allow himself to fall that far again.

"Skyla and Ciel were quite adamant about making this a big deal." Blake added as she approached.

"Of course it was those two… I swear, it's like a best friend match made in heaven. Or hell if you think about it other ways too."

Their powers combine would be terror incarnate.

"I'm sure it's only because they know they won't be seeing each other for a while…" Xera theorized, but he only half-believed his own words there.

There was definitely something between those two that clicked.

"Not to alarm you two..." Blake commented idly, suddenly catching something off to the side, "But I think Leo's in a dress…"

"You're absolutely kidding me. Where?!" Dante exclaimed, lightening the mood through Blake's input as he looked around frantically.

He glanced over to the stairway from the balcony just in time to see Skyla and Ciel dashing down its length with a pair of pants and a white shirt, splitting up and going separate direction while giggling to themselves and being chased down by Leo in a short-skirted black dress.

"I think he actually pulls that look off better than most guys can…" Xera commented.

"He does have some nice curves and a slim frame." Blake agreed.

"While not being as muscly, he's still toned despite looking a bit scrawny. That, and he's still pretty strong."

"Aren't you all?" Xera asked distractedly, watching as a strong tether of aura suddenly latched onto the two running girls and pulled them forcefully together.

"Yeah, but he's the only one of us who could pull off cross-dressing," Dante said.

"C-CIEL!"

Leo's plea lay in the background as the sister in question suddenly took Skyla and disappeared through a rift, reappearing back up on the stairs.

"True..." the phoenix replied, "But who knows… There might just be more of you out there. So you can't say that for sure."

"Oh god… If we have a loli little sister, we are hiding her away permanently."

"Really? I think Ciel would make a wonderful older sister that'd just love to teach her little follower all her knowing ways and tactical strategies." Xera commented with an emphasized smirk.

Despite all the shenanigans going on, to the party's amusement, the lights suddenly dimmed a bit as Rideat stood with his soldering metal arm in the air.

His covered gaze turned upward as a display of bright beams of light cascaded up into the roof of the ballroom, some trailing down to flash and glide over the dance floor below in a soft glow.

And before long, those white streaks of light began to flow and move to match the rising and falling tempo of the music playing over the speakers.

A rising commotion soon filtered out into the room as the back doors began to open, even stopping the running Ciel and Skyla in their tracks for just long enough to be dive-tackled by the girl's twin brother.

Inuba and Ren were quietly wheeling out a large food cart, a towering white cake with black, intricate designs flowing perfectly around its textured sides in fancy pipework turning into view as they brought it out to the table of snack foods off to the side.

"Oh, there were snacks?" Xera asked.

"Yup. Softdrinks too, and water bottles for those who just wanted water." Blake informed, her gaze following Xera's own.

The two chefs were in their respective aprons, Ren still wearing his "Please Do Nothing to the Cook" apron and Inuba wearing her "The Only Cook Hotter than the Kitchen" apron.

"It was amazing to see them compete… I wonder what their food would taste like if they worked together on something..." Xera wondered aloud.

"Really?" Blake asked skeptically, "Weren't you the one who handed your food off to Dante both times?"

"What? He looked hungry." Xera shrugged, offering her a small smile to show a little amusement.

"You were having your fun, weren't you…" she sighed.

"Maybe."

Before Xera could even speak to him further, Dante had already reached the cake, a glint of eagerness and excitement in his eyes.

"Awesome..! I haven't had cake in forever!"

"I hope you enjoy it..." said Inuba softly as she fidgeted about with her hands.

"Definitely will!" said Dante as he received a large piece of cake from Ren.

A line had quickly formed for the dessert, people still talking and chatting as they moved through the servings as Ren and Inuba worked to cut up their masterpiece with fluent ease.

Tonight was a good night.

* * *

The girl cloaked in white stood at the edge of the Balcony as Dante, Inuba, Ciel, and Leo all stood in front of her and said their long-lasting goodbyes.

It took a surprisingly long amount of time to just get to this point and finally see them off, but part of that was due to Skyla and Ciel refusing to NOT finish their long bucket list of 'together activities' before they saw each other off.

One of those being kidnapping Leo and seeing what he'd look like in a dress.

He was back to normal now.

Still peeved, though.

"So, how does this work?" Coco asked, idly standing with her team as she leaned against the wide balcony-way's doorframe, "Do they just vanish or something?"

"As cool as that is, no, not exactly." Dante explained.

"I'll be opening a rift to a Reality Passage and take us back to our own. Simple enough really."

Coco lowered her sunglasses for a moment to glance at the girl.

Even at night, she wore them.

"Knew I shouldn't have asked..." she replied, realizing it was a lot more confusing than she'd originally thought it'd be.

"Think of it as just accessing a new door that pops up." Xera offered, wondering if that helped.

"Or black holes!" Skyla added, before finishing her comment off in a quiet whisper, "Nobody knows where they go…"

"Only I know how to get us there and back again." said the cloaked girl.

"At least you know though..." Jaune spoke up, "I mean, it'd be a bit weird of you had no idea how to get back."

"Sounds like a plotline for a movie…" Ruby commented on the side.

"Stranded in an alternate reality..." Yang added for the sake of it, "Has a nice ring to it."

"There was a time that happened. Since then, I worked out the kinks. And…I will never return to that outlandish, childish realm…"

...

Where the heck did she go to?

Despite the lineup, Ciel still had time to nudge Skyla's arm playfully and make her own comment, "We should totally go there."

"You think we can become the supreme rulers there?" Sky asked quietly, but excitedly.

"Co-ruling supreme queens of the world? Hell yeah we can!"

Them ruling the world would be...chaotic. Maybe.

Squirrels would become the World's national symbol… And ice cream would become a mandatory part of every meal…

Freeze Tag would be incorporated into battle strategies of warfare...

Yup, chaotic indeed.

"Thank you all for having us here and allowing us to assist you. Despite circumstances involved, we hope to work again with you in the future, whenever necessary." said Inuba, giving everyone a polite bow.

Zerath had been leaning against the opposite frame as Coco, but to a couple people's surprise, he nodded his head in return to the polite bow and responded, "Likewise."

"You all really helped out, but if you need any help at your own reality, I want to repay this favor that's built up from me calling you here." Xera said, giving his own polite nod to Inuba's bow.

"We'll be sure to do so." replied Dante, before finally turning toward the cloaked girl, "Ready?"

With a wave of her hand, an eye shaped portal of black and white aura opened up, the other side not visible to the others.

With one last hug, Ciel waved goodbye to Skyla and the others before going inside, Leo awkwardly waving at the rest as he followed in after with Inuba following behind.

"See you guys." waved Dante.

Xera gave another small nod to the immortal, others around him waving to see him off.

Then after returning that small nod, Dante stepped inside as the Rift closed behind him.

The passageway they were traveling through was like a plain, dimly lit hallway of energy. It was a sight that always intrigued Dante. But before the young immortal took another step forward, he looked back momentarily before smiling and letting out a small chuckle and walking forward to join his friends, his family once again.

It was time to head back home.

* * *

 **(Omake: Scaredy Cats, by me)**

"Man…" said Raum as he let out a sigh of boredom, "Thankfully we we restocked all the applesauce… Damn brats didn't think to leave us the cooler with the other stash of it…"

A week or so had passed since Dante and the others left, leaving Raum and Irene in their Reality of Remnant until the three siblings and fox yōkai returned.

"What heck is taking so long?" The Dark Entity asked himself as he bounced his foot up and down.

His gaze shifted to said bouncing foot, which currently lightly tossed up the small wolf Faunus child Irene up and down, scooping her up so when she fell back down she had a soft landing each time. Clearly, her giggles of amusement told him she was enjoying the makeshift "bounce house" that was one of the Four Dark Entity King's foot.

Although soon enough, she leaned forward a bit from her bounce up, her body arcing towards Raum's hand as he stuck it out. Amazingly, Irene landed feet first atop the palm of Raum's hand, who then raised her up into the air like how one would display a trophy proudly earned.

The little child soon stood up straight atop the palm supporting her, and raised up her hands in triumph, giving a satisfied "Hmph!" with her display of assisted acrobatics.

Not long after, the Dark Entity quickly removed his hand from under her feet and caught the falling girl with both hands, lowering her so that she could sit on his thigh while he placed his elbow on his other leg and rested his chin in his palm, letting out another sigh.

"When are those brats getting back..? I'm getting tired of waiting…"

He didn't necessarily have to wait at the small camp he set up in a grassy place on the outside of a village just a mile or so away.

He could go see THAT person again

…

No, it would be too soon.

The Dark Entity took note of how Irene's black wolf ears perked, her head moving to the front as the child and ancient being looked ahead from their camp, watching a small pack of eight Beowolves approaching them.

They were wary of Raum given he gave off a Dark presence that would cause the weakest of men to pee themselves simply being near him. Every now and then they went "number two", a gentler term than his usual he learned from reading one of Irene's books meant to educate the young girl.

The Creatures of Grimm encroached upon the camp ever so slowly, waiting to see if Raum would make his move.

"Weak trash yet again…" he said with a sigh, "What the hell is wrong with this world..?"

The Dark being raised up his hand, ready to unleash a beam of Aura that would cause the creature to implode and burst like balloons.

But instead, Irene leapt off Raum's lap and took a few steps forward with her tiny legs.

"Hey, what are you-?"

The Beowolves...backed away slowly when she confronted them.

"You've got to be kidding me…" whispered the Dark Entity as he kept his hand up and pointed it at the creatures just in case.

Without another word, Irene balled up her fists, raised up her tiny arms as she closed her eyes, and let out a tiny, mewling growl, one that would ultimately annihilate the cuteness scale of any on their vicinity.

The Beowolves wolf-like ears folded against their heads, each of them whimpering fearfully before turning around and running back into the forest from whence they came as fast as they could.

Irene walked back eagerly to her adoptive father and climbed up his leg to sit in his lap once more as she let out a proud chuckle whilst crossing her arms.

Raum was still staring at the point of entry to the forest where the Grimm fled to. Then, he roared with laughter, laughter he only let out so loudly and amusedly during his older days of conquest and destruction.

And Irene, in all her small cuteness, began giggling alongside the laughing Raum.

* * *

 **Semblance Encylopdeia 8**

"Ladies and gentleman!" Said Ciel as she stepp on stage by herself, "Come one, come all...to our show about Semblances! Starring yours truly...the beautiful, the absolute cutest, and the best little sister in the whole wide world...moi!"

The young sibling dramatically raised her hands up into the air as she took on pose, soon lowering them into a small bow before standing up straight.

"Have you finished gratifying yourself?" Asked Leonard as he took the stage next to his sister.

"Hmph! Boring guys like you just can't appreciate this compact form of beauty and awesomeness!"

"Yes… Well, apologies for the long break everyone. Things are returning to as they were next chapter, but today, we're getting right back on schedule with our segment. Speaking of which, what will be our topic of discussion today Ciel? Ciel?" Asked Leonard as he soon found his answer.

Ciel was now sitting atop a small pedestal, posing like a model while keeping one eye closed, as if she were winking.

"What are you doing?"

"Um, what's it look like doofus? Today's show is about me!"

"Is it?" Asked Leonard before he looked off to the side and asked the crew, "Is it..?" He asked with dejection in his tone.

He then let out a sigh, playing into his sister's "game".

"Well then...I guess I'll take the lead today…"

"That's more like it."

"Right… Well, you heard ladies and gentlemen. Today we will be discussing about my sister Ciel's Semblance, which, like mine, is a Duality Semblance."

"And! What exactly is a Duality Semblance mi hermano?" Asked Ciel as she pointed dramatically at Leo.

"A Duality Semblance is a type of Semblance that involves two different mechanics as part of a whole. For instance, it would be like if ms. Rose not only possessed her Semblance of accelerated speed, but also, for the sake of an example, had ms. Belladonna's Semblance of producing Shadow Clones of sorts."

On the monitor behind them, it displayed an animation of Ruby Rose using her Semblance to avoid an attack, while also seemingly using Blake Belladonna to add directional confusion for the enemy.

"In short, a Duality type Semblance is a sort of two in one Semblance. If one is lucky, or skilled enough, their two 'types' will have an excellent amount of synergy and combine wonderfully to unleash all sorts of confusion or devestation. Like how well my sister's types synergize quite well."

"Do tell our gracious audience those two types are my dear brother." Spoke Ciel in the fanciest tone she could, constantly switching between poses now and then.

"For the sake of future entertainment, we will only discuss that which we have seen so far and what we know. The two types my sister possesses are the halting of time for a set period and dimensional relocation and the like. In simpler terms, some manipulation of time and manipulation of space."

The display changed to an animation of a proudly standing Ciel.

"As of now, in regard to time halting abilities, Ciel is capable of freezing time for a set period of five seconds without the expense of Aura. Once past the ten seconda however, her ability will begin to dip into her Aura supply, but not by a vast amount until up to twenty seconds. After twenty seconds, the drain of Aura becomes significantly stronger. In short, each ten second mark drains more Aura quickly than the last mark."

"The most I can keep time frozen continuously for is a full minute. But that drains so much of my Aura it's absolutely ridiculous." Said Ciel as she continued her posing.

"To clarify, Ciel cannot rewind or fast forward time. Thankfully…"

"Hey! I'm not that irresponsible! Sometimes!"

"My point exactly. There are some more aspects to her 'Time Alteration' type, but we shall save those for another time, yes?"

"And the next bit!" Said Ciel dramatically pointing towards Leo again.

"The other type my sister possesses is Dimensional Alteration. Currently, from what we've seen, my sister is capable of teleporting in different locations around her, quickly opening dimensional rifts to slip in and out of. But that's not all. Ciel is able to create her own sets of self sustaining pocket dimensions that can contain an insurmountable amount of items each. Though, she can only make up to ten at a time. Their main uses are for storage really, but Ciel is capable of using them as Combat Dimensions to trap any enemy within."

The display on screen displayed Ciel performing these feets and more.

"The last bit of information we can provide is that Ciel is capable of absorbing attacks or objects of any kind into dimensional rift she opens. Doing so, Ciel can send an exact replica of an attack back at her enemy, and to make it even worse for her opponent, by expending some Aura, Ciel can boost the power of the attack she absorbed and send it twice as more powerful than the original. But that's not all."

"Would you like to know more?!" Questioned Ciel in a deep soldier-like voice.

"Ciel can open numerous rifts and send back multiple attacks of an attack she copied. For example, if Ciel opened a rift to absorb our older brother's Devouring Light, his super high density Aura Wave attack, Ciel's rift copies the attack and sends it back. If she chose to, she can use her Aura to make the send back attack more powerful. And yet, that's not the worst of it."

"And what, my dear brother, is the alternative devestating ability?!"

"In addition to copying an attack with her rift and sending it back normally or empowered, Ciel can open numerous rifts at once and send back numerous attacks at once. Again, our brother's Devouring Light for example. If Ciel were to absorb and copy the attack, she can open, let's say five rifts, and send out five Devouring Lights."

"Maximum Overkill!"

"Yes…" replied Leo as he took a step away from his sister, "The maximum amount of rifts she can open for this ability is up to ten currently. But due to the amount of rifts, and depending on the scale of power of the attack she is absorbing into her rift and copying, it takes a substantial amount of Aura to perform this ability. Not so much as it takes with passing the thirty second mark of her time halt, but still a decent amount in comparison."

"Welp!" Said Ciel as she hopped off her spotlight brimmed pedestal, "That's all we got for you this week folks! Hope you enjoyed it! Join us next week for Weapons Illustrated!"

As Ciel and Leo walked off stage, the young girl asked her brother the question most prominent on her mind at the moment.

"You think Foxy is gonna bake a cake for us?"

"It's highly likely."

"Sweet. Heh. Sweet. Literally. See what-?"

"I saw."

"Lighten up chucklebrother. Now, let's go have some cake! After we bake it!"

 **Well, I basically covered everything I needed to say up top. All that's left to say is that expect everything to resume next chapter, but it won't be as simple as following volume 4 just like that. You'll see what I mean when we get there.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	23. Chapter 23: The Next Step

**I blame life. And all the other crap I've had to do for the past week. At least this gets out today, so that's good. First chapter back, and its gonna be sweet. Enjoy**

 **Chapter 23: The Next Step**

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Raum sat in the collapsible chair, leaning back into it as far a as possible while keeping his eyes closed.

He was resting.

The Dark Entity had slaughtered thousands in his day during times of war. And each time he would never break a sweat. He never tired and was always able to continue his onslaught of mayhem. But now?

The young two year old wolf Faunus girl he virtually adopted has him running ragged. The amount of attention he had to pay to her was great. Especially since his "parenting knowledge" was mediocre at best.

At least the books helped.

Even though he wasn't sleeping, he kept his eyes closed and his ears open and focused on Irene as she played around their campsite.

What did intrigue him the most after spending so much time with Irene was with how children found entertainment in some of the simplest things around them.

For instance, when the young girl played with an empty plastic water bottle. She found gnawed on it for some time before tossing and kicking it about. And this in total lasted for about thirty minutes until the poor thing wore herself out.

Speaking of children, Raum wondered how much longer the others would be. It's been a week at most. And his previous mortal enemy, Dante, said they would handle whatever situation was going on quickly.

Two weeks was not "quickly". Quickly meant a few hours at best.

Wind rushed past Raum's makeshift campsite, leaves riding along the breeze as they scattered about everywhere. The Dark Entity opened his eyes and slowly rose up from his chair to see a white and black rift open up near the floor.

And out from it stepped those he were waiting for. Ciel, Leonard, the cloaked girl, Inuba and Dante.

"Took your damn time. Quickly means a few hours, a day at best. You were gone for a week." Said Raum getting up to greet them.

"Yeah, well the situation was fairly complicated. So it took a bit longer than usual until we were done." Said Dante.

Ciel and Inuba immediately went to embrace the little wolf Faunus girl Irene while Leo simply found a chair to sit in and leaned back in it. The cloaked girl remained where was next to Dante while the young immortal continued his conversation with Raum.

"How complicated we talking?" Asked Raum.

"Gem of the Ancients complicated." Spoke the cloaked girl.

Raum almost looked shocked as he crossed his arms.

"You're not kidding are you?"

"Nope. But we took care of it, so there's nothing to worry about from now on. Especially since that was the last of three." Stated Dante.

"Last one, huh… That's good. Really good. But you do realize that even though those Gems are gone, there are other beings out there that can make faux Gems, right? Not as strong as the originals, but still damn powerful enough depending on how many souls compose a faux gem."

"Not a problem. Anyway, how were things with you and Irene here?" Said Dante looking around the campsite.

"All good. Just made camp outside the town that way and went in now and then to take on a Hunt Request or whatever else the villagers could think of. That and...well…"

"What?" Asked Dante shooting Raum a quizzical glance.

"N-Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Okay…"

Raum was acting strangely at that last bit. But for reasons known to Raum and only Raum, they were good reasons.

Dante looked quickly at his partner and sister playing with the young girl, something he couldn't help but smile at.

That was until something in the distance caught his eye. Something that was certainly not there before now. And it wasn't just one. There were four.

"Raum?"

"What's up?"

"What the hell are those?" Dante asked as he pointed out to the four structure he now saw.

Said structures were four very large black towers, each considerably distance from one another. Dante found a boulder to jump on and looked out into the distance, trying to determine how far away those towers were.

The reason he could see the four towers in the first place was because of how tall and large they were. But upon further inspection, the young immortal determined the towers vastly separated from each other, potentially fifteen hundred to two thousand miles apart from each other in a diamond-like formation.

Three of the towers would require back tracking, while the other one was only a few hundred miles in the direction they were heading in originally.

"They showed up a day after you guys left." Stated Raum, as he and everyone else began looking in the direction of the individual towers, "I didn't get the chance to explore or get a look at them. Mainly because I was waiting here for the rest of you. That and it'd be better if all of us were back before checking them out."

"Have they done anything unusual?" Asked Dante.

"Other than cause a massive earthquake when they rose up? No. At night, the towers glow like a red tint or something, but that's about it. Nothing out of the usual."

"And you've never seen towers like these before?" Asked the cloaked girl.

"No… Truth be told, we weren't much for towers back in the day. The only one who was into towers was Obanii. And he used that to add to his power if he wasn't under moonlight to boost him up."

"Then we have no idea as to whether or not these towers mean harm…" said Inuba.

"Well, what do you want to do big brother?" Asked Ciel as she carried over Irene on her shoulders.

Dante only let out a sigh as he looked about once more. There were five of them. The cloaked girl was excluded since she was handling matters of her own. And Dante himself hadn't fully recovered yet. Still, he had an idea as to what the five of them would be doing. It was just a matter of seeing if they were going to agree with his idea.

"Alright. Here's what I have in my mind. We don't know what these towers are, what they're meant for or what they'll be doing. So what will happen is that we'll split up for now. One person per tower. You guys will go and see what the towers are about. If they're not exactly good, which is more than likely the case, then bring those towers down to the ground."

"You say that as though you're not going yourself…" stated Inuba.

"Because I'm not." Said Dante, drawing the attention of everyone around him, save for Leo who sat in his chair with a book over his face, "The four of you will be going."

"So what's up with you then? What are you going to do?" Asked Ciel.

"I'm going to move on ahead towards Mistral for the time being, see if I can link up with Ruby and the others along the way, which will be more than likely given our breaks in between. Either they're ahead of us by now, or they're about to catch up. Either way, I'll be more than fine."

"Master, are you sure?" Asked Inuba

"I'm sure. As is, I'm a bit of liability. So if there's some nasty surprise waiting for us at the towers, not sure if I can deal with it by myself. So it's best if you, Ciel, Leo and Raum take the towers. Each of you are really strong on your own, so you'll be able to take on whatever's at the towers by yourselves. No matter what happens, we'll be seeing each other in Mistral, no matter what." said Dante as he leapt down from the boulder.

"So… Who's going where?" Asked Raum loooking amongst them.

"Inuba, you're the fastest moving out of all of us, so you'll take the tower farthest back. Plus, if there's any emergencies, you can easily link up with the others to help them out."

"Understood." Replied the kitsune.

"Ciel and Leo, you're taking the towers off to the sides." Said the young immortal as he pointed in their directions.

"Raum, since your tower is in the general direction of where I'm headed, you'll be sticking with me for a while longer."

"Sure thing." Said the Dark Entity as he moved, waving his hands about to move the objects around camp to pack them up.

"Ciel, can you grab those emergency gear packs we made for everyone?"

"You got it broski." Said the younger sibling with a salute as she opened up a circular rift of black and white Aura and stepped in.

"Leo!" Dante called out, "Got the basic gist of what's going on?!"

"Towers… Splititng up… Destroying towers if there are hostiles…" he tiredly replied.

"He's got it."

"Master…"

Dante quickly snapped his attention to Inuba, who stood close in front of him.

"What is it?" Asked the young immortal.

"I'm...not so sure about us separating for such a task. If anything, we should maybe go in at least groups of two and-"

"Sorry, but we just can't do that." He said as he made Inuba tense up slightly, "It'd take too much time. Besides, I know you guys can handle it yourselves."

"I'm not so much concerned about the others. I know they will fare well. It's…" she paused for a moment to consider her words, turning her head away before staring back at Dante, "It's you I'm more worried about."

Her words made him jump slightly.

"You still haven't recovered fully from your previous battle. And your right arm is still in recovery on top of that. We've made excellent progress healing it, but it still has a ways to go. To much stress and it-"

"I know." He said pulling her in for a hug with his left arm, "It'll be alright. I'll be careful. So don't you worry for a second. Okay?"

Inuba hesitated for a moment, but she then slowly wrapped her arms around him and returned the gesture.

Only she didn't want to let go.

Eventually she had to as she took a pack from the returned Ciel, who gave one to Dante and Raum before tossing the last bag at Leo, who let out a small help of surprise when the bag made contact with his body and knocked both him and the chair over.

"Nap times over. Let's go Leo."

"That wasn't necessary!" Said the younger sibling as he stood up.

"Yeah yeah, tell it to the judge or whatever."

All six had reconvened with on another in a circle while Raum picked up Irene and placed her atop his shoulders, her usual place of rest and means of travel.

"I'll make time to find anything I can on the towers. And if I do, I'll relay that information to you all as quickly as possible. Until then, you're on your own from here on out everyone." Said the cloaked girl as she looked between them all.

"Like big brother said, we totally got this. Right?" Said Ciel as she placed her hand at the center of them all.

"Agreed. We'll make sure to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible." Said Leonard as he placed his hand in the center along with the cloaked girl and Raum.

"And we'll all meet each other again. Safe and sound." Said Inuba as she and Dante were the last to place their hands in the circle.

"Do your best out there everyone. I'm counting on you."

They all nodded to each other before breaking the circle and moving off towards their respective destinations. The cloaked girl vanished immediately in a small flash of light, Raum and Dante moved off towards the direction of the next town over, and Ciel, Inuba and Leonard moved back onto the road, heading for their respective towers.

They were parting ways again, but it wouldn't be for all too long. Inuba knew that fact and understood. But she never really enjoyed being away from him for long. The kitusne had her task to attend to. She would see him again soon enough.

Inuba couldn't help but turn her head slightly as she walked to give her Master a longing glance before moving onward.

* * *

"I never got to meet those ankle biter friends of yours. The ones from Vale."

"Good thing you didn't at the time. I probably would have killed you if you tried hurting them." Dante stated to Raum.

"As if. You had your ass handed to me on that train." Replied the Dark Entity shooting the young immortal a challenging glare and a toothy grin.

"Wanna bet on that chuckle brother..?" Said Dante glaring back menacingly.

"Don't get so full of yourself you little brat... I'm not looking to bully little kids. Especially if they can't fight back!"

"What was that?!"

Before their conversation got even more heated, the young immortal felt a fluffy tail whip in his face, while Raum felt two small hands smack his cheeks, reddening them slightly. Both looked up at the little wolf Faunus glaring at the two, giving them a slow and low toned "Hmph…", as if in her own cute, but menacing way, she was telling them to "stop fighting".

And so they did. They backed away from one another before moving their eyes forward again and continuing the path.

"Whatever man… Say what you like, its nonsense anyway…"

"Tch… Whatever…"

Irene only let out a satisfied giggle before nuzzling her face back into the slightly spikey, but fluffy hair of her adoptive "father", closing her eyes before yawning to take a nap once again.

"So, what else did you do while were gone? Other than make yourself useful and work that is." Asked Dante.

"That's all I did."

"Horsehock, you did more than that. Tell me." Asked Dante.

"I-It's none of your damn business, alright?! So lay off already…"

Whatever else he was up to that he refused to talk about had him flustered. It seemed as though he'd be downright embarrassed if someone found out.

The immortal soon thought if he found it, he could hold it over Raum's head for a lifetime…

But he wasn't so dastardly. Some days at least.

"Fine, keep to yourself then." Said Dante as both of them stopped at the fork in the road.

"Alright, looks like we go separate ways for now." Stated Raum as he started down the road that lead him towards the tower he was heading for.

"Looks like it."

"Don't do something stupid like getting yourself killed. Got it, brat?"

"Yeah, whatever. Just go do your thing and be safe." Dante simply replied before heading off.

The village he was heading to wasn't all that far away. If he was lucky, he'd be meeting up with Ruby, Nora, Jaune and Ren along the way, or better yet, at the village ahead. If he asked and heard they were never there, he'd wait there a while until they would pass through. Logically speaking, there isn't any towns tracking back along the way besides the one Raum stayed outside of and the one Dante himself was heading to.

One way or another, they were going to pass through the town up ahead if they haven't already. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

"Anything else I should be aware of while I'm out there? Any larger Grimm like DeathStalkers or NeverMores?" asked Dante.

"None that our scouts were aware of, no." Replied the older gentlemen.

Within three hours, Dante had managed to reach the village he intended to stop at. After resting for a bit, he decided that since he was going to bide his time there, he may as well do work for the village, such as Hunt Requests or other tasks in need of taking care of. And that's when he was made aware of the Grimm attacking their village and scouts.

A Geist.

The young immortal never had the pleasure of running into one before, but he did learn about them in professor Port's class, and studied them further in whatever texts Geist could be found in. They possessed a particular ability Dante was never fond of really.

Possession. Not of people, but of inanimate objects and inorganic matter. Meaning almost anything could be its weapon, from the trees, to stones and rocks, and whatever else it could take possession of. But there was a weakness professor Port taught them to take advantage of, despite his usual ramblings of his youth, grandfather, and cabbages.

When hearing of the problem with the Geist, Dante went on to visit the village mayor to hear more of the specifics, hence the conversation taking place at the present.

"I know this maybe asking for much, but-"

"Not a problem at all." Said the immortal before the mayor finished, "I'll track it down and eliminate it first. We can discuss rewards and the like later after the jobs done."

Dante immediately stood up and raised his left hand to shake hands with the elder.

"Will you be alright however? I noticed your right arm is injured." The mayor pointed out.

"Ah, it'll be fine. Truth be told, I can use my right arm if need be, but I've been told to lay off from using it as much as possible unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully it won't come to that."

"Still, wouldn't you rather have some others come to assist you?"

"No need. Should be fine on my own." Replied Dante, soon having a thought come to mind, "Ah, wait. If four youngsters about my age walk through, would you mind sending them my way if I'm still out?"

"Of course."

"Thanks. Oh, and before I leave, is their an open kitchen I can use? I'd like to make some food just in case."

"Ah, yes, as soon as you leave this building, it'll be a shop on the corner of the street. You can also buy food in there as well if need be."

"Thank you very much for your hospitality. I'll be off as soon as I finish up."

"And thank you for taking up our request mr. Dante."

"I'll be off then."

Dante gave the mayor a short bow before he left his office and out the building into the busy streets of the village. Before he moved on, he took in a deep breath and stretched his left arm high up into the air. When he lowered it, he shook his head slightly and breathed out before moving on.

When finding the shop described to him, he bought the necessary materials he needed inside and went to work. It took him about thirty minutes until he was finished. Happy with the results, he stuff said food into a large brown bag and placed it inside his black leather pack, which was the same emergency packs for when his siblings or partner needed to separate for some time.

* * *

Once leaving the front entrance of the village, Dante remained on the road for a few minutes until he cut straight into the forest. He wasn't going to take his pack with him, in case it would be damaged, so he summoned forth an Aura Sword and tossed it into a tree, vanishing towards it in a streak of white and black Aura and appearing in its place. As soon as he set the pack down, he summoned an Aura Dagger and placed it between the handle loop to keep it place.

With that all finished, the young immortal leapt down and continued his venture deep into the forest. In thanks to the vast amount of forestry and the tallness of the trees, they provided a vast amount of shade and blocked most of the rays of sunlight. It wasn't much of a decrease of visibility, but still enough to make things slightly tougher to see coming at you.

…

Rumbling in the distance. Trees cracking apart and splintering against the collision of stone.

It had already found him.

Thundering footsteps quickly approached from behind, the young immortal turning around and seeing a massive stone column arm moving to smear him into the floor. Before it could, Dante stepped back and leapt into the tree branches above, taking a glance at his attacker.

Massive boulders formed its main body, the rest were large columns of stone levetating near the main body to form its arms and legs. Red glowing marks were spread across the body and limbs, and what from Dante noticed, which is what he was looking for, was a path of darkness near the top of the main body. And in that patch was the mask-like bone plate that was a Grimm mask, routine with typical red markings and a single, red, cyclpoptic eye at the center.

Dante gripped the trunk tightly as the Geist tore through the lower half in a single swing, the giant tree collapsing towards the Grimm possessed stone. It was then it made another swing at the falling Dante when he got close enough, but the immortal simply leapt up after the stone arm smashed through the branches, then landed on the top of its arm.

The young immortal knew he wouldn't reach the mask, the weakness of the creature, in time. And so he unsheathed his white longsword with black markings and detailing and raised it front of his body to guard the attack of the other stone arm. While he did block the initial attack with superficial damage, the force was still too much to simply absorb on such short time, therefore the "punch" sent him rocketing through the forest.

Dante managed to miss a few trees before finally crashing through one completely, making him spiral out of control. Despite how fast he was spinning, Dante managed to find the ground and plunged his sword in the ground, instantly allowing him to reorient himself to the floor and land as intended.

This forest zone is going to get in my way. Not only that, if I go a bit wild, I might start burning down the forest. And that won't be good at all.

Just as one problem emerged, he immediately found a solution soon after. A vast clearing down below, absent of trees that spanned for a few miles.

 _Perfect…_

Dante looked back and saw the Geist heading straight for him, signaling for him to start his run towards the clearing below. He wasn't going to attack for now, instead move to the clearing as fast as he could. The Geist followed behind him quickly, swing its massive arms at the immortal to knock him off balance or to simply squash him into paste.

But he was too fast to simply be caught by such attacks.

When nearing the edge of the cliff, Dante quickly squatted and kicked off the ground as far and wide as his legs sent him. Whilst in the air, the teen, still holding his sword in his left hand, brought in his left arm, summoning ten or so white and black Aura Swords that hovered on his sides before he shot his hand towards the Geist leaping after him.

The Swords of Aura shot out one after another like bullets from an automatic gun, sticking into the closest arm and body of the Geist before setting off small explosions seconds after contact. Front the smoke cloud, the Grimm burst through the smoke, revealing the numerous dents from the dozens of exploding Aura Swords.

 _Not too much damage…_

Dante's eyes widened momentarily as he leaned his body back to avoid a deadly swing to his body, eyeing a spot on the ground to land before the next swing could hit him. The immortal then straight tossed his longsword into a nearby boulder, teleporting to it immediately in a streak of white and black Aura whilst the Geist crashed into the ground, causing the forest floor to quiver and quake for a few moments.

The young immortal removed his sword from the stone with his left hand, his entirely bandaged right arm and hand still kept in its black sling. With a few twirls, he stepped off the boulder and onto the floor, holding his weapon normally.

"Alright…" said the immortal as he lashed his sword out to the side and slowly approached the rising Geist, "No need to hold back now…"

Dante dashed forwards quickly, his sword strike splitting through the stone arm meaning him harm. Once he landed on the main body, he kicked off it while avoiding the remaining arm all the way back to a nearby tree, then kicked off it to propel himself right back at the creature.

Avoiding a backhanded swing, Dante spiraled under the arm and swung low and cut through the left leg, passing through it as it collapsed to its last leg and arm. Dante swung out his left arm, summoning a circular formation of hovering Aura Swords, blade points surrounding the Geist's remaining arm, and when he clenched his fist, the swords moved back slightly before rushing in all at once, severing the arm whilst leaving a blistering white scorch-path that was once its arm.

 _It has no means of attack or defense left! Time to finish it off before it can make a grab for other rocks or trees to regenerate its lost limbs!_

Dante made a short dash to the downed creature before leaping up into the air and turning his blade downwards as it pierced the eye of the Geist's mask dead center. The mask shattered instantly, and the oath of darkness from the main body dissolved from the rock, the entirety of its body made from stone collapsing now that there was no ghostly force holding it together.

The immortal waited a while longer just in case, but the stone made no movements at all.

The Geist had been Hunted.

Letting out a sigh of relief, the teen removed his sword from the lifeless rock and twirled it twice before placing it back into the white and black sheath invisibly attached to the left side of his shoulder in a diagonal slant.

He then brushed the dust off his white coat with black edges and trim, and even dusted off the split tails of the coat that reached his ankles. Afterwards, he readjusted the black lapels of his coat and ran his thumb over the six black metal buttons, two per the three rows.

Looking around, he waited to see if there was anything else coming after him. But instead of hearing growling, he heard more rumbling.

Was their another Geist somewhere in the forest? Was it on its way to him?

But then he heard something else.

Gunfire. Lots of it. One pattern of shots sounded like a high impact bolt action weapon, the other rapid fire, and the other explosive…

 _Could it be..?_

Before Dante could continue that thought, he heard more rumbling, only this one was closer to him. Turning around, he saw another massive, stone bodied Geist emerge from the clearing swinging its massive arm, one that the immortal took the full brunt of as he was sent flying into the rock wall of the cliff he leapt off of earlier.

The teen let out a silent, uncomfortable groan as he removed himself from the imprinted image of his body in the wall, stumbling forward onto the floor with a grunt.

"Damn… You clocked me pretty good there…" he stated dusting off his coat once again, "But it'll be the last time…"

Dante removed his right arm from his sling, drawing his sword with his left before tossing it into his right hand.

 _All I need is a few seconds... It won't do much harm if it's just for a few seconds..._

The immortal stepped forward with his right foot whilst turning his body slightly, raising up his blade and pointing towards the stone Geist, silent whispers and moans coming forth from it as it waited for Dante to make his move.

That would be a mistake.

Pitch black Aura surrounded Dante in numerous, violent torrents, whipping about like whirlwinds of flame. When he swiped his sword to the side and stepped forward again with his left foot, those streams of black Aura all converged onto Dante's person and consumed him entirely.

He could feel the power flowing through his body, strengthening and sharpening his senses.

When the black Aura subsided slowly, the immortal's body was entirely encased in twisted and slightly jagged segments of black armor all the way from his feet to his neck, where certain gaps in the armor, or second skin, glowed white. His entire head was encased in a sort of black helmet-like mask with slanted eyeholes that showed his Shadow Eyes, where the white sclerae of his eyes turned pitch black and his light sky blue irises and glowing white. Two black long horns on the sides of his head stood straight and pointed towards the sky, slightly curving inwards before curving outwards slightly as well. A white, jagged zigzag line formed where his mouth would be.

Dante had assumed my the form of his Shadow Skin, a second skin-like ability that covered his entire body and significantly boosted all of his parameters. It's appearance was like that of a menacing black armored demon...exactly as it was intended to be.

"Now then…" spoke Dante, his voice now hollow and echoing, "let's go!"

The immortal dashed forwards with blinding speed, far too fast for the Geist to track or react to. All it could do was look down at the young immortal before he slammed his sword into its chest with crushing force, lifting both him and the great stone bodied Geist into the air with considerable height. But it didn't end there.

Violent torrents of black Aura outlined in white flowed from Dante's blade in obscene amounts, cloaking the entire blade as both Dante and the Geist propelled upwards into the sky with great speed and force, leaving behind massive trails of black and white Aura in the afternoon sky as they continued ascending without a foreseeable halt.

"It's over! Devouring..!"

The Geist feebly raised up one of its stone arms, possibly to attempt to smash the transformed Dante back into the earth. But it was far too late.

"Light!"

Unleashing a full powered swing, Dante let loose a colossally violent, beam-like torrent of black and white Aura that quickly spread out into a cone shaped formation, completely consuming the entire stone body of the Geist. The black and white Aura darkened the skies above slightly for the few moments it flowed, until the Aura itself slowly began to dissipate until it was completely gone.

There wasn't a single trace of the Geist, nor stone, from the shocking blast of Aura.

* * *

While still Shadow Skinnned, Dante turned his head back to see he had flown up a considerable distance into the sky, most likely almost a thousand feet.

He definitely got stronger after the events in Xera's Reality.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Dante's Shadow Skin quickly turned into black Aura and just as quickly dispersed from his body in wisps of black Aura, reverting him to his normal form as he continued falling in the sky, the wind rushing past him.

But he wasn't concerned in the slightest. A simple Aura Sword stuck in the ground somewhere and all he would have to do afterwards is teleport to it and it would have been as if he were never falling.

"Right… Let's see, where can I-?"

He heard a voice. It wasn't something inside his head, it was definetly a normal voice.

"...EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Eeeee? What the hell is that..?" Questioned the immortal.

Dante turned his head to the right and saw something flying towards him.

"What is that..?"

Said something apparently had a voice and was screaming at him.

"DANTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Apparently it knew his name too.

When the immortal focused his vision, he could tell that it was now a person. And they were heading straight for him.

As the person got closer, Dante could see something very familiar trailing behind them as the person flew up towards him on full approach.

Rose petals.

"You can't be serious…"

It could only have been her. There was no question about it. But it wasn't her identity that he was most concerned about. He was more worried with what was going to happen in the next few seconds.

Like a person that was shot out of a high speed canon and was still completely and bodily intact, Ruby Rose shot upwards and forwards through the air with intense speed, leaving behind a furious trail of rose red petals from activation of her Semblance to propel her as fast as she was moving.

All while crying immense tears of joy along with a mixture of incoherent but overjoyed babbling.

Her face said it all. She had greatly and truly missed him for the vast amount of time they were apart. Her happiness and joy was clearly shown as she made her high speed approach.

As for the immortal...pure terror was written across his while he let out a rather girlish squeal when seeing the reaper in red approach. He too had dearly and sincerely missed his small and immensely adorable lover. But what then was his reason for fear of her approach? The answer to such a question was simple.

She was going to crash into him midair. And when she did, they both would be falling from great heights.

Ruby was one who enjoyed "surprise love tackles". And Dante always welcomed them lovingly, even when not expecting it. The problem was that she almost always used her Semblance. Like now for instance. And with no ground to keep himself from being propelled, this was going to more than likely cause them both to fall. And it wasn't the immortal's own life he was most concerned with, but with Ruby's.

When she came into clear view of Dante's vision, without having to squint, he saw the little reaper outstretch her arms wide as she flew towards him like a missile, ready to TAKE him with all her loving might and tears.

Dante quickly sheathed his sword and panickedly waved his hands "No no, wait! Ruby, stop! Stop stop st- HUERGHHH!"

Dante was no more than a safe and comfortable airbag for the young Ruby Rose, who crashed head first into Dante's stomach, ending his feeble squealing and quite literally knocking the wind out of him as both he and Ruby Rose made their descent to the forest floor.

"I-I can't believe you're here! I've...missed you so much..!" she said in a muffled voice with her head buried in his chest once she grabbed hold of him properly.

The immortal only managed a choked gasp of air, his eyes quite literally rolled into the back of his head.

But it was only after a few more seconds of the reapers joyful bawling that Dante's eyelids closed and reopened, his eyes struggling to reorient themselves for a moment. When he was able to see well enough, Dante lowered his head to the source of warmth and sobbing.

He was about to say something too, but the rushing of wind told him they were still falling, and looking back, he saw that they were almost about ready to be turned into paste.

Dante let out a sharp breath as he held Ruby in his arms bridal carry position, much to her surprise, while he spun himself around so that his feet were oriented towards the ground. Black Aura had covered the entirety of his legs and waist, forming his Shadow Skin for only said legs and waist.

Ruby let out a small, terrified squeal as she burned her face back into Dante's chest, apparently resigned to her fate of turning into paste. But it wasn't going to end there.

There was a reason Dante Shadow Skinned his legs and waist. It was not only going to exponentially reduce the shock from landing, but completely guarantee Ruby's safety.

Only, he wasn't so sure how the forest floor would fair.

Black armored feet soon crashed into the earthy floor of the forest below, shattering it from the immense force of the fall. Large chunks of earthy debris jumped into the air from point of impact, unleashing a thundering avalanche-like sound through the forest as a massive dust cloud obscured the area where Dante and Ruby had fallen.

* * *

The cloud of debris dispersed within a matter of seconds, and Ruby, once realizing she was completely intact and not paste, opened her eyes and looked around. The whole ground within fifteen meters around them had been completely splintered and shattered. Even a few trees had been uprooted from their immediate area.

"Woah…"

And once the little reaper realized that she was in a certain someone's arms, her head jolted upwards before slowly creaking to the side to look up at her lover's face, where currently he had a frustrated look upon his face, keeping his eyes closed.

"I-It's really great to see you again!" she said meekly, "I'm sorry about the sudden AA love tackle but I saw your really cool Aura Wave attack and I knew it was you so I rushed over as fast as I could and when I saw it was you I got way too over excited and thought I can catch you and stuff but that didn't work out so well and so...now...we're here… Ehehehehe…"

He still didn't give her a reply, only a glare.

"Um...I'm sorry..?" she squeaked.

Dante moved his left hand up and pressed his middle finger and thumb together to form a loop, moving it in front of Ruby Rose's forehead before flicking it. The reaper let out a small "Eep!" due to the flick feeling as though a stretched rubber-band had hit her.

"You little fool!" He said in a raised voice, "Do you have any idea what would have happened if I didn't recover from that headbutt of love of yours?! You would have turned into red jello! I literally got the wind knocked out of me! And I know you're excited and all, but still, you should-!"

Dante stopped his lecture when he looked down on the whimpering Ruby about ready to cry again, only this time it wasn't going to be tears of joy.

He only let out a deep sigh before he leaned his head in a gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek.

"Sorry… Just wasn't expecting a love tackle of that magnitude out of nowhere. Usually I'd be fine with it, but even for you, that was a bit crazy. I'm only slightly mad because I was more concerned about you if we didn't stick the landing."

"I know…" she said pouting slightly, most likely still upset because of the flick to the forehead.

"Sorry about the flick." He said giving her another smooch in the cheek, "Will you forgive me with that?"

"No…" she said crossing her arms while still being held in Dante's.

It was clear she was feeling a bit selfish, which was alright. It's partly what made her adorable and cute as a whole. But he had a plan to crack her toughened exterior.

"Alright then, how about this?"

Ruby turned her head to see what he would do to make it up to her, only to find her lips taken by the young immortals own lips as he leaned in. She left out a silent yelp of surprise as her eyes widened for a moment or two before softening from the intense rush of pleasure from the kiss, letting out a silent, pleasurable, muffled moan.

It had been far too long.

When Dante slowly drew away, he used his lips to pull on tip of Ruby's tongue a bit until he entirely moved his head away to add more of a special "effect" to the kiss. And it worked extraordinarily well given that she looked dazed with her tongue lulling out slightly and was breathing heavily. For her, moving was completely out of the question given that she felt like she was melting at the moment.

"There. Is that better?" asked Dante.

All Ruby did was giggle back at him in her red faced, dazed state, something that brought a smile to his face.

It had certainly been too long since he last saw her…

But he himself soon realized how over-the-top that kiss was, causing his face to redden slightly. For but a few moments, he had let certain urges take care over.

What Dante had told Xera Stark before wasn't a lie… The immortal did indeed have an extremely heightened libido. It's one of the reasons why he was a nervous wreck against "aggressive" or "assertive" women who literally wanted "a piece of him". And why he was extremely careful around the cute and gentle types.

But the kiss he just gave Ruby now…

He shook his head rapidly and let out an exhale of breath to calm himself, looking back to Ruby to see she was still a bit of mess at the moment, caught up in whatever fantasy was rolling in her mind at the moment.

"Actually, where did you come from Ruby? And was there anyone else with you?"

"Eheh...Hehehehehe…"

"Still burnt out… Though that is my fault…"

 _She couldn't have possibly been alone. Not out here. So where were Ren, Nora and Jaune?_

"Oh! My! Gosh! No way!"

 _Apparently behind me._

Dante quickly turned himself around and saw exactly who he expected to see behind him. Ren and Nora emerged from a clearing of the forest, Nora being the one to eagerly wave at the immortal while Ren greeted Dante with a relieved smile. Jaune followed from behind, only...something was strange about him… He was smiling at the immortal, but-

"Where have you been all this time?!" Nora said giving the immortal a bone crushing hug, "Did you go to see the worlds biggest pancake?! Or maybe-?!"

"Nora, I don't think he simply took a vacation. Remember that night at Beacon?"

It took her a few moments, but a proverbial light bulb went off in Nora's mind.

"Oh yeah! What did happen after all that?"

"Well…" started Dante as he shifted Ruby to hold in his left arm, "this for starters." He said showing them his entirely bandaged right arm, earning glances of surprise from the three.

It wasn't going to be easy to explain, but he may as well during their return trip back to the village.

* * *

"So that's why you look like you have the right arm of a mummy?" Ruby asked.

It took them about an hour so, but the five had managed to leave the forest and where on the dirt road headed for the village. At this point in time, Ruby had snapped out of her daze and was walking alongside Dante instead of being carried by him.

"Pretty much… Again, I'm sorry about not telling you what was going on with me that night. I was...scared. And I didn't want to involve anyone with the potential mess that might have come out of it. You can ask them how that went." said Dante pointing towards Ren, Nora, and Jaune.

"Fighting a possessed Dante is definitely something I'm not adding to my list of favorite activities." Spoke Ren.

"I know right?! He was all super tough and scary demon man and everything!" Said Nora excitedly, "Please don't do that again though."

Dante laughed at her plea, "Don't worry, something like that isn't going to happen again. It's done and over. Now I just have to deal with this." He said nodding to his right arm in the sling.

"So, what have you been doing all this time?" Asked Ruby.

"Traveling like you guys. I got a tip from a friend of mine that pointed me out towards Mistral. So my partner and I have been on the road. We were way ahead of you for the time, but we took a little side stop to take care of a problem. So, now, here we are."

"Wait, partner?" Asked Ruby.

"Ms. Inuba Kitsukami, if I recall." Stated Ren.

"Oh yeah! Foxy lady with the fox ears and the tail! I remember her!" Said Nora.

"Oh, I remember her too! You introduced her to all of us during the tournament. But wait, if she's been traveling with you, where is she now?" Asked Ruby.

"Her, my brother and sister and new friend are actually en route to those towers that popped up."

They all stopped walking, each of them frozen in place, which was something that Dante noticed.

"What?"

"Y-Y-You…" started Nora.

"You have siblings?!" Finished Ruby, "When did this happen?!"

"I met them along the road. Turns out they've been here on Remnant this entire time. When my Aura levels spiked that night at Beacon, they were able to track it and found me along the way."

"And you say they're at the towers?" Jaune finally piped up after saying nothing for a long while.

"Yeah. They just popped up from nowhere and we didn't take notice until recently. So I sent the rest of them off to the towers to investigate, one per each tower."

"And if the towers are bad?" Asked Ruby.

"Then they bring them down. End of story. So, I take it the mayor of the village sent you after me?" Asked Dante.

"He did mention another Huntsmen had been dispatched to take care of the Geist and that he said to tell us to follow behind him. A precaution you set up in case of emergency I presume?" Asked Ren.

"Pretty much."

Before they knew it, the five of them had reached the village entrance, where they were greeted by the mayor, who extended his hand. Ruby was the one who shook it.

"We truly can't thank you enough."

"Just doing our job, sir." Replied Ruby.

For a moment, Dante wondered if he should mention the fact he killed two Geists while Ruby and the others slayed another. But he decided to keep to himself.

"That Geist had been plaguing our village for weeks. We were beginning to wonder if we'd have to relocate."

"Well, we are on our way to Mistral. You could always come along with us if you don't feel safe."

The mayor gave Ruby an amused laugh. And for good reason too. They were already rooted deeply here. That, and it has sentimental value. There was no way they'd leave willingly unless under drastic circumstances.

"I take it you're not from these parts. Anima is a large continent. I'm afraid our people would never survive the long trek to Mistral. It may be safer in the Kingdoms, but we prefer our way of life. I just wish we could pay you more."

For Dante, money was never much of importance to him. It was just a means to an end. Mentioning the other two Geist would definitely warrant a much higher reward. But the immortal knew villages outside of the kingdoms didn't have all too much. Hence why not mentioning it was fine.

"Our previous arrangement is more than sufficient." Stated Ren.

Whatever arrangement it was.

Ruby and the others, along with Dante, all bowed respectfully to the mayor before they took off. The immortal just simply followed after wherever they were heading to in town.

"Where are we going?"

"To the blacksmith shop. In case you didn't understand the part where I mentioned 'arrangement', we decided our reward would be some basic supplies and an upgrade to Jaune's weapon and armor." Answered Ren.

"Oh! Upgrades! Moving up in the world, aren't we Jaune?" Said Dante as he nudged Jaune.

But it was strange. Jaune was trying to avoid eye contact with Dante the entire time. Why was that?

"Y-Yeah…"

Whatever it was about Jaune had to be saved for later.

He had a present to give.

"Before I forget…" Dante extended his left hand out, and within a brief flash of white and black Aura, his black leather pack appeared in his hand.

"Woah! What was that?!" Asked Ruby.

"I picked up a lot of tricks while I was away. This one I call Embedded Shift. I place an Aura Weapon like this," he said conjuring up an Aura Sword for everyone to see, to which Nora and Ruby looked at in awe, "in whatever location I want, and I can teleport to that location. Place this on a small object, and I can bring it to me."

"That's so cool!"

"I know." Said the immortal as he dug in his bag, "Here, this is for you." He said handing Ruby the brown paper bag.

"Woah! No way! It's been forever!" Squealed Ruby with excitement as she pulled out a smaller plastic bag of cookies.

When Nora looked inside the bag, she too squealed in excitement when she found the bag of pancakes inside.

"I wanted to make something for young guys too, but I don't think I ever got what your favorite treats are." Dante apologized to Ren and Jaune.

"No worries! Renny and Jaune can have a pancake or two from me!" Said Nora.

That fixed that problem.

"Thank you so much! You're the best boyfriend ever!"

Ruby's reward for Dante was her trademark and very powerful hug of love, and kiss on the cheek, something the young immortal seemed embarrassed about slightly, but mentally squealed with joy.

Soon, the group had entered the blacksmith's shop together, standing in the back corner while Jaune stepped forward.

"Uh, excuse me! I'm the uh, guy from earlier?"

"Ah! It's you! I'll be out in a second!" A voice called out from the back room.

A few seconds passed until a burly man with horns emerged from the back room, holding an amazing set of white armor with gold trimming until he placed it down on the counter in front of Jaune.

"There you go, son. It's going to be heavier than what you're used to, but you'll thank me the next time you go up against a set of claws."

"Wow… That, uh... I don't know what to say…"

Thank you maybe?

"Don't gotta say anything! Just put it on! I'll go get the rest."

The Faunus blacksmith turned and went back inside the storeroom in the back to retrieve whatever else he had to give to Jaune.

Though, instead of putting on his glorious set of new armor, Jaune simple stood where he was.

"So...what are you waiting for?" Asked Nora.

"Oh, uh, right!"

Jaune then began to immediately take off his old chestplate, "Guess I was going to grow out of it eventually…"

"A sign of progress." Ren stated rather proudly.

Once he removed his armor, the second Jaune turned around, Ruby gasped, then covered her mouth in a feeble attempt not to giggle. Even Dante curled and bit his lips to hide his amusement.

"What?" Jaune asked.

"What is that?!"

Dante finally found out his long awaited answer as to what was under Jaune's armor, more specifically, what was depicted on his hoodie. And he finally found out what it was.

An emblem with a cute bunny head was on Jaune's chest.

"What, my hoodie? I've always had this."

"It's got a cute little bunny rabbit!" Said Ruby snortling before laughing.

Dante covered his mouth with his hand and let out chortles himself, trying to contain himself.

"It's Pumpkin Pete! You know, from the cereal?!"

"What did you do?! Send in a box top for a prize?!" Ruby asked hysterically as both she and Dante were nearly bent over and unable to contain their laughter.

"Yeah! Fifty!"

That last statement alone was enough to break the couple entirely, as any restraint they had was lifted and they laughed together. Only, Ruby was the one to fall over, Dante simply placing his left hand on his knee to prop himself.

"Well, I suppose we don't have to grow out of everything." Ren said with a smile.

When they hewrd the storeroom door open, Ruby and Dante ceased their laughter as the immortal helped her off the ground from her laughing fit.

"Can't have a Huntsman without his weapon."

The blacksmith returned from the back with Jaune's weapon in hand. Dante couldn't help but whistle at how marvelous it looked now, complete with white metal and gold trim, just like his new armor.

"Made all the modifications you asked for." Said the smith as Jaune's sheath expanded into shield form.

"That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?"

Dante's eyes took a more careful examination of Jaune's upgraded weapon, finally noticing the design near the bottom of the shield resembled the circlet Pyrrha used to wear.

He could never forget hearing about her death...

"From a friend…" Jaune softly replied as he stared at the shield.

* * *

"So…" started Dante as he, Ruby, Nora and Ren waited outside the shop, "I never got to apologize for the...senseless, ignorant nonsense I spewed the night that all happened. Even though I was suffering and in pain, it still-"

"It's alright. We immediately moved past it once we figured out something was wrong with you at the time. Your neckline was visible, so I was able to see it." Said Ren standing next to Dante while Ruby and Nora were having a conversation of their own.

"Right…"

"I'm...assuming you know about Pyrrha by now?"

"Heard about it as soon as I woke up, Ren…" Dante replied softly as he stared off into the distance, "The worst part about it is that I never got to apologize to her. And now…"

"It's alright. With everything going on at the time, it was just...one big mess. She...actually saw your transformation as well and asked me about what was happening. I was just as clueless, but we were more than certain it had something to do with your irritated state. She even told us not to think anything about it, that something was affecting you somehow."

"And..?"

"Easily forgiven. You're not one who would just say things like that then leave. Something was definitely irregular that we didn't know about. And rather than make assumptions and hate you for something not entirely your fault, we just moved past it. Although…"

"Jaune wasn't so forgiving. It's why he's been avoiding me." Said Dante.

"Yes…"

Dante could only sigh at the predicament before him. That night, he was a real jerk to everyone. Jaune included. And they were really close friends too…

"I'll figure out how to make it up to him. For sure."

The four of them soon focused their attention on the shop door opening with Jaune stepping, all dressed and ready in his new set of armor as he unsheathed his sword pulls and expanded the sheath to shield mode.

"He cleans up alright, don't you think?" Asked the blacksmith as he glanced at Jaune, crossing his arms.

"He certainly does."

"I still think a grenade launcher would've really brought the look together." Nora added to Ren's statement.

"Nothing's gonna stop Team RNJR now!" Ruby proudly stated.

The new team name was certainly interesting…

"Team JNRR!"

"Still not a color." Affirmed Ren.

"It doesn't matter what we're called. As long as we're together." Said Jaune.

Correct he was in the eyes of the young immortal. He was never really one for team names or being a leader himself. So long as they had each other and were a team, it's all that ever mattered. A name or label wasn't going to change that.

"You kids sure you won't stick around? You've been real good to this town." Asked the blacksmith.

"Sorry, but no can do on that request." Said Dante.

"We've got another mission." added Ruby.

"Make it to Haven Academy, no matter what."

"We've heard the next village over has a working Airship." Stated Ren.

"Mmm… No way to know for sure. Scroll signals were weak enough out here back when Beacon Tower was still up. Haven't heard from Shion Village in a while…"

"Only one way to find out… Alright guys, let's bounce."

With a wave, Dante, Ruby, Ren, Nora and Jaune turned to leave, heading through the village entrance one more to continue their journey on the road.

"Food?"

"Check!"

"Water?"

"Check!"

"How about ammo?"

"Locked and loaded! Thank you, Schnee Dust Company!"

It seemed as though Jaune's and Nora's supply check was going smoothly.

"Got the map?"

"Ren's got it."

"No, I don't. You have it." He stated.

"Wait, what?"

"Guys, please tell me you're joking."

"Uh... Heheheheheh…"

"Guys! Guys?!"

"It's alright. Even if she lost it, I still have the one on my HoloScroll. Plus, it's in 3D."

"Right. Thanks, I guess."

It still seemed things were awkward between them. The immortal knew it would take time, but he would repair things between himself and Jaune.

He looked over to Ruby quickly and noticed she seemed a bit...glum.

"Hey, you alright?" Dante said leaning in towards her.

"Yeah… It just...been a while since I saw everyone. Weiss… Blake… Yang…"

She was homesick a bit. And missing her old teammates as well.

"But...I am really really happy you're here! I mean...it's been months… And you just popped up out of the blue! Like a huge bonus!"

"Talk about lucky, huh?" Said Dante bumping his hip into hers playfully, moving her slightly sideways to which she returned a hip bump of her own.

"Hehehe, lucky me." She said smiling at him warmly.

She glanced at him back and forth, her cheeks slightly flushed until she worked up her courage to do what she intended.

Shortly after, Dante found Ruby's hand interlocked with his, her fingers interlocking with his as she held on tightly. And the young immortal returned the gesture eagerly, tightly grasping hers as they continued down the long road with their friends.

"Whatever comes our way...I'll be there with you guys. And I'll protect you. No matter what."

Ruby's face reddened at his statement, but it brought a smile to her lips as she leaned in closer to him.

"I know." She giggling a bit.

Dante had missed moments like these. He was glad to see Ruby, Ren, Nora and Jaune again, Ruby in particular. And he would keep true to his promise.

Whatever came their way...he would fight to protect them with everything he had.

That was the promise he made to himself.

* * *

 **(Omake: The Catch, Alternate version, by Xera Stark)**

The sky fell from around them as they sunk into its deep, blue depths from 1000 impossible meters in the air.

Not even God's pogo stick reaches that kind of height.

He didn't need to compensate like that. Everyone knows he's a prick already.

But the clouds fell away as a rectangular object lay flatly between the two teens, narrowed eyes of focus staring out at each other as Ruby leaned boredly into the comfort of her own hand.

"Bishop to f4," she yawned, moving the chess piece into position.

"Knew you'd do that," Dante replied, moving to take her bishop.

"Predictable," Ruby replied easily, swiping his knight with the knobby head of her silver pawn.

"After all this time, you can still read my moves huh?" Dante asked, a smirk growing after Ruby nodded in return, "Well, I thought 7 steps ahead by now. I knew exactly what you'd do."

He casually moved his queen forward, breaching the split ranks Ruby just opened when she took his sacrificed knight.

Again, Ruby.

That's the only time Dante will ever split you.

"Check ma-"

Ruby took his queen with her own knight.

"W-wha?!"

"7 steps ahead, right?" Ruby asked, giving her own cheeky smile, "I thought 8 steps ahead!"

"Y-you… you sunk my battleship. I give. You win."

Stop playing coy. Everyone knows you let her.

"Oh, right," Dante realized, glancing around them, "How long have we been falling now?"

"Long enough to have a drawn out conversation," Ruby replied in boredom.

"Ah… right. Forgot about that."

And then the ground high fived the two of them to oblivion.

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated 9)**

"Welcome back everybody..!" started Ruby.

"To another episode of..!"

"Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide!" said the couple in unison.

"Today we're back with our ninth episode this week and today...we're going to be talking about Dante's little brother's weapons! So..! Um... What was his weapons name..?"

"Nuntius, Ruby."

"Right! That word! What, uh, what does it mean?"

"Messenger. But what is Nuntius Ruby?"

"Ha! That's easy! Nuntius is a pair of powerful twin handcannon revolvers! The really cool part is that ammo cylinders are practically built in and don't need to be removed to reload. The only time Leo will ever remove an ammo cylinder is to change bullet types. Because..!" said Ruby pointing dramatically to Dante.

"Leo's ammo supply is basically infinite. The reason I say this is because when Leo reloads, he doesn't empty the ammo cylinders and instead twirls them around his fingers twice to reload them using cloning/exact duplication magic. Hence the 'basically' part I mentioned earlier when I said infinite ammo."

"But..!"

"But..." started Dante, "The cloning magic is reliant on his total remaining Aura. So basically, when Leo run's out of usable Aura, he's out of ammo. So Ruby, what so special about the ammo cylinders?"

"I'm glad you asked oh lovable boyfriend! Leo uses three ammo types overall for the gun form of his weapon. The first type are Calcified Steel bullets, which are a resource found in the Dark World. These types of bullets are more effective against people or holy things. Kinda like lingering curse effect bullets. The second are...Empyreon Steel bullets?"

"Close, Empyrean Steel." corrected Dante.

"Right! Empyrean Steel bullets are a resource found in The Plane of Angels, or Heaven. So vice versa, they work really well against Dark things. Like Grimm for instance. The last ammo type is an alloy made from Calcified Steel and Empyrean Steel, which are basically like super bullets for really really tough enemies or large ones. All in all, Leo gets 12 shots per handcannon for a total of 24 shots."

"Leo's next weapon form transforms his handcannons into two twin, pistol grip vertical double barrel shotguns." started Dante, "In this form, there are three shell types just like the bullets. And instead of twirling them twice, Leo only has to twirl them once to reload. What's special about the shell shots is that Leo can control their spread, making them have a wider spread formation or a tight formation, which makes them really deadly and nasty to deal with. In this form, Leo has 12 shots total, 6 shots per gun until reload. So Ruby, what's the final form of Leo's weapon?"

"That's easy! The final form are dual longswords with segmented sections, turning them basically into sword whips that can extend to 5 meters! And, since Leo wears cuffs on each wrist with chains attached to each end of the weapon, he can extend his total melee range to 10 meters! Isn't that awesome?!"

"Awesome and deadly. Final question Ruby. You get this, and you might get a reward."

"R-R-R-Reward?! Ah! Um... Okay..."

"There's an extra effect to Leo's twin handcannon form he practically uses all the time. What is that extra effect..."

"Um... Uh... Oh yeah! I know this! He uses his Semblance in conjunction with his shots to surround his bullets in super dense beams of his Aura for maximum stopping power and bullet penetration!"

"Bingo bango, we have a winner."

"Yes! I win!" shouted Ruby as she raised her arms int the air, "Wait, what do I win?"

"I'll leave that up to you to decide." said Dante as he leaned in rather closely to Ruby, making her face go red as she began muttering to herself, "Right then. That's all for this week in Weapons Illustrated. Next week is Semblance Encyclopedia, so stay tuned. And with that, we wish you all a good week. Bye bye now!" said Dante before he lifted Ruby up and carried her off stage.

* * *

 **I haven't much to say here except, wow, what a reunion! Dante has regrouped with RNJR and joined them on their venture to Haven Academy! But...their trek won't be so simple. Things will be...different. And those towers... I wonder what those could be? Hmmm...**

 **Overall, I have been dying to do this arc for a long long long time now. And now that it's here, my plans can be enacted. Expect twists and turns and mysteries and questions all around ladies and gentleman. And take care to pay special attention to certain details along the way. Some might have more of a special meaning than you realize...**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing collab Xera Stark and I are currently working on concerning his story XSRA's Flame. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you read from the very start. But, if you're just interested in the awesome collab our two minds put together have created, then mozy on down to chapter 53 of his story for the start. I've said it once and will say it again, you won't want to miss out on this story, and especially this exciting story arc we've created.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	24. Chapter 24: Remembrance of the Past

**Chapter 24: Remembrance of The Past**

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Inuba let out a sigh at the campfire she sat next to as she ate a spoonful of her brown sugar oatmeal, her fox ears folded against her head as she did so.

"Aw, what's wrong Foxy?" Ciel asked as she wrapped an arm around the kitusne, "Missing big brother already? It's only been been two days so far."

"Well…"

"Come now Ciel, leave ms. Kitsukami be about brother. You know how she is concerning him."

"That doesn't really help all too much…" Inuba replied.

"She can't help it Leonard. She's in love!" Said the young girl as she leaned forward onto Inuba's back while wrapping her arms around her shoulders, placing her chin atop the ktisune's head.

"Correction, she's been in love for ages now. Only, she hasn't made it a reality. Yet." Added Leonard.

"Seriously girl, I'm telling you, just drag him off somewhere and pounce him. Then strip him down, and then-"

"I-I can't do something like that!"

"You totally can! I know you've got it in you. You just won't do it. I mean, you basically demonstrated last month that you can since you almost did."

That event was something Inuba was very ashamed of. Once every month, her desires of Dante grew to such great intensity that...holding herself back was something near impossible to do unless very very far away from him.

But her desire for him wasn't something simply chalked down to "being in heat". It was something much much more; there existed deeper, more meaningful reasons as to her powerfully burning passion.

But they were reasons long lost to her Master, a result more or less that was caused by her hand.

"We've watched our brother closely over these past few years, as much as we could anyway, to make up for the years we weren't able to be at his side. And though we've seen much of his deeds, both heroic and not quite so, we've gained an advanced understanding of his motives, actions, and reasoning. Though this recent case between the two of you…"

Leonard tried to find words, but fell silent, shaking his head slightly.

"Let me handle this Clarence." Cut in Ciel, Leo somewhat annoyed with her nickname, "Alright, so we've got a super advanced idea of how brother thinks, right? What we don't understand is that he looks like he takes notice of a lot of what's happening between the two of you, but it's like he doesn't take full notice. Like, he see's it, but doesn't do much to react or think about it further. What's up with that?"

"That's...difficult to answer…"

Inuba was someone Dante has known the longest, and the same could be said vice versa. They were stuck to one another ever since the beginning. If anything, she out of everyone else knew of his ways of thinking and the meaning behind most, if not all, of his obscure methods of solving problems.

As to personal feelings… She had a more advanced idea than any would ever be able to.

"It's...complicated, but explainable to a few degrees."

"Alright, give us the deets." Ciel replied still attached to the kitusne.

"It's almost apparent if you think about it carefully enough. Especially concerning the two of you."

"The two of us?" Leo asked.

"Have you ever noticed how Master has catered to your needs and desires almost immediately? And always ensured the both of you were as comfortable and satisfied as possible?"

"Seriously, best and coolest big brother ever." Ciel cut in.

"It's a matter of devotion…" answered Leonard as he realized the obviousness of the answer.

"Yes. When Master is devoted to something, be it a simple task or protecting others, he always devotes himself to the matter beyond one hundred percent."

"And when it comes to the case of a relationship, he is completely and utterly devoted to that relationship and to the person in question. And because of that...he may seem ignorant to someone else's advances. Like yours for instance these past two years."

"Correct as always Leonard." Inuba responded him with a smile, "But yes, his devotion is more or less the reason why my feelings aren't quite...reaching him anymore. And even more recent, it's become harder and harder to know what it is he is thinking."

"What? You two have some mental connection or something?" asked Ciel.

"To a degree, yes. And it would be more accurate to say 'had' in Master's case. Now and then, I can briefly hear his thoughts and feel whatever it is that he was feeling on an emotional level. And sometimes...I could feel a part of the physical pain he couldn't. He used to be able to do the same, though, as I said-"

"It has been wearing thin as of late…"

Leonard wished to say something else in addition, about the night in the church weeks ago, but when he looked to Ciel, he saw his sister subtly shake her head "no". But what else could he tell Inuba to offer her proof of something?

The two siblings were privy to Inuba and their brother's situation. Especially in the case of Inuba. And as much as they wished to say something to their brother, they were sworn to secrecy. Like their brother, the siblings were honorable, and never eager to break their word or promise.

No matter the difficulty it presents…

"Seriousy Foxy… What a downright mess you're involved in…"

"Ciel..."

"No, she's quite right Leonard… This whole situation is a mess… It's a problem I failed to solve time and time again. But...this time, I'll make sure to get it right."

"Even with that Ruby Rose girl we've heard about?" Asked Ciel as Inuba seemed hesitant to reply, "I mean, I got a good look at the one from Xera's Reality, and man, she is really cute. Like really really really cute. So cute in fact that-"

"I think you should stop there…" said Leo stopping his sister from going into any unnecessary detailing, "It is agreeable that ms. Rose is...cute...and with what you told us between the comparisons of time between this Reality and here, she must be older by now and must have grown more. What Ciel was trying to make you aware of is this fact, which could present a problem for you now. Especially considering he may very well be traveling with her at this moment."

It was one of the reasons why Inuba was hesitant to separate. Months of hard effort to get closer and closer...and all of it could vanish…

"Well… Myabe have a sit down with her or something?" Ciel put forward.

"And say what exactly Ciel? 'Please stop being in a relationship with him considering I love him just as much if not more?'. Yes, clearly that kind of conversation will go well. Brilliant plan." Leonard shot back rather angrily.

"Well what else can she do that doesn't make her seem...well...like a hussy? No offense by the way, you're totally not a hussy."

"None taken…" replied Inuba a hint of dejection in her tone.

"Come clean to him." Said Leonard, drawing the attention of both girls, "Just tell him upfront how you feel. And...it may be difficult, but at that point, once everything is clear and our in the open, he needs to make a choice. You or her."

"Now wait a-"

"Like I said, it's a stupidly difficult choice. But these kinds of things aren't supposed to be easy. Like it or not, it'll more than likely come down to making a choice. So instead of backing down and cowering away from it, just get it over with. If it works, great, good for you. Your biggest dream so far comes true. If not, then what can I say?"

Leonard's tone and general mannerisms were...different than usual.

"Yeah, nice one bro. Like it's totally easy for someone, especially her with her situation, to just walk off all nice and dainty after potentially being rejected. Good plan, moron."

"If you'd stop thinking like an idiot every other minute of the day, you'd realize I didn't actually make this conversation something to consider lightly. I just couldn't actually put into words what Inuba should do next IF she gets rejected, moron."

"Why you-"

"Both of you, please… I appreciate the concern both of you share for my situation. Truly." She said before turning her head towards Leonard, "I… I think I might very well go with your suggestion and tell him outright."

"Damn straight you should. If anything, you've been avoiding it because one, you didn't want your feelings hurt, and two, didn't want to put him in a difficult situation than necessary. Life's not fair Inuba. I would have thought you learned that lesson when-"

"Dude! Not cool!"

Leonard's mannerisms were very different than usual. Not as calm and collected. It was new side of him Inuba had never seen.

"Again, he's right." Inuba said, calming both siblings, "I've said nothing all this time for the main reason of the fear I felt that...if I told him everything, he would still say no. And he was also right about the fact I avoided telling him because, of my love and appreciation for him, I didn't want to place him in such a difficult position of having to choose between me and someone else. And that only made things worse. For the both of us." She said before standing up to head inside her tent.

"Smooth jackass. You upset her." Said Ciel.

"I told her the truth of the matter. It was about time she got with the program and just went for it already." He said before turning his head Inuba, "It's getting annoying and tiresome to watch you stumbling all over the place. Just get it over with already. In fact, tell him when you see him next time. If it doesn't work out, figure out the rest from there or something. If you actually do love him, stop chickening out."

"I'll keep that in mind…" said the kitusne before disappearing inside the tent.

The two siblings watched her zip up the front cover before Ciel took Inuba's seat and leveled her gaze on her brother.

"Dude, we talked about this a while back. If you're gonna be you, don't be a dick. Didn't we talk about that?"

"Like I said, it was annoying to see her going on like this. Any longer and she's going to wind up in a mess she can't get out of. Or worse. And it won't just affect her, but all of us. So if you ask me, being a 'dick' was necessary to snap her out of it for once."

"Like you'd know a thing about this kind of situation. You've never been in love."

"No, I haven't." Said Leonard evenly, "But are you sure you want to be telling me what it means to be in love Ciel? If I remember, your opinion is kind of skewed, isn't it?"

She only glared at him before shaking her head and standing up.

"Whatever man…"

"And it's not only Inuba's fault. It's brother's too. The decision he made way back then is what started this merry-go-round of nonsense. It's about time both he and Inuba stopped it and got off. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah but…" Ciel slapped her arms to her sides in frustration before turning back to Leonard, "If, and this is a big IF, she gets rejected by brother...what then? I mean, they've know each other for so long... Longer with what Foxy told us recently. And for all of that to just come crashing down? It-"

"Sucks and is unfair. I get that, really, I do. I don't have to be in love to realize something like that. But it's how it is. Nothing we can do to change that. Except, you know, influence outside factors here and there. And by we, I mean you."

Ciel let out a sigh as she rubbed the back of her head and stared up at the starry sky above.

"You got watch tonight?"

"I got it. Go sleep or whatever. Even if you nor I need it." Spoke Leo returning to his more normal tone.

As soon as Ciel stepped inside, Leonard summoned forth his dual handcannons, and set the one in his left hand down so he could examine the integrity of the one in his right.

"Love, huh..?"

* * *

"No signal still?"

Dante let out a sigh as he closed the holographically projected screen of his HoloScroll and let his chin fall into his left hand. He took a glance back from the log he sat on towards the snuffed out campfire, seeing Ruby, Nora, Ren and Jaune still sound asleep.

Since he didn't need to sleep, he volunteered to keep watch for the nights and make sure nothing crept into their small camp. And with all the Aura Swords he set up around the camp, no one and nothing would be able to get in to attack them. Especially with the Aura Swords being invisible.

"And so now you've joined up with your human allies. How will we pass the time I wonder..?"

Dante turned his head slightly to the left a black bodied specter sitting next to him, taking on the form of his Shadow Skin as wisps of black Aura oozed in small amounts from its body.

His Proxy had manifested.

"You have an annoying habit of staying quiet for too long, you know that?" Replied the immortal before looking straight ahead again.

"You have annoying habits of your own, yet I don't poke at them."

"Any reason for you being here?"

"How rude. Here I come to speak with you after a long while and you act so coldly towards me."

"It's because when you usually show up, something bad is about to go down and you warn me about it. So, what is it this time?"

"Nothing to be honest with you. Again, we rarely have a chance to speak normally."

"Whose fault is that again?" Asked Dante.

"Mine for the most part. And yours for being near people."

"What? Too shy to talk to other people?"

"Not even close. Imagine if I suddenly appeared out of thin air around everyone looking as I did? How do you think they would they react?"

"Well… I guess you have a point… Why do you look like that anyway? The only forms you've ever taken on is mine as I am normally or my Shadow Skin form. Though, you've been sticking with Shadow Skin more lately."

"I have no definitive form of my own. For now anyway. I...was stripped of my form and identity long ago."

Dante straightened to give his Proxy a questionable glance.

"How come?"

"People thought me too dangerous because of my power. Because of our power. It was so strong and uncontrollable to outside forces besides you and I. And because they control our power, they feared you and I. Rather than try to punish you, they robbed me of my name, my identity, and my form."

"What exactly are you saying..?"

"Do you remember what I said to you long ago? During the Fall of Beacon?"

Dante looked off to the side, quickly recalling the numerous events of that night.

"You...said you've been with me from the start…" the immortal softly replied.

"That's right. I've been with you since the beginning."

"Hold on a minute… What exactly are you saying..?!"

"Listen carefully." Spoke the specter with a more serious tone, "I'm saying I've been with you since you were born."

A look of shock crossed Dante's face as he stared at his specter-like Proxy. He had heard its words clearly. Yet, he didn't want to believe them. How could he believe them so easily and so suddenly? The thought of it was…

"I don't...understand…" was all the immortal managed say.

"I've been with you since the moment you were born. What part of that can't you understand? Or rather, what part of that you can't believe?"

He fell silent, unable to say another word as he tried to process this information. He understood what his Proxy was saying...but the likelihood of it being true…

"Haven't you found it strange that you weren't able to remember anything past the age of seven?" It asked him, drawing in the young immortals attention, "What about the fact that there are still gaps in your memory after the age of thirteen? Gaps which I'm more than certain have been struggling to fill themselves in."

Dante closed his eyes to calm himself, taking a quick breath before his eyes opened once again and glanced seriously at his Proxy. How could his Proxy have been with him since the beginning if it was only..?

…

No… It was there all along… But the Proxy was…

"It seems you're starting to realize what I'm saying is truth. You've felt it all this time throughout the years haven't you? That feeling that there was something else within you, sleeping quietly and only awakening for brief periods of time."

"That was you… Every other time when I came close to about losing, your voice always reached me… And…"

"I gave you more power."

"So then...that means that you're my Center of Power?"

"Correct."

He couldn't see his Proxy's smile, but he could feel it's grin growing.

"Then Abaddon-"

"Was a fake. He said it himself subtly long ago didn't he? He was the restraint to your power. And instead of drawing entirely from your own power for all those years before Remnant, you drew on his power instead. And thus, when he was expelled from your body with your fight with Aultus…"

"There weren't any restraints left and my actual power started to wake up… My powers from when I stepped onto Remnant… They weren't a gift from the World itself... It's always been...my own power…" spoke the immortal as he clenched his fist tightly.

"One's own power isn't something that can be taken away so easily. Or sacrificed in your case. Even if you did make the sacrifice that you did long ago using your own power, it still would have fully recuperated after a long period of time."

The Auxiliary Soul within him… The one who had made him strong...was a fake...

"Do you understand now, Dante?" Asked the Proxy as it leaned in closer, "No one, and nothing, can take away your power. It's yours."

"You said...that you're my center of power… And that my power can't be taken away from me…" stated the immortal as he stared back at his Proxy, "That means you are my power. And if they can't take it from me, how did they take 'you' away?"

"Stripping my personal self, my identity from me, is a but a means of suppression. A powerful one at that. Afterall, how can you use a power with no means of entirely existing?"

"You mentioned brief periods of activity back then, where you woke up for a time to help me. Now that Abaddon is gone, my last restraint was gone…"

"I was able to fully awaken and stay awake. It was difficult to do so with no sense of self, no sense of purpose. But in the Darkness...I could always see you. And when I awoke fully, it became clear to me immediately that my purpose lies with you. To be your sword. Your strength. Your power."

"All this other times… You were never trying to kill me or hurt me. You were only trying to make me stronger. Strong enough to use you."

"You catch on quickly."

"Tell me this then…" said the immortal, "Is the reason why I can't remember anything from childhood due to your true sense of self being stripped from you?"

"We are of one mind and one body. Such a massive shock like that… It wouldn't be surprising if that was the case. Though...I'm more than certain that's the case."

"And whoever did it, did so because they were afraid of us. Of what we could do since we couldn't be controlled or manipulated by others."

"People fear what they don't understand. You of all people should know and understand this fact, Dante. Our power isn't something that can be defined so easily. And because of that, we have more potential than most to constantly grow and become more powerful."

"So...with you being my center of power….does that mean my Shadow Skin comes from you?"

"I am your power, so yes, it would be perfectly obvious to assume and say that Shadow Skin is your power. Though...our abilities and capabilities are limited…"

"Because you've lost your sense of self…"

"Expanding our power… Growing stronger is difficult for us as is. Without my true form, it will continue to be so."

"What might restore your true self then?"

"If I had my body, perhaps…" said the specter as it looked off to the sky, questioning its own answer.

"Your body? But...aren't you-?"

"I told before, didn't I? I am your power, and your sword."

A moment of realization struck Dante as he heard its words.

"Your body is the sword..! If we found your body, the sword..! Then..!"

"It would more than likely mean my restoration. So, I would more than appreciate if you actually 'find' and use 'me' rather than this soulless fake you've been using." Replied the specter as it raised Dante's sheathed longsword, Anvil, up into the air in front of him, "And I'll admit, the flaming pigeon has knowledge and skill when it comes to creating weapons, but it will only serve as an auxiliary at best."

Dante could only smile at the clever joke in regards to Xera Stark.

"But you know...I made this…" said the immortal raising up Anvil.

"Indeed. But it's a copy of me at best. That, and it isn't your actual weapon. I AM your weapon. As long as you use this fake…" it said tossing the sword to Dante, who caught it with his left hand, "You'll never be able to fight to your fullest potential."

"Easier said than done…" said the immortal placing it down next to him on the log, "It's not like I know what 'you' look like."

"No… You don't… But… 'I' am here…"

"Here..?" Asked Dante questioning its statement before realizing what it meant, "You mean you're here on Remnant."

"Ever since awakening, I could feel 'my body' was out somewhere in the World of Remnant. It's a sort of extended proximity sensation. Though...it's odd…" it spoke as it glanced to the floor, "I've felt myself being very close by for a long while now, but each time, I keep moving about until suddenly, I feel myself within close proximity."

"Can it...well...move on its own?"

"There's no separate entity controlling 'my body', so no, I shouldn't be moving about."

"If your body is the sword, then does that mean you're the soul within the sword?"

"Yes. Allow me to explain. When I was first conceived, it was from your power that I was given life, form, and a sense of self."

"And you know this to be a fact?"

"I do. And the reason I know is because we resonante strongly with one another. A connection that none other than the two of us posses. I cannot possibly be mistaken with such a strong sensation."

"Right…" said Dante with a sigh, "Great… I'm already on a wild goose chase and am about to start another…"

"Look at it this way… The chances of you finding my body along your journey are high. As long as you keep a keen eye and ear out for anything and everything, you'll find me in no time."

"Again, you make it sound so easy…"

The Proxy only chuckled before it turned its head behind them to the campsite.

"Oh… It seems the young Rose girl is stirring in her sleep."

It's statement forced Dante to turn his head around to see Ruby shifting about in her sleeping bag uncomfortably.

"It would seem she is having a nightmare…"

"How can you tell?" Asked Dante.

"For one, her body movements and facial expressions. And the other being I can feel the negativity of her dreams."

"Can you now…"

"I'd suggest comforting her when she awakens. It is your duty as her friend boy to do so."

Dante only chuckled at his Proxy's blunder.

"If you are my center of power, I'd at least assume you'd have the same level of intelligence."

"I'm not as deeply engrossed in such matters as you are. My jargon may be off."

Dante moved to stand up, but his Proxy grabbed his arm to prevent him from moving further as they stared at one another.

"Keep everything I've told you in mind."

"I know…" replied Dante as he looked to Ruby then back to his specter, "And I won't doubt you either. I'll make sure to find your body along the way. So make do with being channeled through the fake, alright?"

"I will...for now…"

The specter's arm transformed into black Aura, and soon after, its entire form dissipated and turned into a humanoid-shape of black Aura before sinking back into Dante's left arm. When the immortal raised said arm, he stared at it for a few moments, watching the last wisps of black Aura disappear before invisibly attaching the sheathed weapon on the left side of his back.

He approached Ruby's sleeping bag and knelt down to hear murmuring from the young girl.

"Hey. It's morning. It's time to wake up." He said shaking her slightly, "Come on now, wake up please…"

He began shaking her a bit more forcefully until she suddenly shifted in her bag and smacked the back of her hand into Dante's face, forcing his head back as he grabbed his face and groaned slightly.

"That hurt… Wait… That hurt..?" Sid the immortal questioning his own statement.

There was no mistaking what he just felt.

It was pain.

Ruby was the second person to make him feel pain, Inuba being the first. How was that possible?

With a gasp, Ruby opened her eyes and jolted up from her bag, touching her as if she were in pain for a few moments before she looked of to the side at Dante, who stared back at her.

"G-Good morning… Wha-?! What happened to your face?!" She asked in a shocked tone.

Dante touched his face where Ruby's initial hand had bonked him over the nose.

"That was your good morning love tap. Thank you for that." He said jokingly.

"I-I'm sorry! I hope you're alright..."

"Ah, don't worry about it. If anything, I should be worrying about you."

"Huh..?"

"You were kinda… Shifty?" Responded the immortal finally rubbing the area of his nose where blood was present, "Bad dream?"

"Y-Yeah… Sort of…"

"Want to talk about it? Or leave it be for now?"

"Um… Leave it be for now, I guess?"

"Alright. Tell me when you're ready."

Ruby looked around, noticing something...missing…

"Wait, how long have you been up?" She asked him.

"Um…" he began as he looked up towards the sky to recall when they all went to bed, "Around eleven thirty seven pm. Just about when you guys went to bed."

"You didn't sleep?!"

"I did say I was going to keep watch, didn't I?"

"Yeah...but…"

"But..?"

"That's not good for you..."

It wouldn't be good for them, but for him, it was completely alright. Sleep wasn't a necessity, rather it was a want. If he did wish to sleep, he'd sleep. Other than that, if he had no desire to sleep, he wouldn't and there would be no consequences. It was very convenient for when he had long lasting missions.

"Well...I don't need to sleep like you guys...so it's alright…"

"No it isn't… I mean, don't you have those cool sword things you make out of your Aura to protect us at night?"

"I do, but…"

"Then that's good enough!"

It wouldn't be if there was a bigger threat involved…

Ruby seemed...flustered at the moment with a sudden thought she had.

"You're here with us now, right?"

"Right?"

"S-So… You have to follow my rules…since you're not officially leader anymore…"

Was she going to force him to sleep?

"And what rules might that be?"

"Um… W-Well… You don't have a sleeping bag...right..?" She asked meekly with a red blush on her face.

"That I don't." He simply replied.

Ruby seemed hesitant to give her response immediately after her face reddened all the more.

"S-So! New rule!" She said pointing to the immortal, "From now on..! You...uh...you have to go to bed!"

He called it.

"B-But…" she went silent for a few moments before she looked at him with a strong determination in her eyes, "Y-You have to sleep with me in my sleeping bag!"

…

"What..?" Asked the immortal meekly with wide eyes.

"Y-You heard what I said! T-T-T-Those are my terms!"

They weren't so much terms as they were subtle demands…

When the immortal focused his attention on Ruby again, he could see her pulling her red hood down to hide her embarrassment. But it couldn't hide the rather cute squeaks of embarrassment underneath.

She worked up the courage to ask such a thing afterall. They haven't been in contact for a long long time. And he only just reunited with her recently. It wasn't unnatural for her to ask to be close to her.

Though in this case...it'd be really close.

Dante let out a sigh to calm whatever thoughts that might have ran through his head before he stared back at Ruby, and after a small struggle, pulled down her hood to meet her embarrassed gaze. She used her hands to cover her face as soon as he did, and peeked through her fingers after a few moments to stare back at him.

"Alright then. I give in to your demands." He said calmly, much to the young reaper's surprise as she responded with a surprised gasp.

"J-Just like that..?"

"Just like that. After all…" he said scratching the side of his cheek, "I do have to take care of your needs as well…"

"N-Nothing weird or anything like that! I-I just..!"

She hid her face using her hands once again, but Dante immediately moved them away. Even so, her eyes darted back and forth between him and the ground near her until he moved his face closer, that way, she had nowhere else to look to.

"I know what you mean." He said with a chuckle as he pat the top of her head, "Still, if that's what you want, they I'll happily do what you ask."

"Y-You sure..?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"N-Nothing! I just...wasn't sure you'd agree to something like that so easily…"

"Well, whether you tell me or not, I understand your reasoning completely."

"You do..?"

"I do indeed." Dante said wrapping his left arm around Ruby's waist while sitting behind her and resting his head upon her shoulder, "So...that's why I'm happy with whatever arrangements you make." He said giving her a kiss on the cheek.

She jumped slightly to action, but immediate smiled and placed her hand within his.

"Does it hurt? Your arm I mean…"

"No, not really. It's about close to recovering anyhow. I just have to make sure not to overexert it in battle. I'm just really hoping we don't run into anything too serious."

"What can't you handle?"

"You never know…"

And he spoke the truth. He had absolutely no idea what was out and about in the World of Remnant other than Grimm and a potential megalomaniac controlling them. That...and whatever it was that possessed him during the night of the Fall of Beacon. The immortal was more than sure whatever that Entity was, it wasn't quite finished yet.

It made no difference. He would keep his eyes and ears keenly aware of everything and anything around him. And now, he had more of a reason to do so.

His sword. His ACTUAL sword.

What he had before...the power he previously wielded wasn't his own, but another's. And because of that, his actual power never had a chance to grow and evolve. Until coming to Remnant. Now that he was here, he was going get stronger. Actually become stronger on his own terms with his own power.

As much as he appreciated Abaddon for what he did all those years...that still didn't change the fact he snuffed the immortal's personal power all these years. What the Proxy didn't mention, or rather couldn't answer, was why exactly it was done in the first place.

The immortal understood why certain people would have their fears about him being too powerful for anyone else to control him.

It was the exact reason he was on Remnant in the first place.

To go as far as to completely strip his power of its form, its identity… There just had to be more to it than simply being afraid of the immortal becoming more powerful. A reason others might have kept secret from him.

But the one thing he couldn't shake was the feeling someone somewhere knew everything. Possibly more than one person. And even worse...someone he potentially knew…

Dante closed his eyes momentarily and pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. Right now, he needed to focus on two things. The first, making sure everyone safely makes it to Haven and find out more. The second, finding the body of his Proxy, his power.

Now that he was aware of its existence, he knew it was out here. He had a chance to do things right this time to the best of his ability.

"Hey…" said the young reaper, drawing his attention, "Are you worried about your partner and siblings?"

"Of course I am…" replied Dante softly as he gently rubbed her shoulder, "But I know they'll be alright. Right now we have to worry about ourselves. So, let's start by waking up the other rascals."

* * *

"So the next town is… Uh… Uh-huh… Yeah, we're lost." sighed Ruby in frustration.

"We aren't lost. If I had to guess, we're around here." Said Dante as he pointed on the map Ruby held, "And over there is Shion Village, our next stop. Wait a minute… Didn't you say you and your family used to come here all the time Jaune?"

"Oh yeah! And didn't you say you have, like, four sisters?"

"Uh, seven." He said replying to Ruby.

Dante didn't think too much about it, but he was sure Jaune may have been ignroring him, or at least tuning him out.

Maybe-

"You know, that actually explains a lot." Piped up Nora.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

His more reserved and flinching nature? There wasn't much mystery to Jaune Arc. Other than his lineage. But Dante knew better than to question "potential" heroes that came from a line of heroes. And the immortal strongly emphasized "potential" in Jaune's case.

He left...quite a lot to be desired.

That proved especially true since was currently explaing to Ruby why he had a separate tent from his sisters.

"Uh, guys?"

Dante and everyone turned their attention to Nora, seeing her stand on top of a post overlooking something in the distance.

"What do you see?"

All Dante received from his friend was a shake of her head, unable to say anything of what she saw.

And for Nora, that was never good.

It was then Dante himself looked out into the distance and saw what Nora saw. Something that was never really good out in the wilderness.

Smoke.

Everyone's eyes were to the sky with different forms of shock, seeing that the sky was gray while columns of smoke rose into the air. And when they all looked closer, they could see a dead body on the side of the road approaching the town.

The map was dropped by Ruby as everyone rushed forward at once. Perhaps there was a chance some may have been alive.

Perhaps not. It was still best to search just in case.

The group of friends moved past the village entrance and briskly moved throught the town, looking for anyone that might have survived...whatever it was that hit them.

"There could be survivors!" Shouted Ruby to the others that were spread out at the moment.

"Over here!"

Everyone focused their attention to Ren, who was currently seeing to an injured man in armor. A Huntsmen more than likely. And he was badly injured.

"What happened?! Who killed all these people?!" Asked Jaune.

"Bandits…" he barely managed to cough out, "A whole tribe… Then...with all the panic…"

The Huntsman couldn't finish the rest of his words and coughed violently, shivering and unable to catch his breath.

Bandits on Remnant, the smarter more vile ones, were clever enough to encore mass panic in a town and use Grimm to their advantage. They get to leave with loot, and the people in town get to deal with the Grimm that won't be too focused on the bandits.

Dante was the only one that remained kneeling near the dying Huntsmen while Ruby and the others had a clear look of frustration about them. They weren't used to seeing sights like this.

Not like the immortal was.

"Alright, we can get him to the next village and try to find a doctor there!" Ruby said.

"Yeah… Ren and I can take turns carrying him there." Offered Jaune.

"I don't know if he'll make it…"

"He will. He has to."

But he wouldn't. The wounds were too deep. And his Aura Reserves were far too low to heal him.

"Guys..." spoke Dante as he kept his eyes on the Huntsmen.

"If we get going now, our chances will be better. I can run ahead and look for help!"

That would be useful given how fast she could travel. But...

"There's no need for that…" spoke Dante as he stood back to meet the concerned gazes of his friends and lover, "He's gone."

All of them were silent for some time before Nora asked, "Should we bury him?"

"I would, but…" Dante simply shook his head after speaking and took another glance around, just in case there might have been something else creeping around.

"We should go. It's not safe here." Stated Ren as he grabbed his pack that he threw down earlier.

Nora turned to follow after him with Jaune not too far behind them. Ruby remained where she was, overlooking the destruction with a stressed and sorrowful look about her.

"I leave home for a few days and it all starts going to Hell…" said Dante as he approached and stood at her side.

He moved his left hand towards her hand and interlocked his fingers with hers to hold on tightly.

"There's nothing we could've done about this, Ruby. Don't...blame yourself or struggle over something you that's not your fault. Believe me, I've been down that road and it's been nothing but misery and pretzel bread. Though, the pretzel wasn't so much misery. More like misery relief."

Ruby managed a partial smile at his attempt at humor as she leaned into him.

"Is it...always going to be like this?" She asked.

"No… But it's going to happen now and then. And it will never be easy. But you can't stay stuck on it forever. You just have to...press on forward and do your best for those still alive and well. Fix whatever you can and make right whatever is possible to be made right. Just don't be an idiot like me, thinking you can solve all the worlds problems when really...you just can't. So...instead of mulling over your past mistakes, your failures, and what was outside of your reach or ability to do anything about it...focus on what you can do moving forward."

Ruby only nodded her head silently as her grasp of his hand grew tighter.

"All right… Let's get going with the others." Said Dante as both he and Ruby made their way toward Jaune and the others.

This was the World as it was now. And whatever it was they were chasing after...was more than likely at the center of it. That...or it was a pawn part of a much more complicated plan. But this wasn't going to stop any of them. They were going to continue onwards and beyond...all the way until they saw it through to the end.

* * *

The campfire they all slept around was kept low and dimly lit, just enough to last them through the night. After seeing Shion village in the shape that it was in, they all needed rest.

Dante, being concerned with their well being, asked Ruby to pass on her newly adopted "policy" for tonight and tonight only. He at least wanted one more night to make sure his defensive set up around their camp was well set.

That, and he wanted to make sure nothing human-like would sneak up on them. Especially if the bandits were possibly in the area still.

And so Dante sat leaned against a tree, eyes closed and ears open and focused on anything and everything around them. He could hear everything from the insects to the flowing water of the river near them, and even the slow and silent creaking of the aged trees around them. He could feel and hear the silent breeze of the wind passing over the blades of grass, the leaves in the trees and so forth.

And then he heard footsteps. Slow and cautious as to not disturb anyone. Then he heard a tired sigh. That sigh was he needed to know who it was.

So...why was Jaune Arc up at this hour?

The immortal heard Jaune's footsteps grow closer to him, and stopped just a few feet away from him. He could hear the frustration emanating off of the young man that was accompanied with an angry, silent growl as his footsteps disappeared deeper into the forest.

Dante's eyes crept open slightly, taking a quick glance around before he fully opened them and looked around. Nora and Ren were sound asleep, as was Ruby. Though with how much she was stirring, she was bound to wake up soon.

Maybe she was feeling hungry for a midnight snack?

The immortal stood up silently and followed Jaune Arc's trail into the darkness of the forest. But the darkness was short lived, for dozens of tiny little lights shone light upon the darkened path before him.

Fireflies and will-o-wisps danced across the immortals few of the heavily wooded area, until he stopped suddenly when spotting a clearing just ahead of him. And in it was Jaune Arc and...another voice? It was...familiar somehow…

…

Pyrrha Nikos..?

…

No, not her. Just a recording. From the sound of it, it was an instructional training video suited for Jaune. And he was following her instructions to the letter.

Jaune Arc did leave much to be desired overall...but one can't argue his from and technique have improved. He wasn't entirely the sloppy, timid Jaune that he used to be. He was a lot stronger.

But...there was something festering within Jaune… A feeling the immortal knew all too well… He could feel it coming from him ever since he saw the blonde knight again.

Minutes had passed, and he kept repeating the same procedure over and over again. Arc was getting tired, but he still kept going, repeating the steps and swinging just a bit harder after each reset, as if he were seeing how much more he could push himself.

The immortal was impressed with Jaune's newfound tenacity. To be honest, he always knew it existed deep within Jaune, only, the blonde knight never had true reason to draw on it. And with the Fall of Beacon…

It was more than enough reason.

He was going to be here for a while. It was best not to disturb him.

Dante silently made his way back through the wooded forest, brushing a tree branch out of his path. Though, when approaching the campsite, he bumped into his little reaper in red, who bounced off him and nearly tripped over and fell. Before she could, Dante had caught her arm with his left hand and pulled her towards him closely.

"Careful now. You might trip and hurt yourself."

"I-I know that..!" She said in hushed tone, "I'm not a kid you know!" She said with her all famously cute pout.

"I'm sorry. You know how protective I can be."

"I know…"

"So… Did you wake up because you were hungry, or..?"

"Well… Yes and no… I just...kind of woke up. Then noticed you and Jaune weren't around and thought maybe something happened. Where is-?"

"It seems our darling little boy is on his way to becoming a man." Dante replied casually.

"W-What..?"

"Sorry. Habit for making bad jokes at times. Jaune is just a bit a ways out there in the forest training." Said Dante pointing in the direction he came from, "Other than that, nothing to worry about."

"Will he be alright out there by himself?"

"He'll be fine. My Aura Sensing sucks tremendously compared to Inuba and Leo's, but it's tuned enough to keep track of everything. So, back to bed then."

"Right, bed…"

"What?"

"You're just going to stay awake anyway…"

Dante chuckled to himself slightly with her adorable and slightly selfish attitude at the moment. Though, he didn't say that he wasn't going to indulge her request.

"No, I won't." He said to her surprise, "Ask and you shall receive after all. Tonight onwards, I'm...uh...fulfilling your request…"

Ruby could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and glanced away a few moments before looking back to Dante, tugging on his sleeve.

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise." He said walking back with her.

There was going to be changes to everything Dante would do. But above all, he was going to ensure the safety and survival of Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora. Even if his presence might be unwelcome with one other. And he was going to hope his partner, his siblings, and even Raum would make it safely.

He accepted that all he could do at the moment in their case, was to watch and wait. For now...he had to be focused on the task ahead.

Getting to Haven safely with Ruby and the others...and to find his sword.

* * *

 **(Omake: The Catch, Alternate version 2, by Xera Stark)**

"Are you sure she flew this way, Jaune?" Nora asked, hopping over an upturned root to follow her golden leader.

"Positive. The Geist sent her this way, so she must be working on her landing strategy right about now..." Jaune replied, pushing a cluster of branches out of the way as he stepped aside and held them for Nora and Ren to pass.

"It was quite the flight she took..." Ren commented idly, a bit concerned for the reaper. A fall like that might need something more than just a simple landing strategy.

"She'll be fine." Jaune said, smiling in confidence as he let the branches go and continued forward.

"While I will admit that she is durable, I doubt she could survive a fall from that height on her own." Ren pressed his concern more adamantly, hoping his worries were misplaced.

"Then we can devise a catching strategy… somehow…" Jaune replied, glancing up in thought before turning to Nora, "How fast can you sew a giant quilt from tree branches and leaves?"

"I don't know how to sew." Nora spoke back cheerfully, hopping over a few more upturned roots.

"Dang, I was really banking on that." Jaune sighed, shaking his head for a moment.

He didn't hear the whistling of falling objects just above him. Or the breaking of branches through the forest's canopy. Everything went dark for the poor Arc as Dante's feet crashed into the strangely cushioned ground, Ruby cradled solidly in the immortal's arms in a close bridal carry as he killed the shock of the impact with a slight bend to his legs.

"Told you we'd be fine." Dante said smoothly.

* * *

 **Semblance Encyclopedia 9**

"Hello hello hello! It's your favorite hostess, Ciel!" Spoke the young girl energetically upon stage, "And the not as cool but still decently cool Leonard. Woo~"

"Thank you for that half assed introduction."

"Oh boy, we get Leo when he's feeling grumpy! Even better since today..!" She spoke pointing to the monitor as Leonard took a glance at the monitor behind him while helping his arms crossed, "we're talking about you, bro!"

"Oh boy, I can't wait…" he said unenthusiastically.

"Don't get too worked up good old Leo. He's just not as enthusiastic about everything as the rest of us are. He's actually kinda lazy."

"We aren't here to talk about me personally. So if you aren't gonna get on with it, I will." Said the sibling as he moved in front of Ciel.

"Wha-?! Hey!"

"Alright, pay attention because we're only going to talk about my Semblance until something else comes up. Got it?"

"So forceful..! A side of Leo we never get to see!"

"Will you quiet down so I can explain already?"

All Ciel did was give a quick nod before hopping onto a seat, allowing her brother to take front stage for once.

"Great. So then, let's get to it. First thing's first, my Semblance is a Duality Semblance like Ciel's, meaning I have an extra ability to mine. If you've paid attention, you would know that I've used both abilities already."

He then clicked the remot on his hand to play the footage in action.

"The first part is pretty simple, and I use it virtually with each of my attacks since the cost is minuscule at best. The first is basically called Horizon of Subterfuge, where I can A, make small to large beams of super densified Aura with great penetrative power, or B, I can use all the missed shots from my guns to form a perimeter of invisible Aura bullets that enclose the enemy. When I activate my HoS, the missed shots become visible in the air around the enemy in the form of halos facing them. All I have to do next is point at the enemy and the halos light up with an intense amount of Aura and fire off in beams that attack the enemy from all directions, leaving no room for escape or survival. Complete obliteration. Though, for now, I'm only limited to fifty rings at a time."

"Cool cool. So what about the second ability?"

"I was getting there. The next ability is Hellish Restraint. It's almost like HoR where I surrounded the enemy in a circular formation of shots that surrounds the enemy. Only, instead of shooting beams outward beams, the Aura Shots form into tether-like anchors of extreme gravitational force that latch on the enemy and hold them in place. In addition, the tethers feed off of the trapped victims Aura in order effectively increase the power of the tethers to effectively restrain them, feed my Aura Reserves, or feed my HoR shots that I set up to make them more powerful. This one's limited to ten restraining shots."

"And there you have it! Leo's Semblance is scary for ranged offense and excellent for trapping enemies in tight spots to give them no chance for escape or retreat! Even though Leo isn't as cool, his Semblance is at least.

"If you remember the last time we sparred, I trapped you with Hellish Restraint and left you out for thirty minutes until you were begging me to let you out."

"Ehehe… T-That's…uh...well…"

"If you're gonna talk big, back it up at least."

"Whatever. I'm still cooler than you!"

"Keep dreaming. Anyway, that's it for this week. Come back whenever. I guess."

"Uh, we want them to come back. Not be all like 'yeah, whatevs man'."

"It's their call. Now let's go. We've got a mission to do, remember?"

"Yeah yeah… Alright everyone! Tune in next week for Weapons Illustrated! Goodbye and stay classy!"

* * *

 **Good lord people, I don't know what to say except I am very very very sorry. It wasn't until today I realized that I didn't post this chapter, when virtually, I tricked myself into thinking I did. Like, I feel like I did it, but then today realized I didn't actually do it. So again, I am very sorry. Other than that, not much to say except I've been fairly busy with college. And of course, Destiny 2. You can find me on there if you're on PS4. Seriously, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you buy the game if you had your doubts before. It's worth every penny.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	25. Chapter 25: Of Families and

**Chapter 25: Of Families and Tipping Points**

«»

Moving on a path through the woods, Dante and RNJR continued their trek with Ruby leading the forefront. She made a few mistakes here and there, and almost got them turned around, but the immortal was there to help correct their course. Even when Ruby was sure she was reading the map correctly.

"See? Told you it was this way."

Ruby only pouted in response.

"Come on. Being wrong isn't the end of the world. Sometimes anyway."

The little reaper was clearly concerned with his answer.

"Relax." He said poking her in the side, "If we speed it up a bit, we might just get into town before nightfall."

"Assuming it's still there…"

That was the first time in a while Jaune actually answered him directly. Maybe he was getting voter whatever secret beef he had with the immortal?

"It'll be there. Bigger villages usually tend to be a bit more...better defended."

"Yeah!" Ruby defended, "It actually is a pretty big one. Um… Hee-gan...bayn-a…"

"Higanbana. It's a well protected village with a popular inn." Stated Ren.

"Which means, no camping in the rain!" Nora cheered.

"I'm all for camping, but there's a limit to how long I'd actually like to do it." Stated the immortal.

"You know, we've had a lot of ups and downs… But things could be a lot worse. I really thought we'd see more Grimm."

"As did I." Ren said backing Jaune's statement.

Even the immortal expected more Grimm along the way. The fact there were few was...surprising. Was there someone ahead clearing them out as they went?

"I guess our luck is finally turning around! To Higanbana!"

"To Higanbana!" Ren and Jaune chanted in unison.

"To Higanban...ban-a!"

"You were about to say Higanbanana weren't you?" Dante questioned Ruby with a chuckle.

"N-No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were."

Ruby only responded next by rapidly poking him in the side numerous times. It tickled more than hurt, but it was amusing nonetheless.

But he had to turn his attention elsewhere for the moment. His head turned slightly so his gaze could look off in the distance behind him. For a moment, he was sure he had heard a growl, more than likely a Grimm. But the one thing he was absolutely sure about was the zing of a sword, ringing out for but a brief moment.

Most of his life was swords and the clashing of steel. There was no way he could mistake that sound.

Who else was out here?

"Hey Dante, didn't you say something about a...what was it again… Sas… Sassy…"

"Sasquatch?" Ren corrected Ruby.

Ah Sasquatch. That was an interesting weekend indeed. Full of mystery, chickens, fur...and tea.

"Sasquatch huh… What about him?"

"You said you were going to tell us a story about him." said Ren.

"Ah yes, Sasquatch. It's incredible how many fruit loops you have to go through in order to find a credible, actual source of information. When we finally found something real...well...thus began our weekend hunt for Sasquatch. It all started with a storehouse room and a chicken pen…"

* * *

Rain fell on the lands before the group made their way to the village of Higanbana. They had umbrellas, and had to rely on their packs. Though, in Dante's case, he removed his coat and draped it overhead himself and Ruby. Considering the coat was treated to become extremely hydrophobic, it did make for an excellent umbrella.

Minutes passed and they made it within the village, quickly finding the nearest inn to settle for the night. Which meant they were safe for tonight.

Qrow Branwen let out a relaxed breath as he continued staring at the children through the window of the establishment he was in, just across from the inn the children stayed in. Before he could do anything else, a waitress set down a glass of liquor and ice right in front of him.

"Oh, I didn't-"

"From the woman upstairs. Red eyes. Said you wouldn't mind bottom shelf."

Qrow turned his head to looks up at the second floor indoor balcony, seeing several of its round tables, the edge being slightly visible.

"Thanks." He said picking up the glass.

"I actually went ahead and gave you top shelf. Lucky you." She said winking at him.

With a pleased smirk, Qrow nodded his head and watched the waitress walk away.

I still got it...

After she left, Qrow looked through the window into the other window of the inn, seeing that the children had moved from the lobby already.

He let out a silent a sigh as he took his glass and headed upstairs to met the red eyed person that bought him his drink.

Raven Branwen was the one waiting for him at one of the tables up top, her mask resting on the table she sat at,

"Hello, brother."

Qrow stared at her from the top of the stairs for a moment, taking wary caution before moving to sit down at his sister's table.

"Raven."

Silence remained between the Branwen siblings for a few moments before Qrow looked at her expectantly. His sister rolled her eyes and grabbed hold of her mask, moving it off to the side.

"So, what do you want?"

"A girl can't just catch up with her family?"

"She can, but you're not. Now how 'bout we get on with it? Unless you plan on keeping these comin'. He said setting his glass down.

Raven only shot a glare at Qrow before asking, "Does she have it?"

He didn't answer her right away, and ran his fingertip along the edge of his glass before he asked his next question.

"Did you know Yang lost her arm?"

"That's not-"

"Rhetorical question, I know you know. It's just obnoxious that you'd bring up family and then carry on like your own daughter doesn't exist."

"I saved her…" spoke Raven in a low tone.

"Once." Qrow pointed out, "Because that was your rule, right? Real 'Mom of the Year' material, sis."

Raven leaned forward and grabbed Qrow by the forearm, stilling his sarcastic, nonchalant motions.

"I told you Beacon would fall and it did. I told you Ozpin would fail and he has. Now you tell me. Does. Salem. Have it?"

"I thought you weren't interested in all of that."

"I just want to know what we are up against."

"And which 'we' are you referring to?" He asked with a grin.

Raven kept her glare on her brother, but finally let go of his arm so he could sit back down.

"You should come back, Raven. The only way we'd beat her is by working together. All of us."

"You're the one who left. The tribe raised us, and you turned your back on them."

"They were killers and thieves." Qrow said to validate his point.

"They were your family."

"You have a very skewed perception of that word."

Raven stood up immediately after hearing that, anger present within her face while Qrow kept his calm and remained sitting where he was.

"I lead our people now. And as leader, I will do everything in my power to ensure our survival."

"I saw. The people of Shion saw, too."

"The weak die, the strong live. Those are the rules."

"Well, you've certainly got someone strong on your side. I've seen the damage. But so do we. And I don't think he'd take to kindly to you if he knew what you were up to."

"We couldn't have known the Grimm would set in as quickly as they did."

"I'm not talking about the Grimm."

Looking away from Qrow, Raven's eyes lit up, eyes widening slightly at his words.

"And I'm not talking about you, either."

"If you don't know where the Relic is, then we have nothing left to talk about." she said reaching for her mask.

But Qrow grabbed the top of it, preventing her from leaving.

"I don't know where the Spring Maiden is, either, but if you do, I need you to tell me."

"And why would I do that?" She said pulling her mask out of Qrow's grasp.

"Because without her to help, we're all probably going to die."

A moment of tense silence passed between them as the flame of a lantern near them died out.

"You have that menace of a brat don't you? And...which 'we' are you referring to?"

Qrow grimaced at Raven as she walked away, putting her Grimm-like mask back on. He heard the sound of her sword being unsheathed, looking up to see Raven walk into her red portal and disappear.

There was a sound of glass breaking and a gasp, making Qrow turn around to see the waitress, trembling at the sight of Raven disappearing in the fashion that she did. She took a cautious step backwards and looked at Qrow, expecting some sort of answer.

"Make this one a double."

Before the waitress could even think to go and get him another drink down below, both had heard shouting on the first floor. Though, Qrow swore he heard a familiar voice down below, calmly replying to them.

"You're a talker… Well, I'll have you know that listening to talkers makes me thirsty."

Can't be…

Qrow could hear someone audibly gulping a drink before setting the cup down with a loud thud.

"And I think I'll take...two roast chickens."

"I don't think you understand the situation you're in, brat."

Whoever the youngster was chuckled before saying, "I understand that if I hear one more word out of your garbage pile of a mouth, I'm going to have to eat every single chicken in this bar."

You've got to be kidding me…

Qrow went to stand up, but he stopped midway when he heard fists flying and wood splintering. Ten seconds had passed and half a dozen men had been dropped, using nothing but a wooden chair and a wooden mug.

"I'll be taking these…" he said grabbing two bottles and plates off the bar table while sliding over lien cards, "And giving you these. Thanks. Sorry about the mess."

"What the hell are you doing?" Qrow asked with his gruff voice carrying to the lower level.

The person he was speaking to took note of the veteran Huntsmen up above and quickly made his way up the stairs to Qrow's table, moving past the waitress and sitting himself down in the seat Raven Branwen sat in not too long ago.

The white haired immortal slid over one of the bottles to Qrow Branwen and began devouring the chicken he earned from down below, all while the older man poured himself a glass from the bottle he was given and took a long sip from it.

"When'd you figure me out?"

"This morning." Replied Dante, chicken fully and completely devoured, "More than certain I heard a Grimm about to pounce us. Then it didn't. But the other thing I could never mistake for the life of me is the sound a sword makes. Yours specifically."

"What about my weapon?" Asked Qrow, interested further in Dante's analysis.

"When we crossed swords that time we did during the Vytal Festival, I memorized the exact sound it makes when striking something."

"You're really weird, you know that kid?"

"Hey, you never know when the smaller details might be useful. Best take note of them all. My question is why have you been following us for the time that you have? I can only assume you started before I rejoined Ruby and the others. Following her because you were worried?"

"There's that. And there's another reason for it."

"Bait?"

Qrow fell silent when he heard those words.

"I'm not all too upset about it if that's the case. I mean, I did something similar ages ago when I was in the CGA on Primordial. And it worked."

"Right…with those… What did you call them again?"

"Vampires. Let my squad draw them in, I snuck in behind their trail, and pop, took out all the vamps in a few minutes."

"Kid your age and you put most of us to shame. It's impressive really."

"I do my best."

"It's also pretty frightening. Although, days like these, it pays to have allies with frightening abilities."

"But, that's not what we're here for. At least, that's not what I'm here for anyhow." Said Dante as he slid away the second platter of chicken, "What's after us?"

"I don't know."

"Mr. Branwen-"

"I don't know exactly who or what may be after you. But I know there might be someone out there searching."

"For what?"

"Ruby, more than likely. After Beacon Tower, she more than likely got someone's attention."

Dante's eyes furrowed a bit with confusion.

"What did Ruby do at Beacon tower?"

"You didn't know?"

Dante searched his memories of that night, whatever remained of them. He saw what he was looking for eventually, and saw it through the eyes of...whatever possessed him that night. He saw the expanse of light that came from the tower.

"No, I remember now… That was Ruby? How did..?"

The immortal then remembered another crucial fact that Entity made note of. Silver Eyes. Ruby's Silver Eyes.

Just what kind of power did her eyes hold?

"You know, don't you? About her eyes."

"I do."

"And these people...whoever they are...they'll be after her because of her eyes?" Asked the immortal in a more serious tone.

"If you already know, why are you even asking?"

"Because I'd like to confirm with other sources before I make an assumption, if I can."

Dante leaned back in his seat and dragged his left hand down his face, letting out a frustrated sigh before looking back to Qrow.

"What the heck are we involved in?"

"If I knew exactly, I'd tell ya kid. But as of now...I barely have a clue. All I know is that you need to be ready for anything out there. I'm not always going be able to watch your backs."

"Who says we need you to watch our backs?" Stated the immortal with a chuckle.

"Don't act tough, pipsqueak. I know that's not for show." Qrow said pointing to Dante's entirely bandaged right arm, "You're not going to be able to use your right arm to its full potential. And that's going to be a problem."

"A problem I've already solved. In case of emergency, I can make it usable at the cost of setting back my recovery time for it. I just have to use it sparingly is all. Thankfully, I haven't needed to use it all too much recently."

He had paused silently for a few moments, earning a few short nods from Qrow before both had began drinking from the bottle of their respective drinks, pausing after long gulps before setting their bottles down with satisfied sighs.

"Happy to be back with the gang?" Asked Qrow.

"Yeah. Really happy. And everyone feels the same. Well… Almost everyone."

"What do you mean? Ruby upset with you that were gone so long?"

"Uh, no actually considering she basically tackled me out of the sky and nearly killed the both of us. Well, herself, but you get the idea."

"So..?"

"Long story short mr. Branwen, I went a bit postal on the night Beacon fell and said some...really insensitive things. Patched things up with a few, but…"

"The Arc kid?"

"Just simply ignoring me for now. Though...I don't know what else might be in store…"

"Find a way to deal with it. That kind of thing happening out there? Not exactly what I'd call healthy."

"I know. I'll figure it out soon enough. But for now, especially after what you've just told me, I'm going to be extra careful in taking care of Ruby and the others. And...hope my partner and siblings are alright."

"They're checking out those towers that popped up recently, right?"

"You heard that?"

"Yeah. Didn't have time to look into it myself. Glad your people are doing it at least. By the way...siblings?"

"Long story for another time. Right now, I have to get back. I said I was going to get some chicken. I got my chicken. If I'm gone any longer they'll come looking for me. And I'm assuming you don't exactly want Ruby and the others to know you're here."

"Look…"

"I won't say a thing. You have my word. Just...sit us down when the time is right and tell us what you can. And be careful with whatever it is you're doing. I wouldn't want Ruby crying anytime soon."

"Be more worried about yourselves."

Dante offered the man a light chuckle before he stood up and went to leave, ready to turn in for the night.

"And kid…" said Qrow, drawing the immortals attention "Thanks for looking out for Ruby."

"Well...as much as you may not like hearing this, it's my unspoken duty as her boyfriend to protect her. Always." Said the immortal leveling his stare at Qrow as their eyes met a final time, "Be seeing you, mr. Branwen."

Qrow only gave him a nod and a wave before Dante descended down the stairs, fully out of the Huntsmen's sight. Looking at the bottle he was given by the immortal, he chuckled to himself briefly before pouring himself another glass, intent on finishing the gift he received before turning in for the night.

* * *

Dante entered the inn he, Ruby, Jaune, Nora and Ren were staying at for the night, approaching the clerk at the front desk.

"Good evening sir, what may I help you with?"

"I was here earlier with a group, but stepped out for a while, as you can remember."

"Ah yes, I remember now. You were with the young girl and her friends earlier that rented out three rooms." Said the man reaching under the counter and pulling out a keycard for the immortal, "She said to give you this when you returned. Please enjoy your stay tonight, sir."

"Thanks." He said grabbing the card in hand and walking upstairs to the rooms.

He paused a moment, realizing the clerk said something of interest.

"Wait… Did he say three rooms?" He raised up his hand and counted on his fingers, "Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora…"

Dante's eyes widened momentarily before he closed them and covered his reddened face.

"I swear...between the two of us, I don't know who's the actual devil…"

He looked at the keycard once more to find the room number he was staying in with Ruby and eventually found it at the end of the hall. Although, before he could enter, he heard the door behind him open slowly with a hum-like giggle from a certain Valkyrie that peeked her face between the opening.

"You two are going to be together and alone tonight…"

"A-And? What of it?" Said the immortal keeping his calm.

"Nothing. Just reminding you is all."

"Don't torture him Nora." Ren said approaching the door from inside, Nora moving away with a devious giggle.

All he could offer the immortal was an apologetic smile and shrug, before glancing at him rather seriously.

"Be safe."

Dante smacked his head in the door with an audible thud, "Leave me alone already, would you..?"

He needn't say more, since the door had closed immediately after he pleaded. He let out a sigh, frustrated with the fact some, or many, were convinced he was some sort of sexual deviant. Which wasn't true in the slightest. Especially since he's never-

…

Any further thought was halted as he quickly tapped the card against the door lock, allowing it to open, to the nicely lit room that resembled a comfy cabin room almost. There was a bed for two, a restroom, and a small closet for clothes, where currently, Ruby and Dante's packs rested in, along with her clothes on one hanger while her red cloak remained on a separate one.

If her clothes were there, where was she?

The door to the restroom opened, and out stepped Ruby...fully dressed in her black pajamas. She was busy drying her hair, mostly likely after taking a shower, and jumped a bit when she saw him.

"Y-You're back!"

"That I am." Said the immortal taking off his coat and placing it on a hanger in the closet.

"Did you like the chicken you got? I know you don't eat often, so…"

"Eh, it was as good as it could be." Said the immortal shrugging, "I'm gonna go shower real quick. You know, all gross and stuff from today. Back in a few."

"Um…" she started, grabbing his attention before he stepped inside, "D-Do you need help or anything? You know...because of your arm..?"

"N-No, I'll be fine. But, um, there are special bandages in my bag Inuba made in case we got separated and she couldn't heal me. And some ointment too. Maybe get those ready when I come out?"

"Sure thing. Oh, I put your pajamas in the restroom on the counter. They were the sleeveless black shirt and plaid black and white pajama pants, right?"

"Those were the ones. Thanks."

Dante closed the door behind him, and from what Ruby could hear, turned on the water to begin showering.

Instead of simply sitting around, she remembered to grab the bandages and ointment, and moved immortal's bag in the closet. He didn't keep much in there. It was mostly medical supplies, a few changes of clothes that were easy to pack away, and…

A charm in the shape of a cute nine-tailed fox. There was an etching on the back in a language Ruby didn't understand, but she could tell it was done by hand.

Was this a gift from his partner?

Now that she thought of it, the reaper didn't know all too much about Inuba, other than she was a close friend and his actual partner before coming here.

Maybe this is one of those protection charms people kept talking about back at Beacon?

Ruby liked the design of the fox. It looked cute. But...it was a bit odd. Not bad odd, but...when she held it, she couldn't help but feel a sort of soothing warmth being emitted from it, as if holding onto this charm brought peace of mind.

It was definitely something special. Which is why the young reaper put it back in the pocket flap she found it in. Instead of pondering further on the charm, she dug deeper into the bag and found a small box at the bottom, and opening it up, found the bandages and ointment she was looking for.

Now that she had what she needed, she placed everything on the bed and waited patiently, looking around the room until she finally heard the water being shut off. Finally, the door opened, and out stepped stepped Dante.

When Ruby saw him, she slapped a hand to her mouth and began chortling.

"What?"

She only pointed towards his head while containing her giggles of amusement, making Dante turn around to look in the mirror and see what she was laughing at, that being that his hair was all kinds of messy and standing straight up.

"Oh yeah, that's cute. You laugh at Jaune for wearing a bunny hoodie, and laugh at me because my hair looks like a powered up Super Saiyan?" He said flattening his hair back to its normal appearance.

"What?!" She Asked barely able to contain her laughter.

The immortal grabbed a pillow from a chair nearby and tossed it at Ruby, who was completely flattened by the pillow, and yet still laughing. She sat up as she calmed herself, wiping away the tears from her eye, but she finally fell silent when she stared at his right arm without its bandage wrappings.

Pitch black darkness covered a vast majority of his fingers, hand, and forearm, all the way up to the mid-section of his forearm. The dark substance didn't cover it entirely, and was in fact spotty in numerous locations all around, revealing the teen's pale skin beneath.

Ruby could only imagine how it used to look before he started treating it…

"Oh right, bandages. Um, it's perfectly safe to touch, nothing infectious or anything. Just rub the ointment on and bandage it up." Instructed Dante as he sat down on the bed next to Ruby.

"Okay…"

The young reaper unscrewed the cap off the small circular container and scooped out a large clump of the gel-like ointment with her index finger, then rubbed it together with her palms before applying it to his arm and hand.

She moved in soft rotations, starting with his forearm and massaging it as she went lower, soon lathering his hand and fingers with the minty ointment, giving him the same comfortable massage.

Small shocks of pain coursed through his arm, but with each section covered, the pain lessening as a powerful warmth washed over the young immortals arm. Finished with applying the ointment, Ruby unraveled the bandage roll and began wrapping around the cloth, moving on a very quick and fluid motion, finishing the wrapping of his forearm, hand, and individual fingers within a matter of seconds.

Dante was impressed with her wrapping skills. They were spot on.

"Nice. Thank you for that." He said while Ruby packed away the medical supplies back into the box, setting it aside on the nightstand.

"Does it hurt? Your arm I mean…"

"Not as bad as it was when it started. Thankfully Inuba was able to do something with her healing magic to erase it slowly over time."

"What did you even do?" Asked Ruby.

"Overflow of Aura in my right arm. The intense concentration just wrecked my arm entirely. And considering my Aura has a sort of lingering effect, it ended up backfiring on me a bit."

"Lingering effect? Like a long lasting burn?"

"Yeah, sort of. Picked up a lot of new tricks these past few months. I hope you did too."

"O-Of course! Can't you see how much I've grown these past months?!"

Now that he looked at her…

…

Certain thoughts very quickly became distant.

"I do…" he said looking away with some red in his face.

Seemingly enough, she too understood the repercussions of her question, and looked away as well. But her eyes looked back, searching for his hand while she slowly grasped his, hoping it wouldn't hurt him.

But it didn't in the slightest.

"We should get to sleep… Long day tomorrow. I'll take the couch, you can-"

As he moved to get up, Dante found himself held in place and swiftly pulled back.

"Y-You remember what I said...right?"

How could he forget?

"A-Are you sure? I mean…"

"I meant what I said...so…"

The immortal let out a deep exhale and slipped into the covers with Ruby, the wide expanse of the fabric more than enough to wholly and comfortably cover the pair.

They were close to another, nearly back to back. And just when the immortal thought he was safe...he felt her arms wrap around him from behind, pulling herself to his back as both their heads rested on the same pillow. He was utterly powerless at the moment to resist her embrace. That and...she was clinging to him rather tightly, confirming for him how much she "grew" within the past few months.

And it wasn't simply growing taller.

"Hey…" she said to him softly.

"Yes?" He answered back, rotating himself to now face Ruby with their faces mere inches away as she still held on to him

"Do you ever think about them? Your old friends?"

That was...difficult to answer. Of course he missed his old friends, but…

"Sometimes. But nowadays I just think about you and everyone else, and hope that I can continue to keep you, Ren, Nora and Jaune safe. Not to be mean to everyone else or anything, but...that especially means you."

Ruby's cheeks turned red a bit when she heard him say that, clutching him even tighter as she buried her face into his chest to hide it.

"Any tighter and you might actually break me…"

"I-I'm sorry..!"

"It's alright." He said as he too wrapped his arms around Ruby, holding her closely, "I don't break easily. Thankfully…"

"Yeah… You kinda proved that a few times already."

"Are you worried?"

"Maybe just a little?"

"Well… Don't you worry. We'll make it to Haven and figure out what started this mess. Then...maybe eat a few sandwiches."

"Why sandwiches?" Asked Ruby with a giggle.

"Something an old mentor of mine once said to me. But never mind that. We need rest now. So close those pretty eyes of yours and go to sleep, alright?"

"Y-You have to sleep too you know… That was part of the agreement…"

"I know." He said kissing her forehead, "Sleep now. We have a busy day ahead of us."

* * *

"What's on the agenda today?"

"Walking." Answered Jaune.

"With a side of...?"

"Walking." Ren responded to Nora's question.

"Haven is a lot farther away than I thought…"

"Ruby? How long did you think this journey was going to take?" Asked Ren.

"I don't know! I grew up in a small area, I've never been this far away from home!"

"We get that, but still...how long did you think this was going to take?" Dante asked her.

"Maybe like, uh… two weeks?"

Dante and everyone else looked at her with shock.

"You're joking, right?" Asked the immortal, eyeing her seriously.

"Okay, fine! Three or something!"

Dante sighed at her response. He had to give her points for her enthusiasm in wanting to get things handled quickly.

"Hey, what's that?"

Ruby's question made everyone look ahead with interest, Nora moving ahead slightly while jumping onto a slightly fallen post of a fence to get a closer look at a wall and building further along the road.

"That's strange…" Said Jaune checking his map, "I didn't think we'd be hitting another village for a few days."

"Are those buildings damaged?"

"We should search for survivors!" Said Jaune as he dropped the map, all four, save Dante, running into the village.

He would've told them it was pointless to rush since it was abandoned, but they were too quick for him to say anything. Plus, he had to catch the map Jaune carelessly discarded in a rush to see if there were any survivors.

But the immortal knew better than to expect survivors of any kind. This village has been dead for a very long time. He did consider it a potential hideout for outlaws, but he used his Aura Sensing as soon as Nora pointed out the village, and scanned it entirely, finding no human presence within the abandoned town.

When he entered inside, he saw his friends and Ruby working hard to see if there was a sign of something.

"Anything?"

"Nothing over here!" Nora shouted over to Ruby.

"No one over here, either!" Jaune shouted from further ahead as he made his way back to the group.

"It almost seems like the town was abandoned."

Dante approached, standing by Ruby's side as the pair looked around while the others continued searching. The immortal couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt uneasy. Looking to Ruby, he could she felt the same.

"Hey, I think I found something!"

They snapped their heads in the direction of Nora's voice and rushed over, seeing the remaining three of JNPR Jaune looking at a town sign. Nora brushed away the ivy growing over the sign to the side to allow them to read what it said.

"Oniyuri? Never heard of it."

"Me neither…"

"I have." Ren spoke up suddenly, drawing the attention of the four, "You might think of it as Anima's Mountain Glenn, had it never been completed. Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the Kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources together to build their own city, with their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could maybe even become its own Kingdom. Many thought it would be the future." He spoke as he looked away from them, "I know my parents did."

"What happened?" Asked Ruby.

Off to the side, Ren brushed away some dirt of a stone border belonging to a low wall, revealing claw marks scratched deep within the stone.

"What always happens…"

"The Grimm." Jaune answered for all of them

Dante was quick to notice Ren's hands tightening into fists.

"Not just any… One."

One? Maybe he's talking about one Grimm in particular. Before running into Ciel and Leo, Inuba and I ran into a few new Grimm along the way. Big ones that were just powerful enough to take down a village on its own. That Minotaur we fought a while back being an example of many. I wonder… What Grimm might have done this? From the looks of it...Ren might know something.

The immortal turned his gaze to Ren, noting his behavior was out of his...usual calm demeanor. Not only that, but he seemed...angry almost.

"Come on. Let's just get through here. This place gives me the creeps." Said Jaune as he walked ahead of the group.

You and me both…

"So...what do you think?" Dante asked Ruby, the duo lagging behind their friends as they too slowly progressed forward.

"I don't know what to think… All I know is that I don't like it here…"

"Me neither… Usually by now I'd see a Dark Entity or something rising up from the rubble somewhere to sink it's teeth into me… Now that I know they aren't here, not knowing what's out here is a bit unsettling. Even for me."

"Since when are you scared of anything?"

"Nothing really scares me to be honest. The only thing I'm worried about is you guys. You did notice that there are some gnarly Grimm out and about in the wilds, right?"

"Yeah… I mean, we didn't run into a Minotaur like you did, but…"

"Grimm are the least of my concerns…"

"Then..?"

Dante suddenly remembered Qrow's words from the night before.

After Beacon Tower, she more than likely got someone's attention. All I know is that you need to be ready for anything out there…

"It's people I'm more worried about." Replied the immortal softly as he continued walking forward.

But after a few moments, the four behind Ren saw him suddenly raise his hand to silently halt them, closing his eyes to focus on whatever he picked up. Dante stood silently next to Ruby, hand tapping the side of his thigh. He was hoping for a false alarm. But when Ren drew his weapon, any chance of that disappeared within an instant.

Soon, all of them had their weapons drawn, and looked around the area quickly, trying to ascertain where their enemy would be coming from. Soon enough, Dante closed his eyes and focused everything on his hearing. He definitely heard human footsteps, of that there was no question.

But it was the subtle, mad giggling that put the immortal off ever so slightly.

And before they knew it...he appeared, leaping over the high hall so easily and landing in front of everyone, catching them off guard.

He was a pale man with gold eyes and a brown ponytail braided to resemble a scorpion's tail. He wore a white sleeveless jacket with leather belts strapped to it, along with white pants, his jacket left open, exposing his bare chest that was criss-crossed with prominent scars. His arms were covered with purple bandages and leather vambraces, also wearing leather boots covering his entire shin with knee guards. On each earlobe was a silver, ring-shaped earring, and near the top of his left ear was another matching earring. Over it all, he sported a dark brown jacket, which he wore open the same way he did with his white one underneath.

Without a second to spare, he immediately revealed his weapons in a seamless motion, metallic claws shaped like pincers, and laughing eagerly, moved to attack Ruby first. Ren was the first to intercept him, the blades of his StormFlower clashing with the stranger's claw blades. Ren then attempted to both kick and shoot the man, but he dodged out of the way, the two exchanging more attacks and parries until the man kicked Ren away several feet.

The new arrival turned to go after Ruby again, only to be immediately locked in a clash with Dante. They exchanged a few rapid blows before the man broke the teen's guard and planted his foot in the immortal's face, sending him flying into one of the buildings nearby as it collapsed atop him.

Yet again the man moved forward towards Ruby, who rushed forward with Crescent Rose to meet him. He used his blades to block the initial slash of her scythe and kicked Ruby backward. She easily remained upright and clashed again, the man managing to land a strike on Ruby's right arm, making her cry out in pain all the while the man laughed. Ruby didn't break stride and leapt back to take a swing at him with her scythe, her foe dodging and then landing a powerful blow that moved against the body of Crescent Rose, and struck the reaper's abdomen, causing a red shimmer of her Aura to glow in the area of where she was struck as she reeled back.

Jaune stepped in not a moment later, but the crazed man simply climbed onto his shield, grinning at him with intrigue. Nora rushed in with her Magnhild, but the man leapt from Jaune's shield to her hammer and kicked her away.

Ruby, who lay on the ground, was open to attack once more.

Before the maniac even had the thought to charge forward, he spun around to find a small wave of white and black Aura rushing at him with great speed, crashing into him as he blocked with his arm-blades and sending him flipping backwards towards a small tower. He split his legs apart mid-air, doing a perfect split, and crashed into the building upright, using his legs to keep himself suspended between two support beams as he looked down upon the group of five.

Dante walked up to Ruby and quickly helped her up, the duo and their friends quickly retaking their stances, ready for the next attack.

"We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune shouted.

"Who are you?"

With a light chuckle, the man leaned forward and dropped from the tower, performing a front flip and landing on his feet in front of them.

"Who I am matters not to you." He said pointing to Ren, "Or you." He moved to Nora, "Or-"He immediately cut himself off and paused when reaching Jaune, "Well...you do interest me."

Jaune gasped nervously in response. The crazed man then looked to Dante and grinned a twisted grin at him, one that made the young immortal more uneasy than he had been.

"And you… You fascinate me to no end… What is someone like you doing with people like them?"

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Dante.

"Why child, don't you remember that bloody night months ago? When you slaughtered that entire fanatical cult?"

That night…

"I'd remember seeing a lunatic like you. Were you off watching to the side?"

"Why, I was merely passing by when I saw the commotion. And I must say...you have extraordinary talent. So again, why is someone like you traveling with a bunch like them?"

"I'm not here for a quiz, jackass. Tell us what you're after."

"Oh well. In any case, the only person I matter to...is you." He said pointing to Ruby, as the rest turned to look at her.

Poor Ruby could only tilt her head in confusion.

I was right… Qrow was right… thought the immortal as his grip on his sword tensed up.

"Me?" The young reaper barely managed to squeak out.

The man stared at her, bewildered by how clueless Ruby was to the situation and broke out laughing.

"You… You haven't the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this must be!"

"What do you want?" Asked Ruby.

The crazed man gasped in surprise before acting dramatically in response to her tone of voice.

"Oh, the rose has thorns! My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me!"

Dante stepped in front if Ruby immediately when he heard him say that, glaring at the man as he glared back.

"Well, what if she doesn't want to go with you?" Asked Nora, readying herself.

He stared at them for a moment, lips scrunched up and eyes darting around slightly before he gave his answer.

"Well...I'll take her."

"That's not going to happen." The immortal responded in a chilling tone.

The stranger closes his eyes for a moment and inhaled through his teeth. eyes slowly opening back up as he happily growled a single word with his dark grin.

"Good."

He was more than delighted that they were willing to fight, and so moved quickly around them all to attack Jaune first from behind.

Ren shot at Jaune's shield so that the ricochet of his bullets hit the man, who covered his eyes with his arm and then cartwheeled onto Jaune's shield, using his claw blades to spin in the air against it. Ruby and Dante stepped in to face Tyrian on his descent, but he kicked the both of them off to the side. Jaune quickly took a swing with his sword at the crazed stranger, but he simply dodged the slice and kicked him away as well.

His next target was Nora, and so he quickly turned to face the Valkyrie and sprinted directly for her. From across the way, Ruby grinned with Dante as she shot Nora with a lightning Dust round, which passed just over Tyrian's left shoulder as he turned and sensed it. Moving his head out of the way, he watched the bullet fly into Nora, knocking her down when the bolt made contact.

Clearly their foe mistook the reaper's move as a tactical error on Ruby's part when he gave them a baffled stare, laughing while Ren, Jaune, Dante and Ruby simply watched and waited.

"Well, if that isn't ironic…"

He immediately sensed something something strange and lost his mirth. With a determined, satisfied grin, Nora rushed Tyrian from behind with immense speed than her usual, moving over his right shoulder and coming before him just in time to swing Magnhild down on him, the blast from the attack creating a backwash of dust and air that obscured their sight.

What they saw next left them in shock.

The air cleared to reveal a perfectly fine Tyrian in a low crouch, using his now newly unveiled appendage that block Magnhild.

A scorpion tail.

"Surprise!" he spoke in a cheery tone as he kicked Nora twice in the face before leaping backward and upward onto a roof, leaving his coat behind.

"He's…a Faunus…" stated Ren.

And a scorpion Faunus at that. This is going to be a problem… He's definitely going to have numerous traits belonging to a scorpion, those being durable skin, extremely fast movements, high sensing capabilities and heightened reflexes.

"What is this about?! The White Fang?! Roman Torchwick?!" Asked Ruby.

"Plastic soldiers and pawns! My heart and body belong only to our goddess!"

A moment of realization struck Ruby.

"Cinder…"

A good guess, but…

"Hmph, only in her wildest dreams…" he corrected.

Scanning the battlefield, the man noticed something was...off… Someone was missing.

And then he felt it, something that four out of the five children he was fighting did not show, or rather, lacked.

The intent to kill.

He spun around immediately and raised up both arms to guard himself against the white longsword that emerged from the darkness, ready to split him in half. His arm blades and Dante's sword clashed violently, letting out a small shockwave upon contact. Both were struggling to push the other back as sparks flowed from their weapons.

"Ah… So this devil does have horns! And a nasty bite to add…"

"Trust me pal…" Dante said as he slowly started pushing back the crazed man, "The second you see horns is the second you stop living…"

The man giggled in response to the threat.

"I do want an answer from before…" he said as he began to push Dante away, all the while keeping his twisted grin about him, "Why are you with them? You could be elsewhere now, but…"

He noticed Dante glancing past him, and the man tilted his head back, finding that which the immortal gazed at for but a few moments, laughing excitedly as their gazes met once more.

"The devil seems to be mesmerized by the young rose… And the rose has an infatuation with the mesmerized devil… Hehehehehe… Good… All the more sweeter for when I tear her apart from you."

Dante's eyes widened momentarily before he let out a silent growl, his gaze becoming sharper and colder, something that made the man laugh with glee.

The immortal broke their clash instantly, bringing his sword in towards him before thrusting forward with blinding speed, aiming for the center of the man's forehead. But instead, he watched the scorpion tailed Faunus catch his blade with said tail, forcing it to a halt. With that, he grabbed hold of Dante, lifted him up, and tossed him away like a toy towards one of the buildings down, leaping after him just as quickly.

He expected the immortal to not be able to react, but to his surprise, he immediately spun around mid flight to met the crazed stranger head on, striking his sword at the arm blade coming for his throat. Both had crashed into the abandoned building as another dust cloud formed around their crash site.

When it cleared away, Ruby and the others were relieved to see Dante still standing, blocking the arm blade that was about ready to tear his throat, but the reaper gasped at what she saw next.

The Faunus strangers scorpion tail that was deeply embedded in the teen's abdomen. But regardless of the sharp appendage stuck in his body, the immortal looked as though he wasn't fazed in the slightest, still keeping his harsh scowl about him as he glared at the stranger, who continued trying to sink his pincer-like arm blades into the teen's throat.

"It seems I was right! You aren't a bore in the slightest! Not like those children!"

Dante struggled to push him back, but in the position he was in, it was incredibly difficult to do so.

"I'm glad in fact… It wouldn't have been any fun if you died too quickly!"

"Dante, no!" Called out Ruby as she leaned forward to move when she saw the stranger raise up his other, free armblade to strike the immortal.

But she stopped immediately afterwards, breathing a bit more easily.

To the man's surprise, Dante used his right hand that was in the sling to catch his wrist, completely halting him from further action. But his right arm was different, changed. Thin, twisted, segmented black armor covered his arm entirely from his very fingertips all the way to his shoulder, his blackened claws digging into the flesh of the man's wrist.

His right arm was Shadow Skinned.

"Heh… Hehehahaha… Child's play like this is all you have? You're a bigger disappointment than I thought…" spoke the immortal with a bowed head.

The man had long since dropped his twisted grin, and adopted the same scowl the immortal had not too long ago.

"But… If you're so worried about this fight ending too quickly…" Black wisps of Aura emerged from Dante's person as he slowly raised his head to meet the gaze of the stranger, "Then let me make things a bit more interesting!" He spoke looking up at the man with a grin of his own, the whites of his eyes now black and his bright sky blue irises now a glowing white.

The air shivered and quaked violently from the sheer pressure of the young immortal's visibly flowing Aura, and with immediate ease, he pushed back the scorpion tailed Faunus, leaving enough space between him to swing his sword. And he did, for Dante quickly swung his Aura coated sword inwards across his body and left a deep slash across the stranger's chest, marking his body with a new scar as blood spurted from his wound, the sheer force of the strike enough to send him flying backwards.

"It won't be any fun if you die too quickly… So do me a favor and keep fighting like the lunatic you are!"

Clearly he didn't take Dante's taunt too well, for the stranger quickly found his bearings and planted his feet against a wall nearby, kicking off it to quickly re-engage the teen. But Dante was faster, for he darted forward with immense speed, exchanging a few blows with his target before coming to another clash.

They locked eyes, but Dante was the only one smiling.

The stranger was infuriated, evidenced by angry shout he let out as he broke their clash and swung his right leg into Dante's left arm with immense force, expecting it to break as Dante's body bent inward towards the round kick. But the teen remained unfazed by the strike, easily pushing away his attackers leg and swinging viciously at the stranger. The teen ducked under another kick, letting the man's leg swing overhead as he spun around and struck upwards, launching his foe into the sky.

But the scorpion tailed attacker did not falter, immediately spinning himself around in the air, turning his body into a rapid blur. Dante dodged the initial downwards kick to the top of his head, only to look up and see an armblade belonging to his attacker swing down across his body.

The stranger let out a giggle of joy, only to be silenced by the blade point entering into his abdomen. To retaliate, his yellow eyes turned purple as his scorpion stinger whipped about quickly, moving around his left to stab the teen in the eye. But to his surprise, the young immortal caught it with his bare hand. He tried to pull away, but he could not, for the immortal had his tail in a vice-like grip.

Then...he did something unexpected. He removed his sword and discarded it, and intended, wrapped the tail he caught around his left hand and pulled his attacker in towards him, delivering a powerful punch from his armored right arm and hand into the face of the Faunus man's face. He repeated the same attack four more times, soon spinning around the stranger rapidly before tossing him up to the sky.

Dante then quickly grabbed his sword from the floor and leapt up after his foe, where they exchanged a few blows before the teen stomped his leg into the face of his enemy, sending him crashing into the earth with enough force to make him bounce off the ground.

The end was upon the crazed man, evidenced by the fact Dante descended upon him sword first, ready to cut the man that attacked him, his lover, and friends in two.

But it was not to be.

* * *

The immortal was more than shocked when he saw a blade resting beneath his own, preventing him from cutting the scorpion tailed Faunus into two.

It was a weapon like the young immortal's, a longsword. Only, compared to the elegance of Dante's sword, this newer arrival's blade took on a more sinister appearance.

The entirety of his longsword was colored black and looked like a weapon made from bone, the blade itself smooth and refined compared to the rest of the design of the weapon. The handle showed off that more sinister aspect, the cross branches resembling crimson red muscle fibers coiled together, where at the center where they met was encased in black bone like plating in the shape of a diamond.

There were also two prongs on the ends of the cross branches facing upwards towards the sky, resembling curved, sharp teeth. The majority of the handle looked similar to the branches in which it resembled crimson, coiled together muscle fibers. There were two sections of the handle encased in black material, most likely for gripping the weapon. The pommel had a similar curved sharp tooth design to the prongs on the ends of the branches.

(A/N Imagine this newer arrival with the voice of Doug Erholtz, who voiced the English dubbed version of Gin Ichimaru from Bleach and Hazama/Terumi from BlazBlue.)

When Dante looked up, he saw who exactly the weapon belonged to. A man standing at his side just a few feet away, sporting a tattered black cloak that covered his entire being. From his feet, the immortal saw he was wearing silvery colored zori sandals along with black tabi socks that rose above his ankles quite a bit. His cloak had long, wide cuff sleeves that hid his hands, save for his left that currently held his sinister looking sword.

From what else he saw, he had his black hood up, but the entirety of his head was covered by a white mask-helmet made of what looked like bone with some red markings and details. But what drew the immortal's attention the most was the shape of the helmet.

It resembled that of a Grimm-like dragon, almost similar to the Wyvern he fought and killed at Beacon. The horns that remained on the upper parts of the sides of the mask were slightly slicked back in a diagonal angle, the eyeholes of the mask slanted, and sharply curved in numerous directions. Unlike an actual Grimm, no visible red glow emerged from the eyeholes.

"My, that was very dangerous. Had I not decided to step in like I originally intended, you really would have cut this man in two." Spoke the new stranger in a sly, cool, calm voice.

Dante tried pushing his blade downwards, but the Dragon Masked man's blade didn't budge an inch. Instead, he effortlessly forced up Dante's sword and lashed out at him with a blindingly fast strike that sent him skidding on his heels, allowing the scorpion tailed Faunus to stand back up, eyeing his "savior" cautiously.

"And who are you? His back up?" Asked Dante.

"Who, me? That's hardly the case." He said waving his hand down, "See, the only reason I saved him is because had I not, I'd be dealing with five of you instead of simply just one person. So instead, I'd rather he fight the other four while I have you to myself."

"Me..?"

Does that mean..?

"Like how this man behind me is here for the young girl…" he said raising up his right hand and pointing to Dante, "I'm only here for you, and you alone."

Dante raised up his sword and grasped it firmly with both hands, keeping his eyes focused on the Dragon Masked man.

"So now you know." He said before turning towards the scorpion tailed stranger, "You can do as you please with those children. So long as you don't interfere with my business, I won't interfere with yours. Do we have an agreement?"

"Hmmm… Well, alright then. I suppose I can agree to your terms. After all, this makes it much more simpler for me!"

He immediately dashed off towards Ruby and the others once again, prompting the young immortal to sprint forward after him. But he was immediately intercepted by his Dragon Masked foe, coming to a clash with him once more.

"Now now, where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Shut up and get out of the way!"

The Masked man quickly broke their clash and repeatedly struck at Dante, his slashes moving with lightning fast speed as he constantly pushed back Dante. The immortal had no room to attack, all he could focus on at the moment was blocking and parrying the incredibly fast swings trying to dice him apart, all while he quickly stepped back to prevent himself from being completely overwhelmed.

"Dear me, that's an impressive sword you have there!" Said the Masked man as he kept slashing at Dante, "I feel as though mine could break at any moment if I keep striking it against yours!"

At this point, the immortal wished that were the case, even if the probability of it happening was really low.

Eventually Dante was pushed into wall, ducking under a slash to his neck and clashing momentarily with his opponent before spinning around the corner of a building, ripping out a metal bar from the broken concrete wall and tossed it up as the Dragon Masked man rounded the corner. As he expected, his target slashed at the bar first, allowing Dante to move in quickly, duck under another slash, block the next one and deliver a kick to the man's abdomen to send him back a good distance.

Now they were back on even footing, exchanging blindingly furious blows with one another, their swords ringing out throughout the abandoned town.

In all honesty, the immortal knew he could be doing better. But at the moment, he was deathly afraid for his comrades. Yes, they've fought people like Roman Torchwick and the like and have gained much experience. But the Faunus attacking them wasn't Roman Torchwick. Torchwick was a bad thing, of that there was no question. But the one they were fighting against now...he was a worse thing. Far worse.

He saw them struggling in the distance. And the more they struggled, the more fearful for their lives he was.

"You should be focusing on our fight you know. Thinking so much about their probability of dying will only distract you."

"JUST SHUT UP! AND MOVE!" The immortal angrily shouted as white and black Aura raged violently from his blade.

With a now amplified swing, Dante spun his opponent around and unleashed a massive wave of his Aura against his target, sending both the wave and the Masked man into a building nearby with very explosive results.

As much as the teen wanted to immediately turn around and run towards Ruby and the others still battling the scorpion tailed man in the distance, he knew if the man wasn't dead from his last attack, he would leave himself exposed. And with the speed of his target, it was something he could easily take advantage of.

"My my… That was very dangerous…"

Hearing his voice call out from the clearing dust made Dante's eyes widen for a moment.

Of course he wasn't going to go down so simply… But what shocked Dante the most wasn't that he was still alive.

It was how very little damage his opponent took.

A few minor burns at best along his right hand, and minor damage to the sleeve covering his hand.

"But it was also very enlightening for me. I should deal with you now while I'm still able to." He then suddenly heard the voice of the Masked man directly behind him, a hand patting him on the shoulder, "Otherwise I might regret it later."

Dante immediately leapt away and spun around to face his opponent, clearly spooked by his enemy appearing behind him so suddenly.

When did he get behind me so quickly?! Did I get distracted for a moment and not notice him move behind me?! No..! I never took my eyes off him for a second..!

"Hmmm… What should I do next I wonder..?"

Dante took a cautious stance, but it was for naught, for the stranger was already directly in front of him.

"I think I'll just finish you off now."

The immortal made to swing his sword, only to have his guard broken and his right wrist pierced into the ground by the stranger's sword, also forcing him to the ground. Dante looked up to see the man reaching for Dante's Head with his free hand, but the teen raised up his left leg and pushed against the inner elbow joint, preventing the hand from reaching his head any further.

Now that the were in a standstill of sorts, the young immortal had time to look over towards Ruby and the others, seeing their fight fairing not so well either.

He saw the man exchanging a few quick blows with Ren and Nora before kicking them away once again, allowing him to use his tail to knock Crescent Rose down. Though surprised, Ruby didn't lose her grip on her weapon and began attacking the man as he attacked her in return, the two both attacking and missing each other until the man managed to kick Ruby backwards again.

He used his tail to go after Ren once again before finally kicking him away yet again and attacking Jaune next. The man darted and weaved between the knights attacks with superfluous ease, dodging each attack while dishing out damage to hm. He made sure to focus his attacks on Ruby whenever she attacked, moving in for any opening that presented itself.

Pushing back Jaune and Ren, the crazed stranger delivered a right hook to Ruby's face and a left blow to her torso, causing red shimmers of her Aura to appear on her head and chest respectively with each blow. He then turned and whipped his tail to knock Ruby backwards into the air, making her fly back several feet as he rushed forward to meet her before she landed. While Ruby was still midair, he kicked her directly in the abdomen, causing another red shimmer of Aura to appear over her abdomen and hips.

The man approached Ruby on the ground and raised his stinger, his eyes turning dark purple, all while Dante looked on in horror.

But he still had one free hand.

And so the immortal extending his hand towards Ruby, creating a barrier from his white and black Aura of tightly compacted hexagonal shapes, stopping the tail from striking Ruby. Still not done yet, Dante pointed his pressed together index and central fingers upwards towards the sky, commanding his barrier to disassemble and form four Aura Swords that pointed towards the scorpion tailed stranger, the swords then shooting forward and cutting the man in numerous sections of his body, forcing him away.

But it still wasn't enough to make him retreat.

Laughing, the man was about to strike with his scorpion tail...but it fell short of its intended target, crashing into a large sword of sorts. Any worry Dante had for Ruby immediately vanished within that instant.

Qrow Branwen had entered the fray, placing himself between Ruby and the crazed stranger, holding his weapon behind his back. And from what Dante saw, Ruby too was smiling.

Dante looked back to see his opponent distracted for a moment and decided to headbutt him, which worked in forcing him back a little as his longsword exited Dante's wrist. With room to maneuver, Dante flipped himself backwards whilst swinging up his right leg to deliver a kick to his enemies chin, sending him back a few feet while Dante stood standing once again.

The immortal quickly created an Aura Dagger and tossed it into the dirt next to Qrow, which allowed Dante to use his Embedded Shift to teleport to the dagger in a streak of white and black Aura.

Qrow finally pushed back the scorpion tailed Faunus' tail, allowing him to turn and face his niece's attacker along with Dante.

"Friends of yours?" Asked Qrow.

"You wish old man…"

Qrow only chuckled at the teen's reply.

"Jokes aside...that scorpion tailed lunatic said he was after Ruby… Is he one of those people you talked about?" Asked Dante in a low whisper.

"Could be… What's that guy's story?" Qrow asked nodding towards the Dragon Masked man as he approached them from the distance.

"No clue… But whoever he is, he's here for an entirely different reason compared to that guy. He said he was here for me. Qrow… Is there someone else out there with some sort of agenda? Like the person that freak belongs to?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, kid. As far as I know, there's only one group of people out there looking to cause trouble. Whoever that… What the hell kind of mask is that?"

"A Dragon I think?"

"Right… Whoever that Dragon Masked guy is, he's definitely got to be affiliated with someone else."

"Either way...you've got a lot of explaining to do." Said Dante as he readied himself once more.

* * *

 **(Omake: Deathakus, Destroyer of Worlds - by HydraFlow)**

Dante had very little to do on Sundays. Homework, training… All of that could be done during the week, after classes or even during them. That said, Sundays were still very productive for the monochrome warrior, often leading to trips to Vale to bask in the livelihood of the city and acquainting himself with its surroundings.

This Sunday was no different.

After buying some trinkets from a local knick-knack store, Dante waved the owner goodbye as he continued to trek down the street, looking for anything unusual to investigate.

It didn't take him long to find something.

Down a dimly lit alley to his immediate left, a small, almost inaudible mewing could be heard coming from an orange, slightly worn, dust-covered shoe box resting beside a dumpster.

"What's this?" the boy thought out loud, furrowing his eyebrows with concern.

Holding his carrier bag of souvenirs in his left hand, Dante slowly approached the box, bringing his right hand forward to open it and peer inside. Though, as he made to lift the lid, a tiny black paw darted out and minute, razor sharp claws scratched the back of his hand.

"Ah!" he cried, pulling his hand back in an instant.

The small cuts healed immediately and didn't really hurt him to begin with, but the attack sure as hell took him by surprise. Soon after, the box started making the small mewing noises that drew Dante near in the first place.

"You little devil…" he muttered, smirking all the while.

Whatever was inside wasn't asking for help or crying out for attention, it was baiting people into being scratched.

Smart move…

He had a feeling that he knew what was inside, but the boy's curiosity would not allow him to leave the matter untended, not until he saw it for himself. With a grin, Dante lightly scratched the side of the box, as opposed to trying to open it in order to lure the creature out. Naturally, the paw shot out again, only to find nothing in its mini path of destruction. The tiny appendage searched around for a bit, scratching at the side of the orange cardboard until a little head popped out.

Two black pointed ears sat on top of a small fluffy face as the creature, now identified as a kitten, looked around. Dante swooned, immediately lifting the lid off of the box and, much to its protest, lifted the little black kitten out of the box.

"What're you doing all by yourself, little buddy?" the boy asked, lifting the kitten a little higher to get a read on its gender.

He was male, and from Dante could tell, he had a lot of fight in him. The kitten kept squirming in his hands, using his little claws to take revenge upon the heathen that pried him from his castle.

Dante could only chuckle at his attempts.

"Well, I most certainly can't leave you here." he said calmly, watching as the kitten eventually ceased his resistance.

He gave the small creature's ears a scratch as he pondered what to do with him, though much to his surprise, the kitten seemed to enjoy it, quite contradictory to the small bout of defiance he gave Dante not five seconds ago. This egged Dante on further, lighting scratching the kitten's ears before moving on to stroke his tiny head.

They say black cats are a sign of bad luck, but Dante was convinced that his meeting with this one was no mere coincidence. Some cosmic entity had assured that his encounter with this kitten was sealed and thus, in that moment, Dante had made his mind up.

He was going to keep it.

But if he was going to keep it, he was going to have to name it too. There were many, many names that filtered in and out of his head. Some good, some awful, but none of them seemed to fit. And so Dante's fingers found their way to the kitten's belly, attempting to give it a rub before ultimately being assaulted again as he went deep into thought.

With a smile, Dante placed the kitten inside one of his front pockets, deciding that a name for the kitten will hit him eventually. So with a kitten in his pocket and his carrier bag of knick-knacks still held in his left hand, he stood up and continued on down the street, still deep in thought.

As his bright blue eyes glanced around the busy main road, they quickly fell onto an undertaker's workshop, unmarked gravestones advertised in the front window.

A rather grim reality, but these kinds of stores were rather common in a world as hostile and unforgiving as Remnant.

Then it hit him.

Death…

Dante glanced down at the kitten in his pocket with a wide smile on his face.

"Death!" he exclaimed, earning a few concerned stares from random passers-by.

When the kitten gave little to no response, Dante quickly recoiled as the reality that he had just yelled "death" outside an undertaker's workshop with a smile on his face in broad daylight crashed down upon him like a tonne of bricks.

"I guess that's not the name we're looking for, huh?" Dante murmured to the kitten as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

A small meow drew his attention back to the kitten. He was looking up at Dante expectantly, flicking one of his ears reflexively. The kitten outstretched his forelegs and lightly scratched his coat, meowing once more.

"What's this?" Dante murmured, "You like the name?"

The kitten's response was less of a yes and more of a so-so meow.

"Mr Death?"

Nope.

"Lord Death?"

Not happening.

"Grandmaster of the Dead?"

The kitten looked bored now.

Dante sighed before humming to himself in thought.

"How about… Deathukus, the Destroyer of Worlds?"

His question received somewhat of a positive response if the kitten biting at the fabric of Dante's coat could be considered a definitive answer. Dante then dropped his carrier bag, lifted Deathukus from his coat pocket and held him high in the air, despite the apparent dangers of doing so.

"From this day forth, you shall be known all across the land as Deathukus, the Destroyer of Worlds! The Ravager of Tuna! The Eviscerator of-!"

Dante was silenced by someone tapping him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, young man, you're disturbing the neighbourhood." spoke an elderly woman, around half the size of Dante himself.

Dante placed Deathukus back inside his pocket and picked his carrier bag up off of the pavement.

"I'm sorry ma'am, it won't happen again." the warrior bowed his head respectfully, earning a 'hmph' from the Valean citizen.

In spite of the commotion he had caused, Dante had finally found a name for his new feline friend, and many, many adventures awaited them in their journey.

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated 10)**

"Heya folks! I'm Ruby! And I'm all by myself today! Yay…" she spoke, moving from a cheery to dejected tone as she stared at the floor a few moments, "Anyway, Dante's a little busy right now, so it's up to me to cover this week's episode! Yeah!"

Ruby pressed a button on her remote that she held as a screen came down from the ceiling, the display turning on in a quick flash.

"So… Today we're gonna talk about a weapon belonging to royalty! But not just any royalty… Dark Entity royalty! Cool huh?! And what better way to start than with someone we all know! Um… His name is...uh… Rum? Rem? No… Oh yeah! His name is Raum! A Dark Entity belonging to the King Class of Dark Entities, the strongest of the strong! And his weapon is none other than DarkSeeker!"

What came into view on the screen was what looked to be a black, jagged longsword with dark green trimming and edges. The blade looked as though it had seen better days, but it's viciously jagged edge still functioned appropriately when fighting enemies. The last thing worth mentioning was the foot long chain link that came from the bottom of the flat pommel.

"Let's break down DarkSeeker then! First things first, from what Dante told me, the weapon is made from Calcified Steel, which if you remember, is really durable and flexible material used in the weapons for Dark Entities. And since Raum is a Dark Entity, he's able to channel his powers effectively and efficiently in comparison to using another weapon. But, here's the other cool part to it!"

Ruby now presented a photo of the weapon, where It's handle was greatly extended to about four feet, making the sword now look like spear.

"DarkSeeker can also transform into a spear that has extremely high penetrative capabilities! But that's not the only thing that makes it deadly! What adds to its deadly power is the fact DarkSeeker can duplicate itself up to ten times, which makes it extremely ideal for long range spear throwers. The only drawback to this is that it can't be duplicated again until nine out of the ten spears have been throw or used. That, and the duplicates are only half as strong as the original. And that's not all! When thrusting DarkSeeker forward, the blade point can detach and shoot forward faster than a bullet to catch enemies off guard by giving it a deceptive range."

The screen soon turned itself off and began retracting into the ceiling while Ruby stood at attention.

"That's all there is to it really. DarkSeeker isn't like our weapons on Remnant, where we use technology to build them, and is pretty much a magic weapon. Hehehe… You could say...it's a weapon fit for royalty."

Ruby was only meet with silence in regards to her bad pun, making her sigh sadly.

"Well, tune in next week for Semblance Encyclopedia with Ciel and Leo. Now...I'm gonna go de-stress… This week's episode was super stressful…"

* * *

 **Scorpions, Dragons, immortals, oh my! In one corner we have the maniac scorpion Faunus Tyrian Callows, and his temporary ally Dragon Masked man! In the other corner, we have the textbook definitions of badassery and coolness, Qrow Branwen and Dante! Who will come out on top?! Find out next week!**

 **Truthfully though, you've already seen the Dragon Masked already once before. Hmmm... I wonder where...**

 **Anyway, that's all for this week folks.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	26. Chapter 26: A Devil and a Puppet

**Heya everyone, back for another week. Was sick all last week, not to mention the battery of tests I had to take for school. It wasn't a fun week. Anyway, here you go, chapter 26. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 26: A Devil and a Puppet**

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The path through the forest had been long, and thankfully, uneventful. Dispatching Grimm wasn't an issue for Inuba. The fact of the matter was that she was by herself, and had been so for two days after splitting up with Dante and the others. Now and then she encountered a Grimm, and virtually annihilated them within a few seconds. But still...not seeing a face for a good while is a bit…

But despite not seeing others for some time, the kitsune was more concerned with Dante at the moment. He was still injured and...the other troubling thing she noticed some time ago. She never mentioned anything because she thought it would be impertinent of her to question whether or not if he was aware of his other situation.

The way that his Aura Reserves fluctuated could become a serious problem.

Inuba noticed this happening when she first reunited with him months ago. However, she made nothing of it at the time, perhaps but an error in her Aura Sensing. But traveling together for the past few months as they, the kitsune was able to accurately calibrate her Aura Sensing to measure the immortals Aura Reserves with stunning accuracy.

And the fluctuations...they were quite serious…

Certain intervals during the fluctuations dramatically increased his Aura Reserves, making him exponentially stronger. But there were times the fluctuations greatly decreased his Aura Reserves, severely weakening his abilities. On the immortals own, his physical abilities were a cut above that of any normal human or Faunus, even those of veteran Huntsmen and Huntresses.

However, physical abilities can't simply win all fights, not in this world.

Aura was an important tool when it came to fighting the Grimm, and especially other humanoid rogues. Without it, it would make a fight incredibly difficult, especially against experienced warriors.

From what Inuba could gather currently, Dante's Aura Reserves were stable for the moment. But...she could feel something else from him as well...

Their souls were linked and bound together. And because this was the case, the power they shared through each other made them stronger. Not only that, but they could feel one another's emotions clearly in some circumstances, as well as hear each other's thoughts. Sadly, after their link was disrupted, and even with it restored, she could feel almost nothing of the immortals emotions, much less hear most of his thoughts anymore.

It was clearly the same for him as well, otherwise he would know…

Inuba's fox ears flicked about suddenly, picking up noise not too far from her current location. She readied herself by letting her hand hover over the handle of her katana, her crimson red eyes scanning the area around her as she kept her ears open.

"It's just me."

The kitsune spun around and stared for a moment, relaxing her guard when she saw it was only the girl cloaked in white.

"Thank goodness… What are you doing here? Did you not say you were going to see if you could find anything on the towers?" Questioned Inuba.

"I am. Sort of. While the real me is here, I sent out an Echo Specter to do the search for me."

"Echo Specter..?"

"Do you remember how Dante's Shadow Skin used to look like?"

"Yes, virtually as it is called. A Shadowy second layer of skin."

"An Echo Specter is basically that, but a Shadowy projection. Through it, I can see what it sees and the like. It's basically a clone I control and share an extent of my abilities with. One of them being able to use my Presence Erasure ability."

"So you sent your Echo Specter to perform your search for you... But why are you here?" Inuba asked as both she and the cloaked girl continued throughout the forest.

"I thought it best to keep you company. It's just you out here and I can imagine it can be quite uncomfortable being alone. So I decided I would be your back up."

"Oh… Well, thank you then for your assistance. This will make things progressively faster."

"Indeed. By my estimation, we should be reaching the tower within two more days or so. Then, within a few days, you can be reunited with Dante again."

Saying this made Inuba's cheeks turn red for a few moments with the implications that were subtly made, fully aware that the cloaked girl was teasing her.

"Perhaps you'll have worked up some courage to confess to him?"

"That's-! I..!"

"Honestly, you make it too easy for others to pick you apart about the matter. Especially Ciel. It'd be best if you get it done and over with next time you see him."

"I understand, but…"

"No buts. You've waited too long. And frankly, you've earned your due. You're not taking no for answer."

"What of ms. Rose..?"

"You'll just have to have a sit down with her. That, or with Dante himself, and explain the situation surrounding you and him. Either way, he has a choice to make at the end of this. A difficult one, but he has to make the decision. So...when the time comes, make sure he chooses you."

"I can't just ask him to break up with the girl because I love him more. That would be-"

"Bad. That's understandable. But if you want what's supposed to be yours, you're going to have to be selfish, Inuba. Quite frankly, he shouldn't even be in a relationship with anyone else. Maybe if things with the fight against Aultus had gone better...you could be the one at his side right now… I'm sorry it didn't work out that way."

"You have nothing to apologize for… And...you are right. Had I been more selfish in the past…" The kitsune fell silent, her thoughts quickly racing about in her mind as she made her choice, and said "I won't back away. Not this time. I've gone through too much to just...let it all fade away…"

"So then...you're telling me you're not going to run away from it next time you see Dante?"

"I won't. It's time I start becoming more selfish and go after what I want, rather than let it escape me because of politeness. I've always been afraid that I would lose what I have with him forever. But I was always more afraid of wronging someone else and that he would hate me for it." The kitsune spoke as she stopped in her tracks.

The cloaked girl stopped as well, staring at Inuba and listening closely to her words.

"I was polite and bided my time, and...this may sound cruel...but...I was hoping something would be amiss to force him and the other person apart… The problem was, when it did happen, there wasn't ever a right time for it. But this time...I won't fail. I WILL get my feelings across to him."

"Glad to hear you're so resolved. It's going to be a bumpy road, but when is something like this ever not? Either way, make sure you live up to that promise." Said the cloaked girl as she continued forward.

Inuba began following behind her, quickening her pace to catch up to her.

I will keep to it. No matter the difficulty. I won't let there be a divide between us any longer. I've come too far to let him go. So this time...I will be the one who is standing at his side!

* * *

"What a pain in the ass…" Leo said with a sigh, walking along a side cliff in the rocky canyon he traversed, "Maybe if I ran the whole time, I would've been there by now. But that'd be too much work for me…"

Leonard wasn't one for long missions or ventures. If it was something short and simple, he'd have no problem and would make no complaints really. But he was already on a long venture to Haven as it was, and this side trip to go and investigate the towers was a nuisance.

Grimm were easy to eliminate, especially since he kept his Aura Sensing constantly on and pushed it outward in a five mile radius. As soon as he could determine accurately if it were a Grimm, all he had to do was take out one of his handcannons, part of his weapon pair Nuntius, take aim for a moment and pull the trigger. Within the next second, a bullet from his gun coated in a super high density beam of his white and black Aura shot forward like a laser, burning through just about anything that was unfortunate enough to get in its path.

However, there were some larger varieties of Grimm that were harder to kill, most notably DeathStalkers since they had thicker armor than the rest of the Grimm. At least, they have the thickest armor out of the Grimm he's seen.

Unfortunately, DeathStalkers seemed to be prominent in this area, which wasn't really surprising given the desert terrain. Even the smaller ones were a bit of an annoyance...

"I always get stuck with the annoying jobs… I got to talk about this with brother when I see him again…"

Leo stopped on his tracks and looked on ahead, feeling a small tremor in the ground. The whites of his eyes turned black, and his bright sky-blue irises a glowing white. Squinting with his now present Shadow Eyes, his vision focused in on the rumbling ahead, zooming in almost like a pair of binoculars.

"Beowolves again? Looks like some Griffons too… Not surprising, the forest area is a mile or so off to my side."

Leonard let out a sigh as he reached within the inner breast pocket of his white coat and slowly pulled out one of his Nuntius handcannons, the gun's base color a pure white with black trimming and intricate, wavy black patterns adorning the vertically wide barrels, the barrels themselves were a foot long each.

From anyone else's perspective, Leo had to look insane for shooting in front of him haphazardly without really aiming. But most people never really knew of Leo's abilities.

He shot in those empty spaces twelve times on purpose.

In those empty spaces where he shot, twelve small rings of white and black Aura immediately formed in front of him as he kept his gun raised and aimed at the oncoming flock of Grimm.

"Horizon of Subterfuge."

As soon as he pulled the trigger, the same twelve rings unleashed massive beams of white and black Aura, quickly closing the distance between Leo and his targets within a matter of seconds. The beams burned through the bodies of the Grimm with ease, passing through them and hitting any other Grimm rallying behind them. Large, burning white holes were present in their bodies as they collapsed into nothingness, glistening white embers rising up into the morning sky.

Leonard let out another sigh as he placed his handcannon back into his inner breast pocket and continued moving onwards.

"Maybe if I do run, I can get this done quicker and get back to brother. Then I can poke at Ciel with how slow she is."

He's known his sister for a very long time compared to their older brother, and he knew Ciel could be as lazy as he was, even lazier. It wouldn't be surprising if she was having difficulties, or would be the last to finish.

Leonard and Ciel had a bet before they parted ways along the road to their respective towers, the bet being whoever finished first not only gets bragging rights, but the loser can't play Phantom Souls for a whole week. And the twins enjoyed playing Phantom Souls more than eating. Though, eating wasn't a necessary thing to keep them alive. In any sense, the bet held much importance to them, and for Leonard, who didn't find much joy from various other aspects of life, Phantom Souls was the one thing he enjoyed doing more than anything.

Then again, the same could be said for Ciel.

"Damn… I should probably get this done quicker… Thankfully I have an advantage since Ciel can't teleport to a place she's never been to. And because of that, she can't easily teleport back to brother once she's done with her tower. It's about even for the two of us, but I can get this done quicker."

The other thing that most people didn't know, was that when Leonard was motivated to do something, he would dedicate all his time to getting it done, however long it took and by whatever means at his disposal.

Though currently, he had to put his "bet" on hold.

Along the path, he could feel more tremors. Although, they weren't coming from directly ahead of him. Bits of rubble from up top dropped onto his coat, prompting Leo to brush it off his shoulder as he looked up.

Explosive impacts. Steel clashing against bone.

Someone else was up there.

"I was pretty sure we were the only ones mental enough to be out here by ourselves... But from the sound of it, it might be a small group or just one person."

Leonard looked above, then looked ahead on the path he was already on. A few things were going through his head at the moment, but the main thing he thought about doing was to keep walking and leave whoever up there be. They sounded like they could handle themselves up there. But...there did seem to be quite a few…

Annoyingly so, he could hear his brother now…

"This is such a pain…"

Leonard lowered himself towards the floor, then kicked off it, leaping high up into the air up towards the top of the cliffside, where the battle was taking place. He noticed he was beginning to lose speed, so he quickly planted his feet on the cliffside, quickly running up its side while leaving behind trails of crackling white and black Aura until he made it to the final stretch and leapt above the cliff side.

Leonard's feet touched the earthy ground beneath him as he stood back up slowly, taking a quick glance around. Boulders and brick colored stony columns lined the plateau as far as the eyes could, only minor signs of desert vegetation and the like.

"It was about here, right? So where's..?"

The young immortal's question was answered when he saw some of those stone columns falling apart in the distance, dust kicking up violently into the air. His body blurred out in streaks of white and black Aura, reappearing behind a formation of boulders with a silenced noise resembling static.

He wasn't going to step in at first just in case whoever was fighting wasn't friendly and more of a rogue.

Out of the dust emerged the large stinger of a DeathStalker that was cut apart in numerous sections, the yellow glow in its stinger disappearing seconds later. But it didn't end just there. A whole slew of body parts came flying out of dust; legs, pincers, chunks from heads.

How many DeathStalkers were they fighting?

Another stinger came flying out from the dust and nearly hit Leo had he not ducked down and let the body part hit the top part of his cover and bounce off.

"How many are there? And what are they using to get through the armor to lob off all the limbs? It's almost impressive…"

Another earth shattering crash shook the ground, and the eviscerated corpse of a large DeathStalker flew out from the dust, skidding to a halt just as few feet away from Leo's position.

"Note taken… Do not mess with the people slaughtering those Grimm…"

But something was odd… It didn't sound like "people", but…

"One person..? That's…"

He wasn't going to say impossible. Many months now have taught him to exclude that word from his vocabulary. Anything in this world was possible.

A sudden shockwave rippled through the air, forcing away the massive dust cloud to allow Leonard to finally see the person that was fighting.

And he was mesmerized…

He saw a girl, about his age, who wore tight, black high-heeled kneehigh boots that went slightly over the top of her knees, and black thigh-high stockings that reached just slightly above her thighs. In addition, she wore a tight black dress with intricate white, wavy patterns woven around a small chest window to her rather...ample chest. The hem of her dress sat directly above her stockings, just a bit above the center of her thighs. Her dress also had tight sleeves that reached just below her elbows and spanned out into wide cuffs, almost like a kimono. She also wore white gloves that had black palm and finger fabric instead of white, like the majority of the her gloves.

Leonard took note that she stood as tall as he did, 5'9, but that was due to the four inches her heeled boots gave her, making her actual height 5'5.

The fabric of her dress covered her shoulders and reached upwards to cover only the base of her neck, where he looked up further and saw she had chin length, ash colored hair, nearly light gray, that was parted towards the left side of her face, almost like my brother. Those strands of hair that were parted to the left would have covered her left eye slightly if wasn't for the black hair clip keeping those strands up. Lastly, and probably the most interesting part of her apparel was the grey blindfold she wore with no free flowing strands, which made Leo curious as to if she were she blind. If so, she was a very impressive combatant.

The final thing Leo noticed was the weapon she was holding in her hand. It was a katana with a black colored blade that spanned four feet and was slightly curved. The oval shaped guard was colored white, as was the handle with a few black etchings, and was hollowed out at the center, leaving four prongs within the guard to hold it in place. At the butt of the handle was a black tattered ribbon of sorts, at least a foot long.

It was a fine weapon. Looked to be very sharp too.

There was also another weapon on her back that, oddly enough, floated in place, keeping in place just enough that it almost touched her back. That weapon was a Nagamaki, a katana-greatsword with a long handle. It's design matched her katana's design, color, guard, handle and all, minus the black ribbon. The only difference was that the blade of the Nagamaki spanned five feet, while the handle sat comfortably at two feet.

"Can she even swing that thing..?"

The mysterious girl's katana vanished in a flash of white Aura, swapping places with her Nagamaki while her katana floated centimeters from her back. Grasping her larger weapon with both hands, the girl quickly twirled around as the DeathStalkers moved in for the kill, thinking they had her surrounded. But they were foolish to think so.

She wanted them to surround her.

In a quick and deft display of badassery, the girl turned herself into a vortex of death, slicing apart the pincers, the stingers and heads of any scorpion Grimm that dared approach her, as if she were only cutting through jello.

A few remained leftover, one of them trying to take a stab at her with its stinger, only to miss and have the appendage sent upwards into the sky. As it backed away, the girl spun around a delivered a powerful side kick into the base of the stinger where she cut, and sent it flying into the mouth of one of the survivors.

She skipped backwards twice to avoid the quick swipes of one of the Grimm and leapt up to avoid the stinger, only to quickly descend upon her enemy and plunge her blade directly into its head. With the next one on approach, the girl tore upwards through the corpse of the Grimm she stood on and went up into the air with her weapon. She did a quick spin and straight tossed her Nagamaki into the head of the one approaching her, killing it in the process.

One of the last DeathStalkers ran up to her, and all the girl did was round kick the flat edge of the blade, sending it out the Grimm's body and spiraling into the face of the other. Even so, it still kept coming at her.

Leonard could hear her let out a frustrated sigh before she hopped of the body and ran straight for the creature as it approached her, angrily roaring. The girl slid under the creature, keeping on the sides of her feet and using the fingers on one of her hands to keep herself from completely touching the ground. Once she slid past, she spun sideways out of the way of the tail almost flattening her and somersaulted onto its head, soom kicking her Nagamaki free from its head as spiraled out of the corpse and planted itself into the ground, blade point first.

"Alright. She can definitely swing it. Seriously...what the hell is that the girl to have that kind of strength to swing a sword that big so quickly?"

The young immortal's head shifted to what lay behind the girl, seeing it was the DeathStalker she cut the tail off of a while ago. Given how quickly she just turned around, she too just noticed it, and with how quickly she moved, she more than likely would have gotten to her blade. But just in case…

Before the girl could think of taking a swing after grabbing hold of her Nagamaki again, she paused as she watched a blast of white and black Aura pierce into and out of the side of the already damaged head of the DeathStalker, it's corpse slumping to ground and beginning to evaporate into black mist once again.

Leonard approached from his spot of cover, keeping his gun pointed up towards the sky as he approached the girl. A good distance away from one another, Leonard stopped in his tracks and slowly placed his handcannon back into the inner breast pocket of his coat while the girl moved her large Nagamaki towards her back, letting it float behind her in place next to her katana.

"You're not in any database system around Remnant. Would you care to identify yourself?" She asked in a cool, collected voice.

"I'm just a simple traveler. I heard the commotion up here and decided to examine the cause of the noise and found you...eviscerating these Grimm. Impressively so might I add despite um…" he finished pointing to his face, realizing that was unnecessary.

"I'm not visually disabled. My eyes function perfectly well."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know, I just assumed-"

"It's alright, that's not important. I'll ask you again to identify yourself."

Leonard kept quiet for a moment, letting out a deep sigh before he gave his answer.

"I'm just simply Leonard. No last name."

"Alrighty then, Simply Leonard, what is your business out here in the wilds?"

"I could ask you the same thing, ms. ..?"

She hesitated for a moment like Leonard did just a bit ago, possibly for the same reason. Dante had once told Ciel and Leo that out in the wilds outside of a Kingdom, trust is important. But there is such a thing as trusting the wrong people and falling into trap that would be hard to get out of, if not impossible. It's why it was important to choose carefully and be wary of others, but not so wary that you completely avoid them. It was hard finding room to trust a stranger you only just met.

And from what Leo could tell, she was thinking really hard about whether to trust him or not.

"Bailey Lianna. I am out here performing a mission, Simply Leonard."

"Simply Leonard..?" He quietly asked himself before a thought ran across his mind, "Your mission wouldn't happen to be the tower a couple miles in that direction, would it?"

She seemed more attent now that he mentioned the tower.

"And what business do you have with the tower?"

"I was part of a group until a few days ago. We took note of the towers and were unsure of whether or not they were a threat, so four out of the five of us decided to split up and investigate a tower each. Our fifth decided to move on ahead and regroup along the road with another group of allies, which he more than likely has done so by now. Now then...what might your business be with the towers? Or at least, the one ahead of us?"

"Why assume my mission to be the tower?"

"The way you asked me hinted towards you having knowledge of those towers and a possible task in mind concerning them. Therefore, I would like to make a proposition, if you would entertain the idea."

"I'm listening…"

"It would appear to me that you and I have the same goal in mind." started Leonard, "As such, I propose that we should travel together for the time being. Strength in numbers as they say."

"Hmmm… You do seem to be a capable combatant given how you dispatched that DeathStalker. And having another ally could very likely help move this along at a faster pace…"

"Proposal: Bailey Lianna should accept Simply Leonard's proposition to join forces in order to increase the success rate and completion time of the current mission." Spoke a robotic voice that nearly sounded human.

From behind Bailey, Leonard saw something fly up near her left shoulder and float in the air. It was some sort of machine with a black metal body and white line highlights that pulsated every three or so seconds. The main shape of its body was like that of flat hexagon, only the rear portion was elongated by at least a foot into a fine spear-like point, giving it a total length of about nineteen inches.

On its front facing point, metal covered its entire top, forming an upwards and backwards slant in a diagonal formation before slanting back down towards the elongated rear point. It was there Leo saw more white, pulsating lines forming alongside the inner edges of its body. There was another v-shaped white line further inwards, which He assumed to be its "eyes" and how it could see.

On its underside near the sides with points where two robotic arms, each with three, flat finger-like appendages, two on one side, one on the other. It's circular "palms" seemed to have closed off gaps. What for though? More importantly…

"What on earth are you..?" The young immortal asked as he approached the small, floating robot as it floated directly toward him.

"I am Support Unit SOL 004 assigned to Bailey Lianna to provide different means of support on and off the battlefield." It replied to his question.

"Incredible… An AI Support Unit for usage out in the field…" Leonard said as he touched one of the Unit's arms, which surprisingly used its "fingers" to grasp a few of his own and shake hands with Leo, "Where exactly are you coming from ms. Lianna?"

"I'm curious to see what you might answer, Simply Leonard. So please, take a guess for yourself."

"Well, if I had to venture a guess… With technology this complex, you would have to come from Atlas, would you not?"

"Your answer is close. We're not located directly in the Kingdom, but hidden just a few ways away. You're able to keep silent and not disclose information, right? Especially since you and I will be working together for some time."

"Um, yes, absolutely!" He quickly answered, "Your secrets are safe with me and everything… Oh, uh, do I have to sign a confidentiality agreement, or..?"

She hummed briefly in humor as a smile formed on her lips, "I'll take your word for it, Simply Leonard."

"Proposal: Bailey Lianna and Simply Leonard should relocate to a safer area to further communicate and relay information between one another." Spoke SOL.

"I agree with SOL. I've been traveling through the canyon for some time now and noticed a large amount of DeathStalkers up above. It's why I relocated to the ledge path down below. There are a few more Grimm now and then, but they are of the lesser varieties. Small fry if you will. It is a lot safer."

"But a space like that would be enclosed and would leave very little room to escape, except for moving upwards on the wall like I assume you did to get here."

"That is true ms. Lianna, but I can easily dispatch them with my Semblance, which you caught a brief glimpse of. The tighter the space, the deadlier it is for my enemies."

"I see… That's useful information…"

"Um… We can discuss about ourselves further in a little while. Perhaps now would be an opportune time to leave while we can?"

"Agreed." Bailey said nodding towards Leo, "SOL, keep a constant five mile radius scan for both Grimm and other human or Faunus life forms."

"Affirmative."

"Now then, shall we be off, Simply Leonard?"

"Y-Yes... Absolutely."

For some strange reason, Leonard felt a form of joy come over him. Was it because he had a new ally to work alongside of out in the wilderness? More than likely. But...he did have a bit of problem on his hands.

He had to figure out a way to stop her from calling him Simply Leonard.

* * *

"Haven?"

"Yes. One of my brother's colleagues uncovered information directing him to Haven Academy. Thus, from the outskirts of Vale, my brother traveled with his partner for months, and met my sister and I along the road. Ever since then, we've been traveling together."

For some time now, Leonard and Bailey had continued onwards through the canyon together with SOL floating at Bailey's side. Few Grimm had attacked now and then, but it was nothing the two couldn't handle with their combined might.

"What about you ms. Lianna?"

"Me?"

"You said you came from near Atlas yourself. Is all going well at the moment?"

"I wouldn't say 'well', but matters could be worse. Just last week they closed off the borders and enacted a Dust embargo in an attempt to facilitate lesser resources and materials that would be stolen for usage by whatever enemy plans to attack next."

"Hmmm… They are acting cautious, but perhaps too cautious. Maybe a few restrictions here and there, but to enact an embargo and close off the borders entirely? That seems a bit extreme."

"Atlas takes threats very seriously, and their safety just as sternly. Of course, they also have to make face when concerning other Kingdoms."

"I do have one question though, ms. Lianna."

"Bailey."

"Hmm?"

"You can drop the formalities and call me Bailey, Simply Leonard."

"Uh… Right…" he said with a hint of dejection in his tone, "Bailey then. I, uh, meant to ask if you were perhaps working with the Altesian Chain of Command since, well, operations like this are more or less along their...thing."

"I don't operate under Altesian Chain of Command, rather our own form of operations. In a sense, we're not based with Atlas, but we do work with them time to time."

"Is Atlas aware of the towers?"

"I would assume not since the towers are only visible throughout this part of the continent under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Mistral."

"Wait...do you mean to tell me that the towers are only visible within the space they formed?"

"That's right. Anyone outside of the space won't be able to see the towers at all. We were lucky to take notice after we sent a recon drone on a path to Vale to assess their current situation and see how much progress has been made in recovering the city. That was when we caught wind of one of the towers, and the drone identified three similar structures."

"Have your sources been able to identify the functions of the towers at all?"

"Negative:" replied SOL as he floated in between the two now, "External recon drones were sent to further analyze the structures. Further details unknown."

"Unknown..? Did you lose the drones?"

"We completely lost connection to them. The last thing the drones were able to pick up was an internal personalized network in each, but any attempts to penetrate the network were completely halted." said Bailey.

"Interesting… A personal network cut off from the rest of the Kingdoms… And sophisticated enough to block out any hacking attempts from the outside…" Leo stated as he raised a hand to his chin, "In any sense, we have no idea why the towers are there and if they're meant to incite hostile conditions. Attempting to disrupt the shared CCT network between the Kingdoms would be an illogical play since the entire network went down with the collapse of Vale's tower. And it wouldn't be right to assume the towers are in place to restore the network through the kindness of a unknown benefactor…"

"Especially considering communications between the Kingdoms still haven't been restored. In fact, the closer the drones got to the tower, the weaker their transmission signals were until they completely cut out."

"So a means of jamming signals as well… I'd have to venture a guess that whatever someone is up to, they certainly don't wish to have prying eyes upon them. What could they be possibly doing..?"

"Alert: Enemy forced detected five hundred meters ahead from current position." SOL said notifying the two.

"Grimm..?" Bailey asked as she looked to her floating robotic companion.

"Negative. Signals detected ahead are unknown."

"Unknown as if you're not sure they're human or Faunus? Or..?"

"Unknown." SOL replied to Leo.

"Right then… Let's check it out."

The duo quickened their pace along the ledgeside cliff, Leo following close behind Bailey as he attempted to keep his eyes focused directly ahead, given that his new allies' skirt was moving upwards considerably. And so to keep his mind off it…

"If I may Bailey… If you aren't blind, then why are you wearing that blindfold?"

"Have you heard of VISR blindfolds?"

"VISR..? Now that you mention it, I actually have. Is that what your blindfold is?"

"Yes. VISR Systems recently created a new type of Visor Display Unit in a more compact and less obvious form."

"When you say less obvious, I assume that means these weren't contracted to other companies and the like, not even to the Altesian Military."

"Correct. We kept it strictly within our own organization and circulated it amongst our forces personally. Our Tactical Blindfolds display everything such as our personal health levels, weapon reserves, etc."

"A personalized HUD compacted into a blindfold. Clever."

"Simply Leonard, prepare to jump!"

The young immortal snapped to attention and followed after Bailey as the both leapt off the canyonside cliff, soaring through the air as they fell towards the forest below them. Bailey kicked off of any trees she came into contact with until she reached the ground, while Leonard killed some of his momentum by stretching out his arms until he grabbed hold of a large branch, spun around a few times to further slow his momentum until he let go and landed on the ground near Bailey with a silent thud.

From there, they silently moved through the forest, seeing rays of light peeking in from a clearing in the distance, but stopping short of it instead of moving through, hiding behind the trees. It was down below in a large ravine that Leo saw something very surprising.

"What on earth..?! Altesian Knight 200's?! But those are the newer models Atlas put out months ago before Vale fell… What are they doing so far out here?!"

"Alert: No recent deployments of AK 200 Units have been confirmed by Altesian Chain of Command. Enemy Units detected below." SOL stated as he looked over the field.

"How odd… SOL, why are they popping up as enemy units on our radar?" Bailey asked.

"Analysis: Mechanized Units below posses unknown foreign signals separate to that of known Altesian standard programming for the AK 200 Units."

"So they've been hijacked and repurposed… There has to be at least fifty units down below, possibly even more as we continue onwards. How could anyone have gotten their hands on this many?"

"It would actually make sense." Bailey stated as she presumably kept her eyes on the field, "After the attack on Beacon and Vale, retrieval Units were sent to reclaim all shutdown and dismantled AK 200 Units, but before the retrieval crews could even begin, all the salvageable and disabled Units had already been removed from the Academy and around the city."

"These must be the missing Units then… How many were deployed in Vale?"

"Over a thousand, by General Ironwood's report." Bailey answered.

"Proposal: Unit Bailey Lianna and Simply Leonard should attack the enemy encampment and gather data from the fallen Units."

"Hmmm… Fifty units shouldn't be a problem…"

"That, and their targeting arrays aren't superbly accurate as Atlas would have you believe. If you're fast enough, you can easily get around their lines of sight and eliminate them."

"My speed isn't something I need to question." Leonard spoke as he whipped out both handcannons that formed his weapon pair Nuntius from their individual breast pockets inside his coat, "However...are you able to keep up?" He asked Bailey with a cheeky smile.

"I know how to fight, Simply Leonard."

"Right. I'll take the first row. Please take the back row and work your way up to me."

"Understood."

Leonard was the first to leap off the cliff and land in front of the black and silver colored AK 200 Units, all of them turning around to train their assault rifles on Leonard.

"Intruder detected. Identify yourself."

The young immortal smirked as he held both handcannons raised, thinking of something his older brother would say.

"None of your damn business from the country of who the hell cares."

"Error, no name-"

Before the android could speak another word, Leo pulled the triggers on his handcannons and fired into the crowd of androids, beams of white and black Aura mowing down crowds of the androids one after the other, their armor charred and melted within an instant upon contact. Of course, they fired back.

But it did them no good.

Leo dodged back and forth far too quickly for their fire to catch him, but what made them troublesome was the combined fire. It didn't matter if they hit him, but what would he say to Bailey? It's a fact that Dante, Ciel, and Leo himself never used any form of Aura Shielding to protect their bodies, there just wasn't any need considering their bodies regenerated from any injury they sustained.

The potential consequences to this was those around them finding out about their immortality, and with such information in hand, people would react in all sorts of different manners, good or bad. But Dante had taught Ciel and Leonard something valuable to cover up their immortality.

Whenever injured, they could specifically halt their healing of their wounds on the surface and heal deeper within the wound to avoid any detrimental side effects. That, and he had instructed them on how to properly act out "faking being injured". It was definitely something to have handy in case of injury amongst other persons unaware of their immortality.

More importantly, Leo had their attention on him, which allowed Bailey to slip in from behind through coverage of the forest. When she was certain no one's attention was at the back, Bailey grabbed hold of her Nagamaki, brought it across her body with both hands and swung outwards as she let go. The massive katana blade rapidly spun around in the air, boomeranging and slicing into the first row of the dozens of Androids in the back before her weapon returned to her grasp and floated behind her once again.

It was at this point she drew her normal katana and charged in from behind, quickly cutting through the masses with artful, graceful slices, almost as if she were dancing. Leo adjusted his targeting so that he could avoid Bailey altogether, even shot in alternate directions of her path.

Leonard left the last few to Bailey, who quickly sliced them to bits considering they had no option to turn around and attack her with their thinned out numbers, not with Leonard at the front blasting them to pieces. One of them did however attempt to turn around and shoot her, but Bailey was far quicker, and sliced its lower half off before performing a quick twirl of her sword and stabbing its head into the ground.

The red light coming from its visor flickered briefly before completely shutting off, the mechanical body now completely motionless.

* * *

"Report: No enemy units remain within the scannable vicinity. Data retrieval now recommended." SOL spoke on his mechanical voice as his small robotic body floated near Bailey.

Leonard stepped carefully around the robotic bodies, keeping his guns out to be cautious just in case. He stood behind Bailey, and soon averted his eyes to the side when he saw something he shouldn't. From the corner of his eye however, he saw Bailey raise up the left arm of one of the AK 200 units, one of which had a sleeker, more armored design compared to the rest of them.

"Altesian Knight units tend to contain their data in their left hands or arms. It's perfectly fine to destroy the bodies, just remember to keep their left hands intact."

"I'll keep that in mind from now on…" Leo softly replied as he pocketed his guns.

"SOL, can you hack into it and see if there's any relevant data pertaining to the towers?"

"Affirmative." Spoke the little Unit as a cone shaped light emerged from its Visor, moving up and down the arm, "Scanning: …"

Leonard wasn't one for hacking. It just took too long. Not that he couldn't do it, it was just annoying and too much work. If he had a nifty little partner like SOL though…

"Report: Signals transmitted to the fallen AK 200 Units are confirmed to be originating from the tower closest to our current position."

"Anything on the signal itself?" Asked Leonard.

"Negative: Attempted analysis of signal has been blocked by the source."

"Any other information?" Bailey asked.

"Affirmative: Data retrieved from this Commander Unit correlates with data on the acquisition of these Units. These Units were then reprogrammed with the signal emerging from the tower."

"You were right then. Whoever made the towers is responsible for cleaning out the AK 200 Units from Beacon and Vale." The young immortal said to Bailey as he gave a once over of the battlefield, "More importantly, is there any data that hints at using these Units as an invasion force? Perhaps to target Mistral?"

"Negative: Enemy Units retrieved were meant to be repurposed as defense Units around the tower or within its vicinity while business within the towers can be conducted in peace."

"Anything on what they might be doing in the tower?"

"Negative."

Leo let out a sigh as he crossed his arms, thinking as he looked around. He took into account that there were four towers, yes, but what was important was their function, their purpose. What could they possibly be doing within the towers that requires them to steal Atlas Military Combat Androids? And was there any meaning behind there being four towers?

"Wait…" started Leo in a soft voice, "The tower we're currently heading towards, what's its significance compared to others?"

"Scanning: … Scan complete. Tower identified as central hub of operations and origination of the signal."

"Then I was right to come in this direction first… This is good news, Simply Leonard."

"Or unfortunate." He stated bluntly.

"How come?"

"Think about it. The enemy's main base of operations is the one we're targeting first. We don't even know that the other three towers are for, or how important they can be in regards to the Main Tower."

"They could be just Hubs in order to spread the command signal to other stolen AK 200 Units near the other towers." Bailey quickly replied.

"Could be. Or they could be manufacturing factories for more Units. Perhaps they might even have a hazardous effect on the the environment. But the main thing to take note of is if that is indeed the Main Tower, the majority of enemy forces will be focused there. And I doubt all that we'll be running into is simple AK 200 Units. Perhaps we might face other mechanical Units. And more than likely we'll be seeing Grimm along the path and near the tower."

"No one said this would be an easy mission, Simply Leonard. I'm aware of the risks involved and the potential enemies that may come our way. But that changes nothing. If anything, this mission became a lot simpler."

"What do you mean?"

If anything, it would only increase in difficulty.

"I have you, don't I?"

Leonard's heart virtually skipped a beat when he heard her say that.

"W-Well… P-Partnering together certainly has raised our chances of success by a significant amount…"

"Then there's nothing to be concerned about, is there?"

"I...suppose not… But you should know, now that you are my ally, your life takes the highest priority. I won't allow you to needlessly put yourself in danger, nor charge in recklessly."

Leonard only now realized the alternate connotations behind his words and turned his head away from Bailey, keeping his eyes glued to the floor.

"Alright then, Simply Leonard. We'll do things your way as we go on through the mission. If you have suggestions on how to approach the enemy and combat them, I will gladly listen. But the mission matters just as much, and we can't afford to move at a leisurely pace."

"I understand." He said glancing at her once more, "It'll be dark soon. We should find a place to set up camp for the night before continuing onwards in the morning."

"You can keep going, can't you?" Bailey asked.

"I can. But it's preferable if we don't wander out at such hours. Hence why we'll make camp for the night in a suitable location. Then...we pick up where we left off in the morning."

* * *

 **(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning, by Xera Stark)**

«»

Skyla Xerious was a girl of simple tastes.

She had an elegant, smaller frame, brown hair that went halfway down her back. It was styled with light purple highlights, of course, even through her side bangs that came down on the left side of her face.

A black crop top captured it nicely beneath her jacket, something that'd ordinarily expose her pale shoulders. Her black jacket had its sleeves rolled up to her elbows, thin bundles lacking any kind of bulkiness due to the thinner material of the clothing.

The tail of her jacket fell near where her shorts ended, length falling just slightly past them. She thought it made her look cool, but it was also just her preference to have a tail.

Her shorts were black, the material fading down to a deep purple before falling further into black tights and similarly colored combat boots. A white wide scarf lay delicately around her neck, its ends frayed while the article lay wrapped in a style to rest the majority of its soft cloth on her chest.

It was an ombre scarf with triangle-like ends, a look she pulled off nicely.

Plus, whenever she pulled the cloth up over half her face like a bandana, it helped her enter serious mode too.

She really was a girl of simple tastes, though.

She liked vanilla ice cream. It was her sister's favorite. She liked cookies and cream ice cream. It was her own favorite.

She liked talking to animals that couldn't talk back, she liked playing with kids who wouldn't remember her, she liked climbing trees too big for others to reach, she liked swinging from high places when others like to be grounded.

She liked a lot of things.

Someone once told her ice cream came from space.

She believed them.

Because it was more fun to believe the funny tale than it was to question it. She found it fun. Mining units in space that carved ice cream from passing comets? The no temperature void of space? The preserved creaminess of her favorite treats?

The delicious destruction of the dinosaurs in the prehistoric era?

What wasn't there to love?

She even-

Something hard bopped the poor girl's head hard enough to send her to the ground, landing with a harsh bounce onto her rump after the offending assault.

"O-owwww… who put you there?"

Deep purple aura sheened over her skin as she rubbed her head, glancing up through her brown bangs to see the corner of a brick wall staring right back at her.

So she stared back.

The staring contest lasted for about a minute before Skyla won.

With the brick wall admitting defeat, the girl popped back to her feet and brushed herself off. Now with a bit more carefulness in her step, she moved on.

After all…

Skyla Xerious was a girl of simple tastes.

She hated walls. She hated them ever since she was a little girl.

They put up barriers between people, further divided friends when they needed to come together, cut people off from the rest of the world, split nations when they could've conjoined.

She hated a lot of things.

Somebody once told her walls were evil.

She believed them.

Because she hated walls too.

But that stupid wall that came out of nowhere certainly wouldn't ruin her day! Nuh uh, not today! She was a girl on a mission!

Not a mission of kittens and rainbows, that was yesterday! Today, she had one goal to achieve!

Fly-! Wait, no, that was tomorrow.

Today, she planned the best of plans, the most awesome of awesomes, the biggest of the big, _she_ , Skyla Xerious, was going to-!

Who put that hole there?

Skyla glanced down to see a significant lack of any ground, tilting her head quizzically as she floated there for just a brief second before realizing gravity was a thing that reality did.

"What if I just don't believe in gravity?" she questioned herself, still floating there, "No. That wouldn't make any sense."

And then she fell.

She fell with grace. She fell like an angel.

She screamed and flailed all the way down.

It took an hour of falling before she realized the blackness around her was starting to get further and further away.

When she turned to look up, twisting herself in the air, she noticed the hole above her wasn't there anymore.

"Kansas, noooooo!" she reached out into the blackness behind her falling form, "I don't wanna talk to a bunny who can talk back or run around on yellow-brick roads! I don't want my own Mad Hatter or red shoes!"

A moment of realizing struck Skyla in the form of a lightning bolt in the blackness, a passing thought gracing her mind as her body convulsed in electricity.

"I take it back!" She whirled around again as the trailing strands of her hair and scarf smoked, "If there's ice cream, I'm there!"

The blackness eventually folded away like waves dispersing before a robed man's stick, her eyes shining in blinking stars that burned to life all around her as she fell through the wormhole in time and space.

A new divide split far beneath her, a line of white light that quickly grew too blinding to even look at.

And before she knew it… it engulfed her and her entire surroundings as she fell leagues below the surface of her reality.

Space itself warped and bent, time itself clinging to her clothes with cold tingles against her pale skin as the empty air passed over her.

Nothing felt normal here.

And as the lids of her eyes flared and burned beneath the consuming white light, she felt wind for the first time.

Wind and natural air hit her as subtly as a nosediving airship, ripping into both her lungs and whipping coat as she took a deep inhale.

The blaring white went away from her closed eyes, sound coming back to her ears as she felt and heard a new atmosphere tugging at her body.

Skyla eventually opened her teary eyes, blinking away the bleariness as a sea of golden clouds swirled and fluttered far beneath her.

She couldn't help but gawk in awe at the sight, the sun filtering brightly against her joyous face far to her right in a magnificent sunrise.

Everything looked so beautiful from up here.

She couldn't remember the last time she was in the sky this high.

Ah, that reminded her. She needed to ask Xera for a ride at some point.

Blake's been silently asking for rides all the time from him, so it was only fair to share.

Wait, no, Blake was talking about a different ride.

She took that back! She didn't mean it!

She just wanted a thrill- no, wait! She just wanted to be taken to cloud nine- no, even worse!

"Kill me before I have more bad thoughts!" she whined into the chilled air of the upper atmospheres, gliding down through a split in the puffy clouds to see a spanning forest come into view far beneath her.

Her plea to the gods came in the answer of a Nevermore swooping in from the side, threatening to consume her in one fell strike.

She was ready to embrace it.

But as time slowed in front of her eyes and the bird's wings fanned out menacingly behind it, talons outstretched in an intimidating reach for her midsection, she watched as the gleam in its eyes died as quickly as a random bolt of lightning from Zeus above tore the creature in half.

"W-why?!" she wailed, falling ever faster toward the ground, "Smite _me_! Me! Not _it_!"

The tree canopy slapped her in the face when sure turned to face the ground again, leaves parting out of the way of her plummeting body to reveal the ground just beneath their branchy covering.

And just like an angel face-planting into the ground with the grace of a falling tractor trailer, Skyla face-planted into the ground with the grace of a falling tractor trailer.

"G-good… to see… y-you… too… g-ground…" Skyla muttered, her body splayed out painfully and flatly against the dirt as she muttered into a tree's root, "A-always there to… catch me…"

"S-skyla?!"

A familiar voice struck an even more familiar chord in Skyla's awareness as she shot up to attention, whirling around to face it, "Ciel?!"

"What are you doing here?! Wait! How did you get here?! This is my reality!" Ciel tackled Skyla to the ground, the two rolling through the nearest tree before stopping with a slide into the middle of a nearby grassy clearing.

The girl against the ground couldn't help but smile as her purple eyes shined brightly beneath the other girl's white hair, "I fell in a hole."

"You fell in a… what?" Ciel's gaze grew as confused as it was happy, only for realization to strike her with the force of a falling tree, "Gosh dangit! Dante's stalker must've sneezed again!"

Somewhere far away, a short girl in a white cloak sneezed at the mere mention of her name.

"Someone talking about me?" she wondered to herself, Dante still in her line of sight as she hid in the crowd.

She glanced up for a moment as the distant voice of someone else falling through a hole in space echoed out across the realities, then shrugged her shoulders and re-cloaked herself.

"It's probably nothing to worry about."

* * *

 **Semblance Encyclopedia 10**

«»

"Llllllllllllllllladies and gentleman, boys and girls, welcome to the most amazing after-show special in the entire universe!" shouted Ciel as fireworks went off on the large digital display behind her.

"Our tenth showing of Semblance Encyclopedia. Can you believe it that we made it this far?" Leonard asked as he took his place next to Ciel.

"Well duh, of course we're still airing! Its totally because we're the best of the best out there when it comes to explaining things."

"Yes... Things..."

"Anyway, who's the lucky duck today that we'll be picking apart?"

"A familiar face in fact."

"Really? I mean, we don't know too many people, so..."

"Alright youngsters, make way."

"W-What?!" both twins shouted as they leapt backwards slightly away from the pooling mass of black and dark green Aura that formed on the floor.

From it, Raum, one of the four Dark Entity Kings, emerged upwards through the mass with his arms crossed, staring out into the audience until he was fully through.

"Oh great, it's you." Ciel said with a roll of her eyes.

"Silence you factoring hectopascals! I'm not letting you screw things up the way radians like you can potentially do!"

"What language is he speaking even?"

"He's taken the time to learn highly advanced mathematics recently." Leo answered.

"Oh... Right. Alright pi-face, why don't you give us and the rest of a students a lesson before class is dismissed today?"

"Gladly. Now-"

Before the Dark Entity spoke another word, his hood came down, and sat upon his shoulders was the cute and fluffy wolf Faunus Irene, hands triumphantly raised in the air as she made her trademark "hmph!" noise.

"You're going to visually demonstrate for me while I talk?" he asked as he got a rapid nod and affirmative "hmph!" noise twice, "Alright then. Do your best."

Ciel and Leo sat down in seats off to the side, eagerly watching as to how this would unfold.

"Maybe we should bring Irene back onto the show more often..." Ciel whispered, Leo nodding his head side to side as if he were in half agreement.

"It's simple to understand, so pay attention closely." Raum said as Irene glanced ahead, pointing her finger, "My Semblance is called Devil's Raise, and what it does is it fully counters an enemy's Magic, Dust, or Aura related attacks."

Irene made a hand motion where her right hand crashed into the palm of her left, remaining completely frozen until Raum's next part of the explanation.

"Devil's Raise isn't simply a defensive blocking mechanism. As I explained, it serves as a counter. Which means when I counter the attack with a defensive counter-attack of my own, I reflect the attack back at the opponent full blast."

The little wolf Faunus girl then spread put her hands making a "kapew!" noise, her tiny fingers wiggling around to emphasize the scale of the "explosion".

"That's not the only thing however. I can choose to send the attack 'back' at the enemy with the same amount of power it was used to attack me, but I can choose to double the power of the returned attack to make it even stronger. That's why the stronger the enemy, the better this Semblance works." he explained as Irene held up two fingers to visually represent the doubled attack power.

"It's clear now why brother had so much trouble fighting you in the past." Leo stated as he rose from his seat, "The majority of his strongest attacks were Aura based after all... If I recall, there is a weakness to your Semblance to some degree."

"Yeah... If I can't see the attack at all, be it because the attack is out of my field of view or that it was moving too damn fast to track, then Devil's Raise won't work." said Raum as Irene made an x-formation with her tiny arms and shook her head slowly with a soft hum.

"Alrighty, thanks for being here I guess! And explaining your Semblance with your adorable assistant who you should keep bringing along!"

"That's if there's more to add in the future."

"You could just drop her off with us."

"Leave her by herself with you two? Not a chance." Raum said, quickly denying Ciel.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Letting Ciel and Raum have their arguement, Leonard stepped in front of them and said "That's all for this week everyone. Stop by next time for Weapons Illustrated."

"Later peeps!" Ciel managed to muffle out as she was having the sides of her cheeks stretched out by the Dark Entity.

* * *

 **Anyway, that's all for this week folks.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	27. Chapter 27: A Tall Dragon and a Little

**Chapter 26: A Tall Dragon and a Little Devil**

«»

Deep within a forest heavily wooded with hundreds upon hundreds of tall, sturdy trees, a Beringel missing its entire lower half used its massive arms to claw itself away from the battlefield of smoldering, black dust, the remains of its brethren filling the morning sky in profuse amounts. It was the only survivor of the very short battle not a few moments ago.

But that was about to change.

The creature froze when it saw its doom slowly walking towards it, the world growing darker with each step she took. It bided its time, hoping it would catch her off guard when readying herself for the final blow. Those moments of arrogance, when a Huntsmen or Huntress has dealt a Grimm a mortal blow, and would finish the creature off, is when they are vulnerable, as any other being would assume when their foe is at their knees.

However, this young girl was far smarter than the creature.

Just as she stood before it, read to kill the beast, it did as expected and swung its massive arm with great speed, sure of itself that it hit the girl. But it felt nothing. The last thing it did feel however was a foot forcing itself down on the back of its head.

And so Ciel crushed the skull of the mighty Beringel as if it were a mere balloon, it's head Simply vanishing under the intensity of her stomp, the ground forming numerous cracks as black blood seeped into the earth, the creature's body soon vanishing immediately after in a cloud of black dust.

Ciel let out a sigh as her scythe, Praenuntius, vanished in a burst of white and black Aura, kicking away the last remains of the slain Beringel as she continue her path through the forest.

"Fifth Beringel today, and this one was dumber than the previous three…"

The young girl had encountered one Beringel and a pack of ten Beowolves within the early morning before the sun rose over the mountain and slew them with ease. Just now, she killed not only one Beringel, but two of them and a pack of twenty Beowolves.

"Well, I am pretty strong…" Ciel stated as she slapped one of her biceps lightly as she flexed.

In terms of raw, physical strength, Ciel was by far stronger than both her brothers, but her precision wasn't as top quality as theirs. However, she did make up with it with her speed, which mixed with her freakish strength, made the young girl a terrifying foe. And this was by natural means as well without usage of her Semblance.

Ciel has suddenly tilted her head to the side with a questioning hum, looking up into the trees. She couldn't entirely spot what caught her interest, but she had an idea where it was. Leaning down, the young girl picked up a baseball sized rock, tossing it up a few times before standing in a pitcher's pose before unleash her fireball throw. The rock cut through the air with blinding speed, phasing through the tree line and soon into the sky as the corpse of a Beowolf fell out from the cover of the tree's massive branch.

"Ha, suck it scrub."

Before Ciel had moved on, she used her toes to flip over the slowly fading corpse of the creature to see her rock had hit its mark; straight through the forehead of the Grimm.

"Dead center beeotch." She said before continuing her way through the forest, "Man, I should play baseball or something. Then again, if I did, I wouldn't be having as much fun as I do with Foxy and my broskis."

She let out a sigh from the thought of her baseball career ending just as soon as it began.

Ciel didn't enjoy baseball too much either way.

She did however enjoy time with her friends and her brothers, but she also enjoyed poking fun at them time to time. Especially Inuba.

Particularly Inuba.

If anything, her venturing alone for the past three days gave her insight.

 _Traveling alone sucks. More than… Actually, I'm not finishing that thought._

Shrugging her shoulders, she stopped in front of something that caught her interest. It looked like a symbol of sorts resembling…

"A lizard? Oh, I know! A Gecko! No no, wait, a chameleon! No no no, wait… A dragon! Definitely a Dragon!"

Though Ciel knew not what the symbol stood for, she ventured a guess that she might have been walking into the quote unquote den of the dragon, especially since the inner part of the forest further in was blanketed in a thick fog.

"Yup. Totally nothing nefarious in there."

Was she planning to go on further ahead?

"I'm gonna dive in there with no idea of what might be in there."

She was.

With no concept of danger in mind, Ciel skipped ahead into the thick fog deeper within, humming a tune to herself as she entered into a narrow pathway of ruins. A few moments in, she stopped, as if remembering something, that something being wise words her older brother Dante once spoke.

"You may be immortal, but you can't just recklessly run about into traps and the like as you please. You'd be surprised what can still affect you. And especially don't charge in recklessly when you have a team with you."

But she was going solo at the moment, so she could afford to move about recklessly.

"Ugh… For as smart and cool big brother is, he's still a bit of pain in the ass when it comes to all these 'lessons' and 'rules' and the like. Then again...he's taking his role as a big brother seriously. Like über seriously. Can't really blame him." She spoke with a smile on her face, "He does care way too much."

The young girl stopped as soon as she heard a clicking mechanism shift underneath her feet, and looked down to see her foot sinking slightly into the ground with a tile.

She saw all of the Montana Jones films way too many times to not know what was going to happen next.

"Crap…"

Looking ahead of her, she could see a whole row of ten spears emerge from the floor of the narrow forest pathway every point two five seconds, quickly making its way to her.

"Oh, that isn't so bad."

Then ten spears emerged from the left side wall and the ceiling of the narrow ruins in unison with the ground spears.

"I really need to shut my stupid mouth."

The wall of spears approached her quickly, leaving only a small space of escape towards the bottom right. Directly behind that wall, another wall of spears emerged almost immediately, only the arrangement was different, being that there was only escape through the gap on the top left side.

It didn't take all too long for Ciel to notice the patterns in the arrangement. But she didn't have time to ponder. She had to move.

And she did, for she slid under the bottom right corner before twirling herself left and jumping through the open gap up top, sliding under another gap before continuously twirling herself left and under the bottom right gap. This process of graceful dodging continued for another minute, until finally she leapt through a top right gap, bounced off the wall before the spears emerging from it got her, and landed at the end of the hall of spears feet first, hands raised in the air triumphantly.

"Perfect ten! Oh yeah!" She screamed taking different poses as she comically flexed, "Alright, that's enough of that. Still though, I'm glad I took that gymnastics class. At least that was the one good thing that came out of…"

She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again, remembering the promise she made to herself.

"Seriously. I wish I can just get a memory scrub like big brother did. Only, I'd want to forget 'that place' rather than pretty much all my life."

Instead of pondering on the past, the young girl moved on ahead, holding her hands behind her head as she looked around the ruins, waiting to see if something else would pop out to target her. To her surprise, nothing did.

But when taking a few steps forward, she immediately stopped before her foot touched another tile, prompting her to say "Aha!" before taking a step back. Only, this was a trick, for when Ciel stepped back, her foot sank into the floor slightly.

"Oh what the hell?! Now that's just horse hock!"

Focusing her attention to the front, the whole floor glowed and hummed with light blue energy between each of the tiles, symbols of the exact same glow color appearing on the face of the tiles. Her mathematical skills weren't on par with her brothers, but IF she calculated correctly, there was about fifty feet to cross from her side of the wide, enclosed room to the other side.

But what did crossing to the other side entail? What extremely convoluted and complex method did she need to perform to get to the other side?

When she looked, she saw a similar set of symbols lined up perfectly together, as if they had an order to them. Maybe she had to step on the tiles shown up there in order? She quickly opened up her holographic display by clapping both hands together and spreading them out, then tapped her HoloScroll's camera app to open it up and take a picture of the order of symbols.

With that, Ciel left her display in front of her as a guide of sorts as she made the first step onto one of the tiles. Given that nothing happened, she had to assume she stepped on the right one. To make it a bit more interesting, Ciel didn't just step on the tiles in order. She danced across them fluidly, sliding left and right, twirling forwards and backwards, even finding time to throw in a somersault before finishing it up by hand standing and spinning herself around onto the next few tiles.

She was actually glad she wore short-shorts today. That, and she was lucky she made it through unscathed, and without making any of the tiles fall.

Being perfect was hard work.

But that was a lie, she was nowhere near perfect. She was in many ways flawed and imperfect, but the secret to it all was how well she hid it. Ciel knew this was true of her brothers too, they hid their flaws very well. Especially her big brother. Even if the three of them were flawed in many ways, that never stopped them from moving forward.

Whatever stood in the path leading to a desire or want of theirs, they crushed the opposition completely within the palm of their hands.

Though, if she thought about it, Ciel didn't really have a want or desire at the moment, nothing to achieve, nothing to gain. Well, maybe a few things here and there to gain, but those were all small things at best. For now, she was simply going to follow behind her big brother as best she could.

Speaking of following, she had continued onwards through the ruins at a constant pace, running into nothing strangely enough.

"Maybe they ran out of traps?"

Just as she said that, she felt the ground rumble and quake, dust loosening itself from the walls and ceiling. When Ciel turned around, she saw in the distance something very Montana Jones like.

"A freaking boulder?! Are you kidding me right now?!" She shouted as she took off into a sprint down the corridor.

She moved out of the way of things obviously made for the intention of tripping up a runner; walls, barricades, outcrops of stone, etc. But the young girl leapt over or dodge everything in front of her, even sliding down under a low beam of stone. But as Ciel ran, she couldn't but realize something simple.

"Wait, why I am even running?"

With a quick shift to the side of her feet, Ciel slid to a halt and turned around waiting for the boulder to make its way towards her, eventually spotting the huge chunk of spherical stone rolling its way towards her after rounding a corner.

Without any sign of hesitation, the girl raised up her right hand and turned it around so her palm faced the air, brought her center finger and thumb together, and waited for the boulder to get closer.

As soon as it was within arms reach, Ciel extended her hand further and flicked the huge chunk of stone, all while saying "Boop!". When her center finger made contact, the boulder had virtually been shattered into thousands of pieces within and instant, all of those pieces rushing past Ciel as they clattered loudly on the stone floor.

Dusting herself off, the young girl raised her hands up into the sky and grabbed hold of her fingers, stretching herself out as she let out a satisfied sigh of relief.

"Well, just like that boulder, I guess I better...roll out!"

No one was present besides her, which was something she only remembered after making the terrible pun.

"Right."

Fortunately, she wasn't going to begin signing a song describing how "all by herself" she was.

* * *

After blowing past two large stone doors, Ciel found herself outside in the forest, this time with light peeking through the tree lines. And for once in a long while, she could hear different sources of wildlife, mainly birds and the like. To be honest, this area looked to be more of a jungle of sorts rather than a forest. All that she knew now was that she could see the tower in the distance, and she was virtually three fourths of the way there now.

"Maybe I'll win the bet with Leo after all…" she silently said to herself as she looked off into the distance.

No matter how far away she was, she could feel something…off about the tower she was heading to. Whenever she looked to it, she could feel this strong sense of unease from it, like something Dark and sinister lay within, waiting to come forth.

It could be something really is bad about these towers… Even so, Ciel knew she had what it took to destroy the tower. Now it was just a matter of-

Ropes soon found themselves bound around Ciel's arms, wrapping her up entirely from under her bust all the way to her waist. Whoever had done this must have been really into bondage play if they were this skilled in tying people up so quickly.

"Yes! We got the the intruder!"

 _What the actual fu-?_

Ciel immediately discarded that her current though when she looked around her and gasped in surprise. She was completely surrounded…by the cutest, smallest children in the entire world! They had to all be Faunus given their appendages, but that didn't change their cuteness in the slightest, it only served to maximize it in fact. They weren't exactly wearing rags, but their clothing seemed to have an ancient, rustic feel to it, almost the way Inuba dressed but...seemingly of older fashion.

There was something else she noticed. Their Faunus appendages were reptilian-like, tails and horns and such, but they seemed more draconic, particularly the tails and their different variations for those who had them.

A group of five children wasn't a threat, at least physically. But mentally, their cuteness could kill.

"If we take her back to the boss and show her we captured and outsider, she's bound to be impressed!"

"Yeah! And she might even start training us early too!"

Training as a prize for capturing an outsider? That wasn't something that sounded all too bad for a reward.

"You guys are that bored that you'd willingly take a captive and turn them in just so you can get a head start on training? Man you guys must have almost nothing to do wherever you're from."

"Quiet prisoner!"

"Woah, easy there little guy. I'm just passing through is all. If you let me go, I'll just be on my way and stuff."

"No way! Outsiders who enter within our territory have to be taken captive and brought to the village leader to have their fate decided! Just so you know, it usually never ends well."

"Uh-huh… Say, what kind of Faunus are you little guys?"

"D-Dragon Faunus…" the only girl of the group meekly spoke.

"Woah! I've never seen Dragon Faunus before!"

"F-Flattery will get you nowhere, human!"

"Oh, I'm not human little ones." Spoke Ciel as she smiled at them.

"You can't fool us outsider!"

"My name's Ciel."

"Doesn't matter what your name is! You're coming with us and that's final!"

Ciel let out a small chuckle at the Dragon Faunus children before saying "See kids, I'm actually a devil of sorts." She said as she elicited the exact reactions she was expecting, "So if you don't let me go, I'll use my magic to play a trick on you."

They all seemed intimidated now, just about ready to let go of their ropes.

"Y-You're lying!" One of the boy's mustered up enough courage to say.

"Nope. One hundred percent true." Ciel spoke as she was now next to the boy in a squat, smiling at him with her trademark grin.

They all jumped away from her, seeing that she was now free of her bindings and very sure that the young girl was about to gobble them up. And that was when they all took off running. Well, at least three of them did. Two of them, one boy and the girl from before were left behind. The boy stood at the front of the girl, most likely in the event to protect her from Ciel.

Though, the only thing they had to worry about was a power hug from Ciel.

She reached out her hands to the two, who closed their eyes and expected the end to come for them. Though, no such thing came about. Instead, Ciel gently patted the top of their heads, giggling in some form of a blissful state.

"Y-You aren't going to eat us..?" Asked the little girl as Ciel continued patting the girl's head between the small horns on her head.

"What?! No! I may be a devil, but I'm a peace loving one that likes protecting people. Especially cute little ones like you two!" She replied, her head rubbing growing more intense until she stopped moments later, "That and I don't eat people. I do like cookies and cream ice cream though."

"Ice cream..?" They both questioned.

"You don't know what ice cream is?!" Ciel questioned in shock as she quickly stood back up.

"We don't go outside of the village at all, so we don't know much about the outside world other than a lot of humans and Faunus are fighting a lot now a days."

"Closed off from the rest of the world huh..? Can't say if you're the lucky ones or not…"

The outside world was potentially a cruel and terrible place. But it was also full of so many other wonderful things as well. To be cut off from it all… How secluded was this village..?

"This isn't good Kana… If we go back and the leaders see's we didn't bring the outsider back, we're going to get in trouble!"

"But… Ms. Ciel isn't a bad person at all Haru…"

"She could be lying for all we now and might turn around and eat us if we let her go!"

"You could be right. That IS a possibility. But I guess you just have to take it on faith that I won't do anything. In fact…"

Ciel found the rope she escaped from and rebound herself with it, offering the rope to the two that stared at her in confusion.

"You guys can take me back so we can clear things up. That way I can go on with my quote unquote mission, and you guys won't get in trouble. Fair?"

They looked at each other for a few moments before giving each other silent nods, leading Ciel with the rope around her hands this time back to their village.

"Don't try anything funny, you hear?!" The young Dragon Faunus boy Haru spoke.

"Nothing to worry about me from."

"Um… Ms. Ciel..?" The young Dragon Faunus girl Kana meekly Asked.

"Hmmm?"

"What exactly is ice cream?"

"Heh… Only the best thing in the whole world world. Well, second best since first at the top is se… Yeah, not gonna say anymore. Just know it's totally the most awesomest thing you'll ever eat in your life."

* * *

"There's more like you?!" Haru with shock in his tone.

"Yup! A whole legion of immortals who can kick anyone's butt!"

The two young children looked back at Ciel, questioning the authenticity of her statement.

"Okay, so maybe not like hundreds of us, more like four, but that doesn't change the fact we can still totally kick anyone's butt! Especially my big brother!"

"Your big brother?" Asked Kana.

"Yup! He's so cool and tough, not even God wants to mess with him!"

"Woah~!" The two children hummed in unison, not seeing Ciel's nostrils flaring with pride for a few moments.

"Where is your big brother though?"

"We split up for a while. He went to go regroup with a few friends, and me, my other brother, and a friend were tasked with going to the towers in this region. I was going towards that one further ahead until you guys 'captured' me." Ciel answered Haru.

"You probably shouldn't go there…"

"Why not?"

"The machine people coming out of there are really mean…" Kana said.

"Machine people..?"

 _Androids..? Why would they be this far out from Atlas?_

"Yeah… They killed one of our friends' dad a few days ago…"

"That so… Sorry to hear that. But if anything, that should be all the more reason for me to hurry up and destroy the tower. That way things like the machine people can't your friends' family. Or even you two."

"You have to be really strong if you're saying things like that, outsider."

"You should call her ms. Ciel too Haru. It's more polite that way."

"Nah, it's cool. Technically I am an outsider, so it's alright."

Moments later, Ciel found herself gazing upon a massive wooden gate with stone double doors, each door containing the etching of a dragon breathing fire. From what else Ciel could see, she saw what seemed to be wooden houses and structures in the trees, numerous winding stairs of wood and rope bridges criss crossing the whole system of trees within the small village.

It definitely gave off that sense of a secluded village hidden away from it all.

The stone doors ahead of them were suddenly pushed open as a few adult-like Dragon Faunus poured out from within, spears and swords at the ready.

"Kana, Haru! Get away from her!"

"W-Wait! Ms. Ciel-!"

"If what the other children said was true, then she has to be a devil like she claimed to be!"

"Move aside!"

"No!"

"What is all this racket for?!"

All other voices were silenced by the woman who was passing through them, eventually making her way to the front of them all.

Ciel was breathtaken by what she saw.

This woman had lightly tanned skin, and long, pale blonde messy hair that reached all the way down to her waist with a few strands of her hair messy hair resting in between her eyes. She had shining violet eyes, and black slit pupils, like that of a serpent. From what else Ciel noticed, she stood at 5'10, six inches taller than she was, and had a deliciously toned body.

Her choice of clothing was similar to Inuba's in a way, where she wore white tabi socks and black zōri sandals, while wearing a black, split-hakama and a white kosode similar to Inuba's kimono where it ended at the waist, only with a few differences. For one, this new persons kosode was only half a kosode, where only her entire left side was covered by the robe-like garment and was tied with a black cloth obi. Her entire right side was exposed, but thankfully, she also wore a budget sarashi, which was a long, winding strip of cloth, very likely made of thick cotton, that was wrapped tightly around her bust, starting from just above above her bust and wrapping around all the way to the center of her rather ample bosom.

She had to be Inuba's size, or larger…

Ciel stopped herself for a moment, realizing it wasn't the time to fantasize.

Even with the budget sarashi, it still didn't cover enough of her chest, and in fact exposed it more, both below and above.

What Ciel assumed to be her weapons was a katana that was tucked away in her obi on the left side, paired with a wakizashi. Her katana's hilt had white hilt-wrapping, whereas the butt of the weapon had been covered with a silver colored metal cap. The guard was silver colored and rectangular in shape with an open frame much like a four-pane window. The blade length had to be at least three feet long. To top it all off, it was sheathed in a black wooden sheath. The wakizashi she possessed retained the same appearance as her katana, only the blade length was one foot long.

Looking back to her face, Ciel had almost forgotten one little extra thing. She had two obsidian colored, smooth, long horns at least a foot long on the sides of her head that curved inwards towards her head before curving outwards slightly.

Overall, Ciel could think of only two words at the moment.

Perfection incarnate.

"Haru, Kana," she spoke in a very slight, deep voice as she crossed her arms, "What is the meaning of this?"

"W-Well leader… The truth is… Um…"

Haru didn't know what to say anything further in fear of upsetting this new arrival, who was apparently the leader of this village. Though strangely enough, when Kana spoke to her, she had almost no hesitation in her voice.

"We found ms. Ciel in the jungle entrance near one of the booby-trapped ruins, big sister…"

…

Big sister?!

Now that Ciel looked more closely, she could see the resemblance between them by hair color, horn color, eye color, and skin tone.

"What did I tell you and the other little ones about going near the trap entrances?" She spoke with a hint of harshness in her tone.

"I'm… I'm sorry… We just wanted to do something good so that you might start training us early…"

This little one was too much for Ciel to handle. She just wanted to hug the little dragon girl and never let go of her.

The older girl let out a sigh before approaching the little dragon girl, who was expecting some sort of punishment given how she closed her eyes, expecting to be punished. But no such thing. Instead, the older gel patted her little sister on her head.

"It's good that you and the others are eager to begin training yourselves to become powerful and honorable warriors. But this isn't just something that is done on a whim. Please, be patient. You and the others' time will come soon enough."

"Okay…"

The unknown girl let out a brief chuckle before looking to Ciel, seeing that she was doing some sort of shuffle dance while she was waiting.

"And who might you be girl that was willingly caught by my younger sister?"

"Me? Ah, I'm nobody special. Just a passerby who's trying to move past here is all." Ciel replied honestly.

"So you were the one who bypassed all the traps, even crushing the boulder trap?" Asked the girl skeptically as everyone behind her, even the small children in front of her gasped in shock.

"If you were the guys that set up those traps, sorry to say that I did. And that I broke your big rock. Sorry about that too."

"She really is a devil woman…"

The murmuring of the crowd wasn't entirely false. Though, Ciel couldn't help but think they were thinking of her in the wrong way.

The girl raised her hand in the air to silence everyone else before eyeing Ciel once again.

"Outsiders who pass through the ruins normally do not pass through alive. Much less unscathed as you did. Which means...you must be fairly strong…"

"Mmmmmmm… Yeah, I'd say I'm pretty strong. But there's someone way stronger than I am."

"She said it was her big brother." Kana replied.

"I see… Very well then, Ciel, your wish is to pass through here, yes?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Though, she wouldn't object to staying for a little while to get to know this new girl a good bit.

"If you wish to gain admittance, then you must earn the right to pass through me."

A few of the villagers behind the girl smirked, but Kana and Haru were the only ones to show some concern.

"Eh… Don't wanna." Said Ciel, much to everyone's surprise.

"S-State your reason!"

The dragon girl seemed almost disappointed with her decision, but for Ciel, her reason was good enough for herself.

"Meh, I'm not really in a fighting mood today. That and...w-well… I don't really want to fight someone as beautiful as you…"

The dragon girl seemed shocked, and her face seemingly reddened for a few brief moments until she cleared her throat.

"I'm afraid leaving without a fight is out of the question. The fact you made it through the traps proves you have enough skill and strength to fight me. I won't allow you to leave unchallenged!" She spoke drawing her sword, "My name is Musashi Ryūjinhonō! Remember my name well, so called Devil!"

…

It seemed as though Ciel would not be leaving here without putting up some sort of fight. She was never one for unnecessary fighting unless she was angry, but she was going to have to make an exception for once. That, and using her Semblance to escape like she originally planned to would be cheating. And Ciel never really enjoyed cheating either unless in a situation where it was necessary.

Either way, it was time she got a bit serious. But not too serious. She'd destroy the village on accident if she did.

"Alright then. If that's what you want then. But when I win, I'm staying the night to recharge my batteries. Deal? No deal? Seal?"

"IF you when, then yes, I'll allow you temporary stay at our village."

WHEN she won, Ciel was going to have to figure out what exactly she was going to do if she were to stay for the day. That and what their means of taking a bath was.

"Alright then. If that's the way it's gotta be."

The young girl spread arms apart, easily breaking the rope bonds that tied her hands as she stretched herself out a bit.

"Hold nothing back against me. And do not cease fighting until I no longer stand!" Musashi instructed, "If you are a devil as you and the others claim to be, then you will show me no mercy!"

No mercy… That was a bit hard to pull off when intentionally trying to hold back. But she did insist…

"Now then...begin!"

Before Musashi even had time to fully finish "begin!" Ciel was already immediately in front of the Dragon Faunus. Musashi's eyes widened in surprise, prompting her to take a horizontal slash outwards with her katana, only to completely miss as Ciel blurred out of sight once again, reappearing behind her "opponent".

Musashi was unable to fully express everything she felt in the next few moments. But there was one thing running through her at the moment, and it was fear, fear so intense and overwhelming she could do nothing but watch as Ciel's fist came closer and closer to her face.

Death was approaching.

But before any contact was made, Ciel had stopped her fist a few centimeters from Musashi's face, a strong gust of wind passing through the area that forced everyone to cover their eyes and cower away from the sheer force that blew past them all and throughout the entire village.

The huge gust of wind died down as Musashi stared blankly at Ciel and her fist, unable to so much as speak as she stood there in awe, realizing her entire person was still intact and untouched. The only difference was her hair now as it was blown backwards from the intense force.

Ciel skipped upwards a bit to reposition herself to stand normally as she smiled and lightly tapped Musashi's forehead with the back of her hand, bringing the Dragon Faunus back to reality.

"So, when's dinner time?"

* * *

 **(Omake: The Secret to being Big, by me)**

"Do you have any other siblings ms. Ciel?" Asked Kana as she looked back to the still rope bound Ciel.

"Nah, just my two brothers as far as I know." Replied the young girl as she continued walking through the jungle with Haru and Kana, "What about you guys? Any siblings yourselves?"

"Two little sisters." Haru quickly replied.

"I only have my big sister. She's really pretty… Though, I'm really sure a lot of the boys have been staring at her chest often."

Kana's reply was enough to make Haru jolt upwards a bit, and Ciel Lean in with interest and a smirk on her face.

"Oh? How big is her chest? Tell me, tell me!"

The little Dragon Faunus girl thought about it for a few moments before pointing to Ciel's head for accurate size representation, making the immortal girl let out a surprised and cheerful laugh.

"I definitely need to meet your sister now! Say Kana, wanna know how you can be as big as your older sister?"

"Really?! You'll tell me?!"

"Sure sure…" Ciel said leaning in to whisper in the young girl's ear, "See, I have this friend of mine who's a fox that has a chest as big, and she told me the secret her mom and sister told her. But really, I mean they are just perfect with perkiness, springiness, size, and-"

"I-I'm still here you know!" Haru shouted.

"Yeah? So?" Ciel said with a smirk on her face.

"J-Just be quiet..!"

"Oh well, guess I can't tell you then Kana."

Clearly Ciel could see the young Dragon Faunus girl was annoyed with her friend, given the cute pout and growl she gave him that focused his attention forwards.

"Ah… Children are just too damn adorable…" Ciel spoke silently to herself as she continued following behind them as their prisoner.

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated 11)**

"What did you dress up as for Halloween?" Asked Dante.

"I was Countess Rubula! Unseen nightmarish blood sucker of the night!" She said cloaking herself entirely with her cape, "Bwahahahaha!"

"You did it because it had the cape, didn't you?"

"W-What?! No! Well what about you?"

"I just used my Shadow Skin. No big deal."

"Ha! You were just as lazy as I was about the costume!"

"Yes and no. Besides, Shadow Skin just screams scary."

"I guess…" Ruby said with a pout.

"Alright Countess Rubula, why don't you start us off on this week's weapon to be talked about?"

"Oooo! I definitely have one then! Hi everyone, and welcome to Huntsmen and Huntresses Illustrated Weapons Guide! Where we the hosts tell you almost everything that's currently known about a person's weapon! Let's get started!"

A monitor flashed to life behind Ruby as she began to speak once again.

"Today we'll be talking about my sister's weapon, Ember Celica!"

"So then, Ember Celica is Yang's Xiao signature weapons, where they're a pair of Dual Ranged Shot Gauntlets,DRSG's for short. They look like weird bracelets at first, but when activated, they cover Yang's hands and forearms, acting as arm guards of sorts. The gauntlets also have red shells in them, which Ruby will tell you about."

"Right! Inside the gauntlets are chambers that holster a magazine consisting of 12 shells, giving 24 shots in total when both gauntlets are fully loaded. A silver-ish gray barrel is concealed in the front of the gauntlet, aligned between Yang's knuckles of her index and middle finger. The gauntlets' offensive function is rooted in creating pulses of raw kinetic energy, where they emit flashes of light resembling explosions, or flames, and are capable of knocking enemies back great distances. However, they the projectiles only explode in contact with another surface. You know, an enemy, or a lamppost that got in her way…"

"Given from what I've seen and felt personally, the red shells do explode on contact, especially since she's knocked me back forcefully a few times using those gauntlets. I think they lack the ability of making exit or entry wounds that would be characteristic of being shot with a gun, but then again, when looking at past occurrences besides my own, could be that Aura blocked it all. Then again, I never use Aura shielding…"

"In any case, they are really really powerful, since a single punch from Yang knocked an entire dance floor outwards in a wave-like movement as if she hit people with a wave of the ocean, knocking multiple people off their feet with ease! In a way, just like how I use Crescent Rose, Yang uses Ember Celica for both attack and mobility, punching enemies and firing shots at them or using the recoil from the explosions to propel her great distances or out of harm's way!" Ruby explained eagerly.

"The short of it is that it's quick, power, deadly, and compact. And it works especially well with her Semblance, which Ciel and Leo will cover next time."

"I can't wait!" Ruby said jumping with joy.

"So with that, tune in next week folks. Until next time."

Ruby pounded on Dante from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck as she piggybacked him along with a little something extra.

"Are you...biting me?" Dante asked confused as he walked off the stage.

"The Countess needs no permission to suck the blood of the living!" Ruby spoke in a muffled voice as she playfully nibbled on his shoulder.

"You do realize Halloween's been over since last week, right?"

"Time is not a concept the Countess recognizes!"

"Alright then Countess, I'll be acting juice box for now until Thanksgiving."

"Awwww!" She said with muffled disappointment.

"You can't just keep drinking my blood forever. It'd make you sick. It's like drinking soda or alcohol way too much than you should. It's just unhealthy."

"Alright…"

"Cool. Now, let's get back to it. We've got a Dragon and a crazy Scorpion to fight, remember?"

"We'll kick their butts!" Ruby said triumphantly raising a fist in the air.

* * *

 **Nothing much to say except that I've been sick.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	28. Chapter 28: The Fallen King's Resolve

**Hey everyone. Really sorry for getting this out to you all so late. As some of you might have noticed, December is very near, which also means the end of another semester of college (blows paper birthday party horn). And since it's near the end of the semester, that means the school workload is significantly increased. This year isn't too bad, I have 2 papers to write as my finals, both of which require max 2-3 pages (really simple shit, but does take a bit of time) and an online quiz final (also pretty stupidly easy, but still pretty lengthy). Technically speaking, I can finish both papers in a night, which is what I'll try to do after posting this.**

 **As for why it took so long specifically to post, most, if not all of you, know how much of an absolute lunatic I can be concerning certain matters. Before thanksgiving break I did practically a whole months worth of Homework and such a week before the short break and barely fit in time to write (Although to be honest, going home for the break, I got my hands on Middle Earth: Shadow of War and spent excessive amounts of time playing it since I thoroughly enjoyed the first game and more than love the second. So sorry not sorry). So on my way back home then back to college on a plane ride was all the time I could fit in to write (about 10 hours total). And I just finished it today.**

 **So yeah, again, sorry (also not sorry for Shadow of War) for the wait, here's this weeks chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 28: The Fallen King's Resolve**

«»

Atlesian Knight 200's lay broken and shattered on the ground by the hundreds, their decimated bodies crackling with the last bits of power they had left before experiencing complete shutdown from the extensive damage they suffered. Raum removed his sword DarkSeeker from the massive body of a fully automated Atlesian Paladin, jumping off of its massive body as it's power core flickered briefly before completely fading away.

"Tch… Stupid machine puppets…" Raum whispered as he kicked away one of the heads of the AK 200's, "Can't catch us before, can't catch us now. Then again, these aren't the same humans as in Primordial…"

When humanity in Primordial was made fully aware of Dark Entities, they once again had to create tools in order to defend themselves from the Dark Forces as best they could. Luckily, with the help of Mages and Exorcists, humanity more or less stood a chance. That, and they had Dante and his allies.

Overtime, alternate forces came to light as well, those that were more or less on the side of good. Yōkai, Magical Creatures and Beings, they were one of many that were made known and had created peace between those of their Realms and and the Human Realm. And because of this, Humanity, Yōkai, and many other types of beings quickly began to coexist together peacefully.

But even with such a united front, the forces of Darkness were just as plentiful and many.

What seemed to be an endless struggle was abruptly halted, all through the efforts of one boy and his group of allies.

Raum had never suffered such a great defeat before then. Fighting against Dante as long as he did was by far the most irritating and most irking experience he had ever endured, more so than the time he was forced to cease his war against The Plane of Angels many millennia ago.

Now?

Not only had he made some sort of peace between himself and Dante, but a young wolf Faunus girl had come into his care, not willingly at first. To this day, he constantly ponders the thought of how a tiny insignificant child had managed to change him. She was no one special, and given that she was abandoned on the streets at such a very young age, she had no such thing as fortune, especially the abuse she suffered from passerby's that never had a friendly disposition towards those of the Faunus persuasion.

Until she met her quote unquote savior.

But by no means was Raum going to be compared to a certain bearded man in sandals he met at least two millennia ago that created fish and bread from thin air. That was by far the most confusing, profound, and slightly entertaining experience he had ever witnessed.

Raum was a bit disappointed in the way he went, expecting many other methods instead of what he saw.

That was then, this was now.

Finding a slightly intact Atlesian Paladin, Raum ripped open the cockpit with one hand, finding the seat inside fairly comfortable as he sat in it and swung his legs up on the dash to rest them.

"Hey." He said tugging down on the hood of his black leather coat.

No response.

"Hey!"

This time he felt some stirring within his large hood, hearing a tiny, groggy groan. Soon after, a small, fluffy black wolf tail freed itself from the inner confines of his hood, lightly whipping about against his chest.

"I will eat the applesauce if you don't wake up."

At that moment, his hood had completely flipped down, as the young wolf Faunus girl forced herself up and used her tiny hands to push the hood down completely, eagerly looking about in soft hums.

"Here." Said the Dark Entity raising up a packet that had a nodule to drink from.

Irene immediately snatched the packet and and worked hard to unscrew the top cap so that she could dive into her quote unquote breakfast. Raum had formed a bowl of black and green Aura in his hand, then snapped his fingers as a large black chest appeared next to him in a small, fiery burst of his Aura. Searching the chest, he found a paper packet of brown sugar oatmeal and poured it into his bowl, pouring in water from a water bottle soon after. His hand radiated with intense heat for a few moments as his bowl steamed slightly, his oatmeal now ready to eat as he formed a spoon of his black and green Aura to eat.

Hunger and thirst was not as...apparent with him as it was with Irene. Normally, he would eat gladly, but as of late he had no real appetite. Not since…

He let out a sigh as he looked up to the cloudy sky, not able to see a single ray of light before his gaze shifted to a happy Irene, busy devouring the applesauce within her drinkable packet.

A group of low toned growls sounded from a short distance away, forcing the duo to look in the direction of the growls and find a small pack of Beowolves and Ursi slowly approaching them across the battlefield of broken machines.

"Meh… They just don't know when to call it quits…"

Raum moved to get up, but Irene surprisingly jumped down from his shoulders onto his lap, and quickly took a few steps forward with her small legs.

"H-Hey, what are you-?!"

Now standing on the hull facing the Grimm, little Irene raised her hands in the air and shouted in her tiny voice "Rawrrrrr!"

Raum looked to Irene, then looked back to the pack of Grimm, noticing them whimper in fear before running off into the forest with fearful howls following behind them.

The Dark Entity looked on in a small form of bewilderment. It's not that it hasn't happened before, he just didn't know why it kept happening. Whenever Irene stood her ground and growled "roared" at them, they all tucked tail and ran. She even did the same with a pack of Nevermores, who when they saw and heard her, flew off fearfully in the opposite direction.

How did one child hold so much power over Grimm? Rather, why were they far more afraid of her rather her being afraid of them? It was...profound…

"I don't know how you keep doing that… But keep doing it. Less work for me in the end."

A smile formed on Irene's cute little face as she nodded with two affirmative "hmphs". Instead of going back to eating his oatmeal, Raum leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to rest for a while. That was until he felt small hands patting his stomach.

"Need something?" He asked looking down at the small child.

She simply shook her head, and raised the bowl of brown sugar oatmeal to Raum, as if asking him to eat some more.

"No thanks. Not really that hungry. That, and I ate more than enough for the day. You can have the rest.

The young Faunus' wolf ears perked up with excitement, but soon folded against her head as she shook it once more, pressing the matter that he should eat more.

"It's alright. I did make enough for you you know."

Even with that fact in mind, Irene simply placed the bowl down in Raum's lap and crossed her arms, letting out a "hmph" as she looked away.

The Dark Entity rolled his eyes and let out a sigh as he formed another spoon from his Aura and got a scoop of the oatmeal.

"Hurry up and eat. We've got a ways to go if we're going to make it to the tower today."

He'd rather be elsewhere at the moment. In fact, he would have liked to see-

…

No, the task came first. If he left to go do what he wanted, it wouldn't take long for the brat and his fox to come find him. Not to mention, if any of them figured out why he wanted to leave...he'd be more embarrassed than the time they all found out he was caring for Irene.

The immortal brat would never stop poking fun at him.

Hearing a tiny giggle, Raum looked down to see Irene smiling at him coyly, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she gave him a sly glance.

"What are you laughing at you little cretin?" He replied as he playfully pinched her nose between his fingers as the young girl struggled to break free.

Eventually, she bit into his hand playfully as he raised her up in the air to dangle, her wolf tail whipping about happily until she let go and plopped back down on his lap.

"You eat the rest. Wake me when you're done."

Irene gave him an affirmative "hmph" and nod before returning to her bowl of oatmeal, allowing Raum to finally take his rest again as he looked up to the cloudy sky once more before closing his eyes.

How much longer I wonder… Until I can…

* * *

The road before them had been fairly simply and without much trouble. The fact that there were no wanderers was a bit disturbing for Raum. Then again, he reminded himself that he wasn't in ancient times anymore, nor on the same World. The people of Remnant usually stayed in their villages or kingdoms, or took the skies with their flying machines to avoid the Grimm on the ground beneath them.

Even if they could escape the claws and fangs of the Grimm below, there were still a few that could take to the skies, like Nevermores, Griffons, and the like. There were even wasp-like Grimm that proved to be a massive nuisance.

But they were in the clear for now, allowing Raum to let his hood down so that Irene could take in the sights around her. It was amusing to hear her sounds of amazement and awe whenever they passed by a sight.

However, Irene's ears soon perked up as she let out a silent gasp, cowering behind Raum's head given that the fluffiness of his slightly spiked black hair hid her near perfectly.

"What's wrong with you?"

As soon as he asked this, he soon felt a presence at the edge of his senses, and when looking ahead, he could see someone in the distance walking towards them. He wore a black cloak, and had messy chin length black hair. He couldn't see the man's eyes, for they were narrowed to slits practically as he continued walking down the road with a smile on his face. Raum kept calm and continued walking forward unhindered, despite how tightly Irene held on to him and whimpered.

It wasn't long until they were in close proximity to one another, the man before Raum halting himself as his head moved in his direction, forcing the Dark Entity to a halt as well.

"Pardon me, but does there happen to be a village down the way you came? I'm running rather low on supplies you see, and would like to restock before I continue any further."

Raum was about to answer, but he saw the man drop his smile as he tilted his head in curiosity, eyeing Irene that sat behind Raum on his shoulders.

"Hang on a moment… Are you..?"

From the corner of his eyes, Raum saw the man and Irene staring at each other, but the man had a more curious expression about him compared to Irene at the moment.

"Never mind. She happened to look like a child I knew sometime ago. Now then, is there a village nearby?"

The Dark Entity could feel Irene's grasp grow tighter, thus forcing him to quickly act.

"There won't be a village for some time unless you're heading towards Mistral. If you feel like making a long trek, there is one further down the way, about a day's walk." Raum pointed behind him.

"I see… Should I be wary of any Grimm along the way?"

"No, I've dealt with most of them on my way here. Should be safe for some time."

"Wow! That's very impressive! You wouldn't happen to be a Huntsmen now, would you?"

"Sorry, but I'm no such thing. I'm just a traveler with a child in tow."

The man laughed amusedly for a moment.

"I see, I see… Well then mr. Traveler, may you and your child reach your destination safely. Bye-bye now!" He said with a small wave as he walked off in the direction Raum came from.

Even now with the large distance between them, Irene looked back fearfully at the stranger as he continued walking, and he looked back at her. The only thing he gave the young Faunus girl was a smile and a wave, and turned back to his path.

"Hey." Raum said catching Irene's attention, "You growl at Grimm twenty times your size, they tuck tail, and run. Then you lose your composure when seeing a human?"

Irene quickly shook her head, then raised a hand to her chin to to try to figure out how to relay what she wanted to say to her caretaker. She then began waving her arms up and down like a winged creature, giving the Dark Entity his first clue along with the second as she let out her usual, tiny roar numerous times, followed by blowing air and motioning her hands to look like…

"Fire..? What, like a dragon?"

She nodded her head rapidly, clearly glad her guardian understood what she was trying to say.

"Right, as scary as a dragon… I'm surprised you could even tell. I knew that guy was weird, but I never would have guessed he was dangerous or anything. To me at least."

Irene seemed as though she wanted to add something else, but she stopped midway, as if she thought about it for a moment, then plopped her head atop Raum's Head as they continued on their way.

Their Tower was close.

* * *

The mechanical army set before Raum's path lay in ruins, their bodies crackling with the last bits of energy they had left in their reserves before fading away. The Dark Entity removed his blackened sword from the body of the last machine unit he destroyed, looking upon the white tower that had circuit-like patterns running up it from all sides as they brimmed with black energy, slowly traveling through the circuit paths all the way to the top until they emerged from the ground floor again, repeating this same pattern continuously.

Now that Raum was closer, he could feel something within the tower. It...seemingly resonated with him…

He could feel the grasp of Irene's tiny hands on the top of his grow tighter with nervousness, but it wasn't like before. If anything, she was less nervous and only slightly concerned.

Still, to be able to perceive the presence of things at such a young age… She had to be something special. Especially considering she could scare off Grimm just by mewling at them. But he never saw her scared after their first meeting before today.

Now? She was a little bit intimidated. Though to be honest, Raum himself felt slightly intimidated by what he was feeling from inside the tower.

Intimidation… It has been a very long time since Raum felt such a thing.

An overwhelming presence swept through the area, the air around Raum shuddering and quaking violently as his head quickly scanned his surroundings all around him, trying to find the source of the immense Aura Signature.

It wasn't until a moment later he felt himself pushed forward a bit, a tingling sensation present near his abdomen, causing him to look down and see a bone white spear point jutting out from his body. But he was least concerned with his well being and more concerned about the fact that he couldn't feel Irene's small weight on his shoulders anymore.

"Papa!"

His eyes quickly darted up towards the sky near the tower, watching as a figure with large, black, feathery wings rushed up the side of the tower towards the top, Irene in his hand and reaching out to Raum below.

He meant to leap up after them, but immediately spun around and brought forth his sword DarkSeeker from his black and dark green Aura, swinging at the incoming spines of earth before raising up his weapon to block his body from the massive fist that crashed into him, sending him flying into one of the cliffs surrounding the forest nearby.

When he regained his senses seconds later, he saw another, much more immense figure scale the tower effortlessly after his winged ally, disappearing from view with Irene.

"Bastards!"

Raum lunged forwards towards the base of the tower, his Aura coating his weapon in in an explosive burst of jagged energy as he swung with all his might. But the area he intended to strike with a concentrated blast of black energy, completely negating the shock of his attack as his Aura dissipated from his blade.

Taking a few steps back, Raum meant to strike again, but halted himself when he realized it would do him no good. The tower negated both the physical aspect of his attack as well as his Aura. He could be out here all day and take shots at the tower, but it wouldn't be dented in the slightest.

"Damn them…" he said in a low growl, trying to understand what to do next.

As if by some form of luck, or by the sheer tenacity to sneer at his rage, the large double doors near the base of the massive white tower opened up, revealing a small, cramped room inside, an elevator of sorts.

He was cautious to step in it at first, but if they went to the extent as to take away Irene, then open up the tower to him to traverse it all the way till he reached the top, it was required of him to step inside.

Clenching his fists tightly and gritting his teeth, Raum effortlessly and almost painlessly removed the spike in his lower abdomen and crushed it in his hands as he quickly walked forwards inside the elevator, black and dark green Aura crackling around his wounds as they closed them almost immediately.

When inside, the doors behind Raum closed, and he felt his weight shift upwards for a moment as the elevator quickly took him upwards. As if to mock him, some form of diabolical music played through the box, annoying the Dark Entity even further until he stomped on the floor with his foot, unleashing a large torrent of his dark Aura that seeped into the floor. The elevator soon quickly sped up faster than it was traveling, Raum heating the cracking of metal outside as the light inside began to flicker until it faded.

At his destination, behind the elevator doors, a large crash sounded as smoke stepped through the doors, alerting the AK 200 units and Paladins inside to focus on the door. A small "ding" noise sounded as black smoke billowed from within the elevator, Raum stepping out from the smoke as he glanced furiously at the mechanized Units.

Before he moved further, he looked around his surroundings, understanding this wasn't by far the top of the tower where those two mongrels took her. Instead, he now found himself in a seemingly vast space, must vaster than the proportions of what the tower gave from the outside. But it wasn't the space that was strange. The entirety of what filled it resembled a city of sorts, where every single structure, building, road and object was colored white and brimming with the same circuit patterns in some, but not all, locations, black energy traveling back and forth along the paths.

It all looked like a fake copy of a city, like something someone feverishly put together and created for the simple joy of it. But that was the least of Raum's concerns at the moment. After looking around extensively, he found what he was looking for in the form of a white, tube like structure that lead further up. With how far away it was, and with the current mechanized troops in his way, it would be very difficult to arrive there quickly like he intended.

He would arrive there within a minute instead.

Wasting no time, Raum leapt up into the air to avoid the gunfire he suddenly found himself subjected to, extending his sword into its spear form before letting go of it to hover in the air before him. After spreading out his arms, in a quick burst of black and dark green Aura, his blackened spear multiplied to ten spears, which when finished multiplying, the Dark Entity forcefully thrusted his hand towards the the units below, his spears diving like bombs through the air, tearing through the waves of androids with destructive abandon.

With his spears leading the charge, Raum found his way to the ground and recalled the original to his right hand, allowing him to effortlessly mop up any and all stragglers unfortunate enough to be in his path.

But something was strange about these machine units.

They...seemingly had voices to them…

Raum initially ignored them, but the overlapping death cries of each AK 200 and Paladin he slew reminded him much of the battlefields of old he partook of.

Their cries… They sounded so real… Almost as real as any other person…

He no time nor the desire to understand the meaning behind it all. He had to save Irene. As far as he was concerned, anything within his path was an enemy, waiting to be crushed by his hand.

And so the Dark Entity continued skewering and slashing apart the machines as he made his way to the tall structure that reached into the sky of the space above, ignoring their cries as he rushed past them and continued slaughtering them.

* * *

The elevator doors opened up again, and out stepped a bloodied and tattered Raum, parts of his clothes riddled with bullet holes, burn marks and slash marks. His wounds had still healed, but he didn't take the time to mend his clothes or clean himself of his blood and the blackened substance found within the numerous androids he slew.

The Dark Entity tossed aside the mechanized body he kneed in the face when slipping inside the elevator, stopping a moment to look around him once more.

The area he was in much resembled the one below, a fake city created from this white material that brimmed with circuit like patterns, subtle black glows traveling along the paths that had the patterns.

"What the hell is this place..?" Raum wondered as he quickly walked through the "streets".

Why did someone go through the effort to create a replica of a city? And why kidnap Irene? Did they figure out he was here to potentially destroy this place and kidnap her because of this? Just as importantly…

Why did the black energy flowing through the circuit paths mimic the properties of Darkness Essence?

Eventually, Raum found himself standing in a wide open space, something he thought resembled a city center crosswalk that lead in numerous alternate directions through the "fake city".

"Man… We thought you were a pushover or something, but it looks as though we were wrong about you."

Raum's dreadful gaze moved to one the buildings overlooking him from above, eyeing a figure sitting atop the roof. He wore a long sleeved black shirt and black pants, had black hair and red eyes that almost flowed, and behind him...were large, black feather wings.

"Where's the girl?!" Shouted Raum.

"Eh~? Where I wonder..?" The winged man cheekily replied.

A massive beam of black and dark green Aura rushed forward towards the winged man as he let out a fake gasp, easily dodging out of the beam's path and remaining suspended in the air by his wings.

Raum made to point at the man and fire off another shot, but instead stood still, completely motionless when he saw the man in his line of sight.

"Hahahahahahaha! A wise decision!"

Behind the winged man, lodged into the windowsill, was a white cage of the same material as the rest of the fake city, and in it, sat an unconscious Irene.

"Had you gone ahead and attacked, surely you would have hit her rather than me. And I know you wouldn't have that happening anytime soon."

The man's wings flapped in Raum's direction briefly, unleashing a hail of razor sharp feathers, few of them passing by the Dark Entity as he turned to shield his head and face. Few of the feathers pierced his body before he let out an outward shockwave of his Aura to dislodge them, allowing them to clatter to the floor loudly as he growled and looked up at the winged man.

Before he could say another word, Raum spun to his side and blocked the harsh impact of a shoulder charge from a massive body, the force too great to keep him standing and instead sent him flying a few feet until his feet found the ground once more.

Looking up at the new arrival, he saw that he too had a human form, but was significantly taller, about ten feet tall, and much much more bulky and muscular. The other difference between the two was that this larger man had long horns on his head resembling a bull, or rather, a Minotaur. He too had red eyes and black hair, only it was shorter and spikier.

"Took your time Brígo. What would have you done if he actually did kill me?"

"I couldn't care less if he did, Râk." The Minotaur man spoke, "If he did kill you, I wouldn't have to listen to your annoying voice any more."

"Aw, now that's just mean…"

Raum cautiously re-stanced himself and glanced at the two as they continued their conversation. They most certainly weren't human, but they weren't Faunus either. Their Aura signatures were too...dark, too sinister. They weren't natural in the slightest, and to make matters worse, their combined Aura Signatures were as strong as Raum's.

For the moment.

"Oh, where are our manners? We have a guest you know…"

"Hmph… He doesn't even look all that tough. He's almost as scrawny as you."

"Now now Brígo, you can't compare sizes with everyone all too easily. I mean, you're a giant compared to most."

"I don't give a damn who any of you are or how big you are." Raum said raising his voice as he pointed to them, "Give me back the girl. Or I'll obliterate you out of Existence."

"Heh… Look at you talking big… All bark and no-"

Raum appeared behind Brígo in a flash of his black and dark green Aura, which sounded similar to a small burst of static, and swung full force at the back of his neck, creating a large dust cloud that obscured the Dark Entity's vision. Before he could pull back, a massive hand reached out and grabbed him by the leg, tossing him away into a building nearby, forcing him through it entirely.

The smoke cleared from around Brígo as he removed his hand from his neck, revealing a small cut on it as he chuckled briefly.

"Not bad for an ant. You managed to knick me a little. Not to mention you actually survived being thrown by me. I'm actually impressed."

Raum emerged from the building side, growling as blood dripped from his head.

 _I'm not this weak… What's going on here? None of them are sapping my Aura, otherwise I would've noticed early on and would have set up a ward around my body…_

"Looks like you figured it out… See, we've been watching you for the past few days and we thought to ourselves 'Zowy! He looks very dangerous!'. So while you were on your way up, Brígo and and I set up an area-wide weakening effect that only afflicts others besides ourselves. And to make matters worse for you, it stays up for as long as we have Aura or until one of us dies."

Raum smiled at that statement.

"So...if I kill one of you, the effect weakens, right?"

"Logically speaking, yes. But with my ranged advantage, and Brígo's tough hide, you don't quite stand a chance, friend."

"You think so, huh..?" Raum stated as he plunged his sword into the ground.

Long had he held back the undesirable side of himself, mainly for the sake of the one he protected. But now was the time he had to bring forth that side of him. Too much was at stake to follow guidelines the immortal brat had laid out for him.

He was going to annihilate the two of them.

Black and dark green Aura flooded the room, darkening the whole of the fake city of white as if it suddenly cut to nighttime.

The shadowy Aura unraveled like large vines with thorns from the area where Raum was completely obscured, revealing his new form.

His body was completely covered by a shadowy second skin that billowed wisps of black smoke, glowing dark green patterns resembling thorn-vines adorned his arms, legs, chest, and neck, his maw of jagged, sharp teeth a part of his shadowy flesh, the inside of his mouth glowing like the patterns surrounding his body.

His eyes were clawed out gaps with sharp, pointed edges completely surrounding the outer sides of both hollowed out eyes, each glowing with the same dark green energy. Lastly were the numerous black horns surrounding the top of his each horn no bigger than an index finger until it reached the front three horns, the two side horns noticeably larger than the other horns. They were glued to the large horn in the center of his forehead which was the longest compared to the rest by at least a foot long.

His menacing gaze met his two attackers, his voice greeting them with a hollow, echoing exhale of breath that was visible from the now cold environment.

"Well now, haven't seen that before… Make sure to crush him this time Brígo."

"Don't need to tell me that…" the burly man spoke as he quickly walked over to Raum's position, the Dark Entity walking just as quickly as he left his sword behind him.

The two warriors dashed at each other full speed, Brígo certain he could crush Raum in one blow.

The horned man did not know any better.

Their fists connected with one another, and Brígo laughed triumphantly as he was sure that he crushed Raum. But when he shifted his head to the side, there the Dark Entity stood, unharmed and quickly overpowering the Minotaur-man. With a short roar, Raum pushed his fist upwards and broke the momentary clash between the two, slightly raising both into the air. The Dark Entity quickly landed on the ground, reared back his leg and swiftly and powerfully swung his leg up into his opponent's groin, hearing a loud cry of pain as his opponent flew through the air, his scream dying out the further he traveled.

Dark green chains formed around Raum's right arm and forearm, which connected all the way back to his sword DarkSeeker, allowing him to bring the weapon back to him in one powerful pull. The base blade of the sword remained the same, but the handle cracked with energy as it extended into a pole, making the sword now a spear.

With a swift and fluid throw, the speared traveled through the air with laser-like precision, soon making contact with the stomach of the humanoid creature he sent flying. With his chains still present, the Dark Entity tugged on them harshly to bring his opponent crashing back down into the earth, then proceeded to swing him around like a toy, the man's body crashing through a wide array of buildings and structures until he was finally raised into the air yet again before promptly being smeared into the floor.

Raum gave pause to his onslaught for a brief moment, and attempted to recall his chained weapon, only to find himself unable to.

Something was pulling back.

Soon after, black and earthy colored Aura burst forth from the area Raum slung his enemy into, the violent burst of Aura growing larger and larger until it reached to about twenty feet. It was in that mass he could see his chain deep within, rising upwards with the Aura at its center point.

The Aura quickly flung itself outwards like water crashing against a rock, revealing the new figure of the Minotaur-man.

"Bûreal Requiem (Blackened Awakening)..!" sounded a deep, booming voice that echoed throughout the fake city.

The twenty foot tall figure was none other than Raum's opponent Brígo, who now more or less resembled the form of what his horns represented. His legs were now hooved, hind legs that were covered in grayish fur, his entire upper torso now a blackened, muscular hide. White, vicious bone playing covered the entirety of his colossal arms, each retaining red marks and patterns. His head now full resembled that of a bull's, only it was completely covered in bone plating that retained similar wavy red marks. The hollowed out sections glowed with crimson red energy, similar to that of a Grimm's.

"Look upon my form and despair…" Brígo's voice falling heavy on the air, "It's as we told you from the start… You were completely outmatched the moment you stepped into this tower!"

His massive armored hand grabbed hold of the chain link from the spear embedded in his abdomen, and pulled, only for Raum to resist by digging his feet into the ground and pulling back just as hard.

But it was for naught.

Brígo soon tugged more forcefully, and this time easily pulled the Dark Entity towards him, giving him no time to recover as his smaller body crashed into the Minotaur's massive fist, embedding Raum into the floor beneath him.

The Grimm-like Minotaur then removed DarkSeeker from his body by its chain link and tossed it away like a scrap of paper, soon raising his fist high above him before letting out a bellowing roar and crushing his colossal fist into Raum on the ground, burying him deeper within the floor alongside the crater that formed.

Brígo was unrelenting with his brutality, quickly and repeatedly smashing his fists into Raum as his laugh echoed loudly through the city. Deep within the ground up earth, the Dark Entity continuously felt the ferocity of his opponent's fists, the dark green energy from the parts of his body that glowed growing dimmer with each hit until it completely faded to black.

"I put far too much effort into smearing you into nothing… To compensate for this along with your life…I will eat the girl too to sate my appetite…" he said between punches.

"You may as well Brígo. She's absolutely useless to us after all. We only needed her to draw him into the tower. So you've got my go ahead." Râk spoke as he winced after an especially vicious punch.

The winged man turned his head to the cage next to him after hearing a tiny groan, looking to see the small wolf Faunus child within awakening from the violent quaking below them.

"Ah, you're up! Wonderful!"

The little girl gazed at him with a startled expression, Râk only shooting back a menacing smile as he pointed to his ally below.

"See that? Your little friend there is getting crushed by my partner as we speak." He spoke, Irene's head turning panickedly to the crater, "I'd be surprised if he were still alive after sooooo many hits."

"Papa!" She shouted, her voice barely able to fill the air of violently crushed stone.

"Oh, so he's your father is he? That makes this so much better then!"

"Papa!"

"It's no use little one. He's pretty much dead since his Aura Signature's faded. Brígo's just working out his frustration."

Irene didn't want to believe what she was hearing. She very much wanted Raum to be alive. She was hoping in her tiny heart that he was.

Which is why it didn't hurt to try again.

"PAPA!" she screamed as her voice rang out.

* * *

 _When did I get so weak?_

 _I had just about everything I needed and wanted. The only thing that ever really mattered...was power. The power to crush, slice, and dominate my foes. The power to always stand at the top, like a king should. I had that power...and then I lost it._

 _That brat screwed everything up for me. He's the reason I got here in the first place. He's the reason why I'm as weak as I am now because he killed me. But…_

 _He's also the reason that I discovered something new within me. Something I never would have imagined that I possessed in any lifetime. If he wasn't the reason why I was stuck here…_

 _I never would have met the little one. And...I'd still very likely have stayed the same._

 _Even with a new reason to continue onward on this new path...I was still weaker than I used to be._

 _Where did all of that power I had go? Why did it leave me?_

 _I never really had an answer. Until now. Thinking back to it, the answer was quite simple._

 _I lost confidence in myself._

 _Fighting the brat is the first time I ever, truly...experienced defeat. For once, I could understand the feelings of all those before me that I fought and won against. Losing...damaged my mentality._

 _It made me feel inferior._

 _There was never a time where I couldn't help but compare myself to him. And each time...I found myself lacking and inferior to him in many, many ways._

 _If I was so inferior by comparison...then what was the point of me getting stronger? Why should I have strove to be at the top when there came along one who would always surpass those around him for the sake of his own goals?_

 _It was a futile effort._

 _But these past few months have given me new reason to continue fighting. I just...never realize it completely until now. I never utilized it to the core of my very being as a reason to continue moving forward._

 _She was the main reason for a while...but...meeting you soon became a part of my reason._

 _I have things I want to protect and cherish now. Whenever, wherever, and however I could._

 _So I will continue to seek power. I will continue to crush, slice and dominate my foes._

 _I..! I am..!_

 _I AM THE KING!_

* * *

"Sweet suffering gods Brígo, give it a rest already. He's probably nothing but a pretty red stain at this point."

The colossal Minotaur gave pause to his unrelenting onslaught of earth shattering punches, standing up straight to glance at his companion. Both had seemed ready to leave.

But little did they know...this would not happen.

The air began to rupture and quake with such violent intensity that the white earth within the area began to crumble slowly from the sheer pressure of the immense force flooding the area.

"W-What the hell?! He's still alive after all that?! Tch… Brígo!"

Without saying another word, the colossal Grimm-like Minotaur turned back to the cracked crater and raised up his fist only to lower it as quickly. The resulting attack created an immense shock wave that kicked up an immense amount of dust and smoke, obscuring the lowest parts of the streets.

Râk watched from above in anticipation, wondering if it was time to resort to his first alternate option.

Irene looked on with renewed hope in her eyes, ears perked up as she let out a silent hum.

Black and dark green Aura once again flooded the streets, only now, with a much more sinister presence. The violent flow of Aura brought forth an immense chill in the air, and within the Aura itself were silent, echoing, demonic screeches.

A figure came into view as the smoke cleared, a single hand in place, or rather, the figure's index finger, that blocked the immense fist.

The figure was clad in black plated armor that took on a twisted, jagged shape, numerous parts of the armors edges sharp and pointed, the points like those of a thorn's. Small shoulder guards covered the figure's shoulders, the outer edges of each shoulder guard featuring three prominent spikes that curved inwards at a ninety degree angle towards the figure. The arms were equally plated in twisted black armor, the knuckle-guards shaped like small, jagged thorns. The armor around the top of the fingers were the only plated parts, the tips of the fingers like demonic claws.

The palms were covered in greyish material that resembled muscle fibers, the same being said for any visible gaps in the armor. Around the figure's waist was a sort of grey, tattered waist-cape that featured thorn-vine patterns that were colored black, the cloth only covering the rear and the back of the legs up to the center of the calves. There were two more strands of the waist-cloth, which were significantly less wider, about as wide as the average adult's arm, each one covering both the left and right sides of the waist and legs, reaching only to about the knees.

The figure wore a thin armor plated mask-helmet of sorts that covered the entire head. The front part of the mask-helmet seemed to be a formation of long twisted spikes shaped like diamonds, where from the chin to the cheeks the formation took on a long triangular shape. It wasn't until near the forehead section that the spikes began to branch out more and were slicked backwards, almost resembling a mishappen and contorted crown of sorts. Two hollowed out eye-gaps were present, the gaps long and sharp, and the edges all around the sockets resembling jagged thorns.

Lastly, the underside of the arms featured black arm-blades of sorts, where the hilts resembled demonic skull-like faces with slicked back horns and opened maws of vicious, sharp teeth from whence the actual blades emerged. The eye sockets featured dark green glows. The blades themselves were wide and double edged, spanning the entirety of the figure's forearm up to his wrists, and were curved only by a slight amount, the sharp edge of the curve featuring viciously sharp, hook-like edges. The center of the blades featured thorn-vine patterns that glowed a vibrant dark green.

"Impossible! You were dead!" Brígo's voice echoed throughout the surrounding area.

"Not quite…"

There Raum, one of the Four Dark Entity Kings stood in his Dark Entity form, completely reformed and made anew.

The eyes gaps soon revealed a pair of black sclerae with irises that glowed brightly like shining emeralds, the pupils black slits like that of a reptile.

Raum extended his free right hand, the arm-blade on the underside of his right arm shifting instantly to his hand as a handle of coiled together metal strips formed together as the handle, where at the end of the handle remained a black chain, each chain link featuring numerous serrated edges that resembled thorns.

With weapon in hand, the Dark Entity quickly reared back his arm and straight tossed his weapon at Brígo's massive head, the blade burying itself deep in the forehead of the Minotaur mask that had Grimm-like resemblance. With a single, forceful pull, the head of Raum's opponent was forced towards the earth, and just as quickly meet Raum's armored fist, the thorn-like spikes on his knuckles instantly breaking through the bone or the mask and sinking deep within the head beneath, forcing the colossal man to reel backwards a considerable distance and crash into a building behind him.

The building alone was able to cushion his backwards fall, keeping him on his feet, but when he looked below, he could see Raum dashing at him quickly. Fed up with the breathing Dark Entity, Brígo grabbed hold of building as large and wide as himself, and quickly uprooted the structure from the ground, slinging over his shoulder before he took a single step forward and stabbed it into the earth where Raum was supposed to be.

Smoke and dust yet again filled the air, but it wasn't long before Raum darted out from behind them, now running up the diagonally planted building. When he reached the area near the top, the Dark Entity leapt high up into the air a good fifty feet, then extended his left hand as the arm blade shifted into his palm and formed the handle, Raum now wielding two vicious shortswords with chain links. Rearing back both arms, Raum straight-tossed both of his chained weapons into the buildings side, then forcefully pulled himself downwards with intense speed, granting him enough momentum as the soles of his armored feet brimmed with jagged black and dark green Aura.

Like a comet from the deep confines of space, Raum crashed feet first into the buildings side in a low squat, whilst simultaneously reinforcing the entire structure, then kicked off it with a force strong it sent out a massive shockwave throughout the area. Brígo was too late to remove himself from under the structure as it now toppled him, forcing him with his back to ground as the building crushed his entire body up to his neck.

He let out a pained roar as the rest of the building pinned him, his roars soon sounding with intense, animalistic roars filled with rage.

When Brígo looked to the building, he could see that the armored Raum stood atop the edge of his snout, glancing at him with a menacing, piercing stare that reached the depths of whatever it was the Minotaur-man consider as a soul.

His roars now grew more fearful.

Raum let out a small, disappointed "Hmph" as he raised both short blades up and straight-tossed them deep into Brígo's large eyes, the blades so deep that they were no longer visible, only the chains were visible. The Dark Entity leapt off his "perch" and landed a good distance away from his opponent's head, and when he grasped his chains, he harshly pulled on the chains once despite his enemy's cries of pain. He pulled twice, then thrice, and with a final fourth pull...Brígo's head was cleanly torn off.

An ocean of black blood erupted from the neck stump, staining the pure white streets of the fake city in the area pitch black.

Raum then spun around once and slung away his decapitated enemy's head in the distance, his arm-blades retracting to the undersides of the Dark Entity's arms.

* * *

Brígo's head, now reverted to its normal size and shape, landed at Râk's feet, his crimson eyes setting upon it as his now regular size body flew in soon after.

When he looked up, Raum had appeared from nowhere, his new Dark Entity form still active as his Shadowy Eyes met with his attacker's.

"Well, you did warn us. I'm thoroughly impressed actually. Not too many could overcome Brígo normally. His skin is way too tough for gunfire or blades. But to use his Bûreal Requiem on you and to perish? It's honestly quite surprising..."

The Dark Entity have no response and only kept his piercing gaze on the winged man.

"Hmmm, I don't suppose I can just leave, right?"

His fists clenched tightly, just about ready to pounce after his next target.

"I figured as much."

Râk stretched his hand out to his side as a large mass of sinewy tendrils three times his size began to form around his hand, its appearance resembling something of a demonic pair of sinewy jaws, which when fully formed and dripping with viscous black liquid, screeched in a high pitch tone as it writhed around in the air.

"Devour…"

The jaws snapped to the direction of Brígo's body and head, extending outwards to the corpse and head to snatch it up and chomp them in one go, swallowing said body parts as the mass soon vanished back into Râk's arm.

His body brimmed with blackened Aura, his body growing larger and much more muscular as the same bone white horns Brígo had formed on the sides of his head.

"Bûreal Requiem!"

The mass of black Aura surrounding Râk collapsed in on him, consuming his entire body in a brilliant blaze of black that soon dissipated seconds later.

Râk's wings had grown much larger, about four times his size, his black feathers seemingly shining like perfectly sharpened blades. His blackened legs were now like hind legs, his feet blackened talons like that of a Griffon as the rest of his body was blackened. His hands up to his forearms was covered in white boneplate material that was covered in red markings. His head was shaped more like a bird now, resembling a Griffon type Grimm now, and the boneplate mask he now wore resembled a mixture of the Griffon Grimm mask, only, it now had the addition of the Minotaur horns from Brígo.

"Can you feel it..? My power...has increased!" He spoke in a deeper, distorted voice as black Aura burst forth in short stream of violent energy.

Raum continued standing where he was, unshaken by what he saw.

"You must be wondering how exactly this is possible… I'll tell you… People like Brígo and I have the ability to devour living organisms around us with that mass of black we summon to our arms. We can Devour anything from humans, to Faunus, to Grimm, and even others of our own kind. By performing an immediate Devour such as I did, we can gain the intrinsic properties and power that made up the devoured lifeform. For instance, I gained Brígo's strength, steel-hardened skin, and bits of his appearance. But that's not all… Devouring Brígo added his total sum power to my own, vastly improving it by large margins!"

Raum was taking in the information, but he cared little for the explanation. He was simply being polite and letting him finish before he would slaughter him.

"Unfortunately, the massive gain of power does not last long, three hours at most. After the three hour period, I retain only a fourth of Brígo's total amount of power. In any case, I still become stronger either way. It's like we told you from the start… The minute you stepped in here was the minute your fate was decided!"

"You done?" Raum spoke in his hollow, echoing voice.

Râk seemed surprised. There was no hesitation in Raum's voice or gestures, no signs of fear whatsoever.

Was he that confident that he would be able to kill him?

"Hehehehehe… Still talking big after seeing and hearing all that? Very well then! Since you're so eager to meet your end...allow me to send you to hell, mongrel!"

Râk moved to raise his hand, but was already too late to do much of anything.

Raum was already upon, fist raised and blazing with black and dark green Aura.

The transformed man couldn't think at all. He had no time to think with the seemingly endless flurry of near invisible punches that attacked him from various angles facing him. The punches dented Râk's flesh, severely bruising it and leaving permanent damage that only worsened as more seconds passed. But it wouldn't be enough to kill him.

Raum's next attack would, however.

Taking a brief, momentary pause from his assault, Raum's right fist brimmed with a powerful flow of his Aura, his hand now sinking deep into his enemy's abdominal region as a violent flow of the Dark Entity's aura tore apart the floors around them.

Râk was unable to move an inch, but Raum took a steady step forward and fully extended his arm, the whole power of his punch now unleashed. The winged man reeled backwards until suddenly he was propelled away by a massive torrent of black and dark green Aura, the mass of energy moving towards the center of the city, the core that he sensed that powered this tower.

With his enemy gone, Raum had one final matter to take care of, despite the massive blood loss he was suffering currently. His armblade extending into his handle, allowing him to twirl it around quickly before sending it towards the cage's way that still held Irene. Once connected, Raum quickly pulled the cage to his left hand and grabbed hold of it tightly before dashing off towards one of the back walls of the tower.

"Papa!"

"Don't talk right now! Just stay put! I'll get us out of here!"

He then heard the collision of his nerdy attack finally make contact with the core, prompting him to move even faster than he already was. The maw of Raum's helmet-mask opened up to bit into the chain link attached to the cage, freeing his left hand up so that he could shoot a few dozen bolts of his Aura straight ahead in a circular formation. The bolts sure enough made contact with the back wall the Dark Entity sprinted towards, weakening the foundation in place, but the floor beneath him began to shudder and split apart violently.

Before the raging fires from behind could reach him, Raum dashed straight into the broken section of the wall he created, allowing him to make his impromptu escape.

* * *

His feet found themselves on normal ground once again in the forest, but rest was not to be had just yet. The tower behind them began to crumble and fall apart. He needed to escape the damage zone.

Raum's body vanished in a blur of black and dark green just before a large chunk of the tower nearly crushed him, and he continued moving through said method until he finally came upon a lake. Looking back, he could see he had done it.

They were safe.

Raum let out a sigh as he lowered the cage to the floor and grabbed hold of it with his left hand, tearing open the door to allow little Irene to escape her prison and embrace her savior.

He was...somewhat surprised she would hug him in this form…

The armor surrounding his body soon began to turn into a viscousy black substance that quickly dripped away from his person before turning into mist and vanishing in the air, reverting the Dark Entity to his more "human" form once again.

His body was badly beaten and bruised, blood still present and smeared across his person as he let out heavy breaths.

"Papa..?" Irene asked with concern in her tone, looking to his right arm.

He too took a gander, and suddenly realized his entire right arm had gone missing. But rather than think of it as stray debris or a random attack that hit him from nowhere, he knew exactly why it was gone.

He put his all in that punch. And if he lived up to his promise, he hopefully erased his opponent's entire being with that attack.

"Don't…" he began in a more silent tone than usual, "Don't worry so much about it... It'll grow back… I think…"

Raum's movements became more sluggish until he attempted to rise up, only to fall to the floor on his rear before slumping down to the ground.

"Papa!" Irene shouted, kneeling next to him as he looked to her while she shook him.

"Relax… I just… I need to take a nap for a bit…"

The little Faunus girl let out tearful, distraught groans, continuing with her shaking despite him already closing his eyes.

What would she do? What could she do?

She suddenly remembered something. Her head jolted upwards before she dug into her caretaker's pocket, fining his black Scroll that he used to communicate with others. It took her a few seconds, but she remembered exactly how to access the Scroll and search for the "Contacts" section, seeing the names of Dante and his group on the display. But Irene knew better than to call any of them. They all had their important tasks to handle. And she didn't want to be the reason they had to stop what they were doing just to rush over to her location.

So instead, Irene tapped on the only other contact Raum had on his Scroll. She remembered him saying once that under no circumstance was she to call this person unless she asked him to. But this was a serious emergency. She would handle being scolded later. And considering this person was the closest to their location, they would more than likely be able to help.

The still sobbing Irene had tapped the contact, then the call button, and waited until some picked up the line a few seconds later.

* * *

 **(Omake: The True Fluffy Terror, by me)**

Raum sat leaned back in the cockpit of the rogue, automated Atlesian Paladin he destroyed amidst the battlefield of strewn robotic corpses, mostly rogue AK 200's. He had done quite a bit for the day so far, so he would have liked to rest for sometime before continuing.

But first, he had wondered something… Where was Irene?

Looking around, he had finally found her, but she was doing something rather...curious. And that was simply glaring at a pack of ten or so Beowolves.

Raum had seen situations like this before. He knew what was about to happened. The only thing he questioned at this point in time was how hard he was going to laugh.

The Beowolves crept in closer, growling and snarling at the young wolf Faunus girl. But she simply stood her ground, completely unafraid.

Then, in a sudden motion, she raised up both of her tiny, balled up fists and cutely shouted "Wan! Wan!", like a dog usually would.

And as expected, the Beowolves yelped amongst each other as if all of them had been kicked, and ran off into the forest with their tails between their legs.

Raum smiled a tad bit.

His smile soon dropped when he saw a small pack of Ursi emerge from within the depths of the forest, one of them an Alpha that stood up on its hind legs, raising its hands over its head as it let out a bellowing roar.

Irene stood where she was, arms uncrossing as she too raised up her hands over her head and shouted "Grawrrrrrrrrr!"

The Aplha fell on its rear and promptly scurried away with its back behind it. But that wasn't the end, no…

A Berigngel had bursted through the treeline, roaring madly as it eyed the little wolf Faunus and pounded its chest as its roar carried out for a great many yards.

It was now that Raum began to show some concern.

And what did little Irene do?

She nodded her head up and down, as if it were her silent way of saying "Impressive indeed". It wasn't long until she followed suite and replicated the Beringel's movements, pounding her chest a few time before quickly raising up her arms and…

"Grwoarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" Her tiny voice squeaked out.

The ape-like Grimm skipped backwards, as if it just avoided an attack that would have meant certain death, before it too took off in fear, crashing through a few trees as it did so.

Irene's wolf ears were peeled up, her wolf tail whipping about happily and triumphantly as she placed her hands on her hips with an affirmative "Hmph!".

Raum only stared on in amusement and slight bewilderment, feeling not so tired anymore after seeing what he did.

"Does nothing scare that little girl..?"

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 11)**

"Yo yo yo, it's ya bois Ciel and Leo ready to drop some knowledge on ya'll!"

Leonard simply sighed as he punched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head in a disappointment.

"Just kidding guys. We're totally not like some cancerous leeches on the Internet, right?" Ciel asked elbowing Leonard.

"I wonder about you sometimes…" he muttered silently.

"Anyway…" The shorter twin started as she covered Leonard's mouth with her hand, "Semblance Encyclopedia time ladies and gents! This week's subject..! She's blonde, she's awesome, and makes a damn mean knuckle sandwitch! The queen of temper tantrums herself...Yang Xiao Long!"

The blonde brawler herself stepped out on stage, waving to the audience before striking a pose and shooting out a piece sign.

"Ms. Xiao Long, thank you for being here today." Leonard said.

"No problem guys! Happy to be here."

"Wow! You must be hot, cause that new arm of yours is smoking!" Ciel said motioning both fingers to Yang.

"Thanks. I guess you can say...that I got a hand from people in high places!" She said motioning both fingers back to Ciel as they both laughed at their terrible jokes.

Leonard stood behind them, only now comprehending the apocalyptic proportions of these two meeting and becoming friends.

And it wasn't just the puns and jokes that would be devestating either.

"So Yang, tell us a bit your Semblance. I heard it's killer!"

"Totally! So, the way my Semblance works is that it absorbs the damage I take and then kind of reroutes through my body like a massive energy boost."

"Like buffing yourself before a boss room on Phantom Souls!"

"Yeah! Kinda like that! The more damage I take though, the harder I hit back. Though, it kinda has some drawbacks…"

"From what I've heard, you take the full brunt of the attacks instead of negating the damage like my sister does. That, and the key to winning agaianst you and your Semblance requires speedy and incredibly powerful attacks more than you can handle. And in order for you to use your Semblance more effectively, you have to take extensive damage."

"Like a give and take relationship pretty much."

"So how much damage do you dish out really when your Semblance is quote unquote charge up?" Asked Ciel.

"Mmmm… Double of all the damage I've taken. You've got something similar, right?"

"Yeah, but it works kind of like a double standard. The more damage I deal, the more damage I build up for an attack. Same for taking damage too. And then, I let out all the power I gathered in a single devestating attack that can even blow up mountains!"

"Woah! Really?!"

"Heck yeah!"

"Apocalyptic indeed…" Leonard muttered to himself as two continued chatting, "Well then, I believe that concludes this week's Semblance Encyclopedia. And the conclusion of this universe now that two of them are acquainted…" he said before clearing his throat, "In any case, do join us next week everyone. Until next time."

* * *

 **I've basically explained myself uptop and don't have anything clever to say since I'm still pretty exhausted.** **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	29. Chapter 29: The Devil and The Crow

**Chapter 29: The Devil and The Crow vs. The Scorpion and The Dragon**

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"And you know nothing pertaining to what these creatures may be? At all?" He asked the faceless beings amongst him.

The white, incandescent space he was in was filled with high rising seats for The Council members, like judges in their seats during a trial, though, this was more along the lines of Gods looking down upon their creations.

"Regretfully not." One of them spoke in a hollow, echoing voice, "These creatures are as foreign to us as they are to to you."

"We ordered a search in the archives, but were able to find nothing." Spoke another not too far away from his seat, "As you know, the archives were tampered with seventeen years ago, some knowledge not known to most disappearing with the lost records."

"We know a great deal, but even we of The Council know not everything." Spoke another, more feminine voice, "It is possible such records never existed. Or perhaps they too were lost amongst the records. One may never know really."

Although he was appointed by them, he never all too much trusted the members of The Council, save for one.

"And you wouldn't happen to be withholding information from me, would you?"

"Such impudence! Mind your tongue boy! Though we appointed you Great First of The Trinity, that does not put you above us..! Great First of The Trinity and presiding Angel of Primordial, Blanc Angelford!"

Shining emerald eyes finally moved up from his book as he met their "faceless" gazes, glaring at the beings callously.

"I understand that does not put me above you, but my title does put me near a similar authority to yours." Blanc replied as folded his black leather gloved hands together, leaning in towards the members from his chair, "As Great First, the protection of the various Worlds and their various Peoples are my priority. As such, I do not take kindly to potentially secrets being kept from me that would interfere with my ability to protect the People."

"We understand Sir Blanc." Spoke the feminine voice, "But we simply do not possess any information at this time concerning those creatures. The only time we've ever pulled records from the Archives was far before your time after the First Great War by decree of The Creator. It was only until after the previous Arch-Defender's sentencing did we restrict information to certain groups."

"Ah yes… That menace Dante…"

"You speak his name too freely, Sir Sixth…" Blanc said immediately.

"He was your close friend, was he not?"

"He was Sir Eighth, but as The Thirteen of you recall, he was threatening the balance that maintained the Laws of Creation. IF we are to Resurrect beings, then it is to be done so by our careful selection and through The Trials. The previous Arch-Defender was foolish to believe he could freely undo all the death that transpired within the week of The Betrayal. And because of this, he not only suffered the loss of his power, but was also left to rot near the boundary of Nothingness. It was by his own hand he put himself there."

"And you did not agree with his actions?" The feminine voice spoke.

"No Lady Third, I did not. Taking matters such as that into his own hands would threaten to disrupt the balance that has been set in place. That, and it would give others the impression that they too can 'undo death' as he did. Hence why we fabricated the truth behind his sentencing."

Blanc was starting to become annoyed. He didn't need a recollection of a fool's severe lack of judgement. Not when he was there to witness it all for himself.

"If you have no useful information for me, then I'll take my leave. I have important matters to attend to on Primordial."

"Very well then Sir Blanc. If you do find more information along the way, do keep us posted, yes?" Another feminine voice spoke

"Of course Lady Seventh."

Blanc snapped his fingers and immediately found himself in his leather seat back home within his massive study, moving over to the expansive library in front of him that seemingly spanned for miles, placing the book he was reading back in its place. He then moved himself back towards his desk, moving past it towards the large window that spanned over his estate.

The sun was almost ready to set for the day.

Blanc ran a hand through his slightly curly white hair before bringing up his Holographic display, moving to his messages and starting a new message list.

Celeste, Filia, Darwin, Rosswall Vermilion, Violet Royale, Sybil Stratos, Zack Charleston, Sibyl Livingston, Serenity Halfrid, Aiden Gravewalker, Siris Vertia, Abigail Mysterios.

It was time for all of them to be gathered his old allies so that he could share his news with them.

* * *

"As I live and breathe, Qrow Branwen. A true Huntsman has entered the fray!" The scorpion tailed Faunus exclaimed.

Qrow and Dante stood their ground, the older man looking back at Ruby for a moment who had given him a shrug.

"I don't know, this guy's weird."

"Look guys, I'm not sure who you are, but you need to leave my niece and the pipsqueak alone." Qrow stated, getting an annoyed glance from Dante.

The man chortled, and the man with the Grimm-like dragon mask simply stood where he was, not moving or making a sound.

Despite that, Dante could feel the large smile from behind his mask.

"Why, friend, my name is Tyrian, and I'm afraid that is not possible. My assignment from Her Grace was to retrieve this young girl. So, that is what I must do. One does not upset the Queen."

"Queen?" Ruby meekly asked.

"Salem…"

Dante glanced at Qrow momentarily, undoubtedly sure of the name he had just heard. But who exactly was this Salem? And why did suddenly take an interest in Ruby? That…

And what did this man in the mask want with him?

"Hmm, I think we've had enough talk now, don't you?" Tyrian stated to his temporary ally, who only gave him a shrug.

"Took the words right out of-!"

Tyrian rushed Qrow before he finished voicing his thought, and the two had moved away. Dante sidestepped a downwards strike from the Dragon Masked man's longsword of blackened bone, then raised his sword up to block a horizontal swipe that sent him skidding backwards into a building with great force.

A roof nearby had been damaged and Tyrian used the guns in the gloves of his wrist blades to shot at Qrow many times, Ren and Nora attempting to assist only to be forced away easily by Tyrian. He moved to go after them, but Qrow had immediately intervened, getting in his way.

"Don't come closer!" Qrow shouted to Ruby as he continued fighting the scorpion tailed Faunus.

Ruby looked to Dante, seeing him rapidly exchange blows with his opponent until they came to a powerful clash for but a moment. Both white and black swords were forced high up into the sky, leaving their owners without weapons as their fists made contact with one another.

Who was she going to help?

Without wasting another moment, Ruby took herself and Crescent Rose to the top of a building nearby and waited, looking for an opening to shoot Tyrian or the Dragon Masked man. However, both groups of fighters were moving way too fast for her to take aim and shoot.

Tyrian used his tail to disarm Qrow, finally allowing Ruby to repeatedly shoot at him from her perch on the roof, but Tyrian simply deflected each with his tail, without taking a glance behind him.

Undeterred, Qrow walked up and punched Tyrian in face before delivering a powerful kick to Tyrian's stomach to send him away. Qrow casually moved to retrieve his weapon from where it Kay embedded in a wall, his back exposed as Tyrian moved to strike, but the Huntsmen merely leapt on top of his own weapon and activated its scythe mode, their battle soon taking them to a rooftop nearby. They appeared to be on even ground until Tyrian descended into the building beneath and used his tail to drag Qrow down, too.

Looking off to the side from her tower, Ruby quickly found Dante being grabbed by the face, and ready to be slammed head first into the ground. But just as he was moving to the ground, he grappled his opponent, landed on his back, and tossed the man over him, allowing him to throw an Aura Sword in the direction of his actual sword. Reappearing instantly to his sword in streaks of white and black Aura, Dante grabbed hold of his weapon and blocked another swipe from his foe, his eyes looking to the side briefly to met Ruby's.

"I'm fine, go help your uncle!" Shouted the immortal as he broke his clash and lashed out with a powerful enough strike to force his opponent back.

Ruby hesitated a moment, but quickly decide to no longer stay back and dashed to the building where her uncle and Tyrian fought.

Qrow emerged from a wall, his body and his weapon bouncing before the weapon landed with its blade in the ground, Qrow placing his feet on the handle as both he and and his weapon slid to a halt, the man now perched atop it as flickers of damaged dark red Aura shone over his body twice.

Tyrian came out of the dust and grime inside the building, purple flickers moving across his body to show that the Aura protecting his body had suffered as well. As the two began to strike at one another again, Ruby jumped in between and deflected Tyrian's blades with Crescent Rose.

"Do you wish to be taken?!" The maniac asked.

"No! But I won't stand by and watch someone get hurt!"

Both Qrow and Ruby moved in to attack Tyrian together, only to result in a clash. His eyes shone purple again, Tyrian trying for Ruby with his stinger only to be intercepted by Qrow blocks it.

"Ruby! What did I say?! Get back!"

"This is my fight, too!" She said shrugging off his warning as she attacked Tyrian, still locked blade-to-blade with Qrow. But he made his legs arch away from the swing of Crescent Rose to free himself.

"No, it's not that! It's-!"

Ruby attacked again, only for Tyrian to move away from her attack, and forcibly flip and sends her backwards with a two-footed kick. She slid closer to the building and gained ground again, but the wooden beams above her had long since been shaken up, a large and heavy one breaking and descending upon her.

* * *

Dante blocked an incoming punch, and allowed his attacker a solid kick to his abdomen, only so that he could lock his foot in place, raise him up in the air to spin him a few times before slamming him down into the ground.

The man moved his head out of the way of a stomp, sweeping the immortals feet from out under him as he twirled and delivered and delivered a swift kick to his face. Dante himself spun around a bit after being hit in the face so forcefully, but quickly found ground soon after.

The Dragon Masked man moved in to pounce Dante, but the immortal quickly unleashed a flurry of round kicks and back heel kicks as he spun himself around quickly, forcing the man to block his onslaught of kicks. Soon after, Dante had finished up his combination attack with an upwards back heel kick from his left leg that swept both himself and his opponent up into the air, and swung his right leg across his body for another powerful kick.

Despite blocking and being taken up into the air, the man found a dive kick burying itself into his chest that sent him crashing into the earth, feet burying themselves into the ground as he skidded to a halt. He leapt backwards to avoid a continuous hail of Aura Swords that nearly skewered him, finding his sword lodged into the tree it planted itself in earlier. Unaware, Dante had reclaimed his weapon and was about ready to strike down his opponent from above.

Or so the immortal thought.

The Dragon Masked man twirled his bone-like longsword into a backhand position, turning his body slightly to block Dante's blade, resulting in another clash. For a brief moment, Dante looked over to the fight with Qrow and Tyrian, seeing Ruby doing her best to help.

But…

"Is that genuine concern I see?"

"Don't ask stupid questions..!" the immortal responded as he slowly began to overpower his opponent.

"Really? I thought it was a legitimate question. Are you actually concerned? Or are you just showing it?"

Dante immediately broke their clash and quickly batted his enemy away from him a good distance, who had blocked the dangerous strike to his neck.

"Now now, don't be too angry with me."

"Saying nonsense like that gets me angry. So how about you stop talking trash and get this over with?"

"Oh? You want me to end this so soon? Such a shame… And here I was hoping I'd get to know more about you."

"From the sound of it you already know a lot about me."

"Only what I've heard really and rarely saw. You're quite the accomplished young man aren't you?"

"I don't care about titles or anything like that. I'm not looking to get famous, only to do right by people as best I can."

"Ah yes, so righteous and noble." The Dragon Masked man replied as he strode off to the side, "But in reality, you're not really like that are you? Noble. Righteous."

"You're starting to bore me, so cut to the chase about your monologue."

The man stopped in place, letting out a sigh of disappointment that he could not continue as he intended.

"You're trying a little too hard to pretend aren't you?"

Silence. But the glare he shot the man conveyed his thoughts and feelings clearly.

"You know that your power is far greater than most if not all existing Huntsmen on this planet. In fact, I think you're even better than the Warrior King of Vale that existed once upon a time."

The immortal had heard stories before in Oobleck's classes. And he made sure to pay special attention to those lectures.

"An embodiment of might and righteousness… Say, you wouldn't happen to be a fan copying him, would you?" The man teased.

"If you're gonna ask stupid questions-"

"I'm just having a bit of fun."

Dante wasn't having fun.

"Yet at the same time I'm also trying to pick you apart to understand you more."

Figures.

"It's hard to pin a motivation to you, why you do what you do. So why are you here? What is it that you're doing exactly?"

"I'm just trying to do the right thing. Nothing more, nothing less. I just go to greater lengths than most ever will."

"That much I could ascertain myself. But tell me…" the Dragon Masked man asked as he faced Dante once more, "How much of yourself is still left after constantly 'trying to do the right thing'? Not much I would imagine."

Dante heard loud crashing behind him, seeing Qrow and Ruby struggling against, only embolden his desire to abandon his fight with his current opponent to go help them.

But he knew his opponent wouldn't allow him the chance to escape.

"Are you done?"

"With questions, yes. But as to stress testing you…" the air shivered and quaked violently around them as the immense pressure of the man's Aura flooded the field, "We still have some time before I need to go."

The man rushed forward at great speed and continuously assaulted Dante, an onslaught of blades keeping him from attacking regularly.

He was trying to crush him.

Dante would crush him first.

Instead of it happening like the Dragon Masked man wanted, it was in fact Dante who had pushed him back, following up with a downwards strike into the ground to raise it up with jagged points, lik spears.

The man would have been speared had he not leapt back.

Dante's head turned to see Ruby and Qrow seemingly argue over something, exchanging a few blows with Tyrian, and then…

A beam that was about to fall on Ruby.

With a sigh, the man said "If you're really that persistent about saving them, then go on ahead."

Dante was already running in that direction, subtly placing himself so that the Dragon Masked man would slowly force him back in their direction.

"Psych."

The man rushed forwards with his blackened sword, gaining on Dante almost immediately as both had taken in the sight of Qrow being sliced by Tyrian stinger across his abdomen.

Dante moved even quicker when he saw the stinger making for Ruby. But his opponent wasn't going to let him have his way.

Or so he thought.

The man swung at Dante, but only saw the immortal smile as he raised his sword to block the attack. The force from the swing he blocked was enough to send him flying backwards with great speed exactly in the direction he needed to.

Instead of being furious like most would, the Dragon Masked man chuckled and remained where he was, watching Dante fly towards the other group with a skidding halt, just in time for him to grab the stinger before it hit Ruby.

All were surprised, but only Ruby acted quickly enough and used Crescent Rose to cut Tyrian's tail off, who reeled back and cried out from the pain.

"You bitch!"

Standing up, he whirled to face Ruby with intense fury, but before he did anything, a shadowy, armored hand crashed into the side of his face sending him tumbling on his back until he crashed into another building a short distance away.

Tyrian took a few awkward steps as he stood back up, not engaging any of them due to the realization he was sorely outmatched now that his tail was absent.

Retreat was his only option.

"She'll forgive you… She'll forgive you…"

With that, Tyrian tucked whatever tail he had left and ran away as quickly as possibly.

Dante surveyed the area quickly, looking back to where he last saw the Dragon Masked man to see that he was gone. Even his Aura Signature had vanished from the area. He then looked to Qrow, who had still been upright with his weapon at the ready for a few more moment until he collapsed to one knee and clutched at his wound, panting heavily.

"Uncle Qrow! Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. He just grazed me."

He didn't look fine, not with how his hand was shaking and the traces of blood on it.

"Who were those guys?" Asked Nora as she, Ren and Jaune ran to them.

"How did you get here?" Ren asked Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow? What's going on?"

He didn't respond to Ruby at first, only briefly glancing to Dante as he did the same, only rolling his eyes as he continued keeping watch.

"What's your favorite fairy tale?"

* * *

Around a campfire, Ruby, Dante and the others sat on logs, taking in the information that Qrow just gave them about the Maidens. Only silence met Qrow, who took a swig from his flask and looked around once again, waiting for anyone to say something.

"Really? No questions?"

"Of course we have questions. This is just...a lot to take in…" Jaune stated.

"Sure, of course."

"So these Maidens... They're powerful fighters that don't need Dust to use magic?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah."

"And there are four of them?" Nora asked.

"Yup. Always."

"Which means that, whenever one of them dies, the power transfers to someone, a female, that they cared about?"

"Whoever was in their thoughts last." Qrow corrected Ren, "Important distinction. Best option is someone we can trust. Regardless, their souls become combined in a way."

"And that's what you were trying to do to Pyrrha... The night the tower fell... You were trying to turn her into one of them." Jaune said, finally realizing what was attempted that night.

"The previous Fall Maiden, Amber, had been attacked. She was young, inexperienced. And her assailant, who we now know is Cinder, somehow managed to steal some of her power, but not all of it. We were afraid that if we didn't do something, the rest would go to her as well."

"So you forced it on Pyrrha…"

"They didn't force anything on her Jaune." Dante quickly defended, "They gave her a rundown of the situation and gave her a choice. She could have declined at any moment if she wanted to and just walked away. But she didn't."

Jaune briefly looked as though he wanted to say something in response, but he soon hung his head for a moment before getting up and walking several feet away from group.

"That guy, Tyrian… Why was he after me? And why was that weirdo in the mask after Dante?"

"Well, you definitely painted a target on your back with what you did at Beacon." Qrow said with a sigh, "I told you having silver eyes is a rare trait. And the fact that you were able to use them seems to have upset some very powerful people."

Enough that they would send an assassin after Ruby, something that troubled Dante greatly.

That man Tyrian certainly wasn't going to be the last they would encounter.

"Not many people know about the silver eyes." Qrow continued, "Those that do aren't very happy that one has surfaced. That's why I've been keeping an eye on you in order to make sure you were safe. All of you."

"Well then, why not just travel with us? It seems like that would've been way easier."

Dante already knew of one reason, but there was something else to it…

"He was using you as bait."

And of course, Jaune, the paragon of optimism and happiness, had to say the alterior motive for Qrow's decision to hang back, even if it wasn't his main reason.

"Look, I wouldn't put it like that. It's complicated."

"What is all of this? Ruby's being hunted, the schools are being attacked, all for what?! What is the point of all of this?! Will you just tell us what's going on?!"

Qrow stared at him a moment before slouching over with a sigh.

"Would you sit down? You're stressin' me out kid…"

Jaune took a moment before he finally sat back down on his log and crossed his arms, giving time for Qrow to take another swig, but stopped midway before the flask reached his lips.

"Not many people are super religious these days. This world's been around for a long time, long enough that people have created dozens of gods. But if you believe Ozpin, two of them are actually real."

Dante paid particular attention to Qrow's words upon hearing "gods". If ever there was a deific presence, he wanted to know about it quickly so that he could decide whether or not to kill him or her.

He didn't have a particularly good time dealing with deities during his previous experiences.

"They were two brothers. The older sibling, the god of light, found joy in creating forces of life. Meanwhile, the younger brother, the god of darkness, spent his time creating forces of destruction. As you can imagine, they both had pretty different ideas about how things should go." Qrow explained, "The older one would spend his days creating water, plants, wildlife. And at night, his brother would wake to see all the things that the elder had made and become disgusted. To counteract his brother's creations, the god of darkness brought drought, fire, famine, all he could do to rid Remnant of life."

As gods of destruction usually do.

"Life always returned. So one night, the younger brother went and made something, something that shared his innate desire to destroy anything and everything."

"The creatures of Grimm…" Ruby spoke up.

"You guessed it. The older brother finally had enough. Knowing that their feud couldn't last like this forever, he proposed that they make one final creation together, something that they could both be proud of, their masterpiece. The younger brother agreed. This last great creation would be given the power to both create and destroy. It would be given the gift of knowledge, so that it could learn about itself and the world around it. And most importantly, it would be given the power to choose, to have free will to take everything it had learned and decide which path to follow; the path of light...or the path of darkness. And that is how Humanity came to be."

"But...what does that have to do with us?" Asked Ruby.

"Well, that's the kicker. See, the four gifts to mankind, knowledge, creation, destruction and choice, aren't just metaphorical. Each of them exists in a physical form, left behind by the gods before they abandoned Remnant, and each of them is extraordinarily powerful. If someone were to collect all four, they'd be able to change the world."

There was always some fool who wanted to change the world to their "perfected" vision.

"That's exactly what the enemy wants. The Huntsman Academies were created to train generations of Humanity's protectors, but they also serve another purpose; guarding the Relics. When Ozpin's predecessor founded the schools, he built them around the Relics to act as a fortress. Not only would they be easier to defend, but they would constantly be surrounded by trained warriors. The hope was that hiding them would keep mankind from using them against itself… And of course, keeping them out of her reach. So yeah, there's that."

"Her... You mean Salem?" Ruby asked.

Salem… A name Dante has heard a few times now…

"That's right. Not much is known about her. Quite frankly, that's not what matters. What matters right now is that she wants the Relics, and if she gets them, it's not going to end well."

"Alright. So, let's say we believe all this. There really is this crazy evil being behind these attacks, not just some thugs trying to become powerful. Why doesn't the world know? Why isn't Atlas going after them? Or Mistral?" Jaune Asked,

"And why aren't we in more of a hurry to get to Haven? Shouldn't we be getting them a message? What if they're next?"

"The headmaster over there saw what happened to Beacon. He's not dumb. He'll be on his guard. Besides, it takes time to mobilize forces like that. Do you really think they planned out that attack on Beacon overnight?" Qrow answered Nora, "And to answer your question…" he said pointing to Jaune, "It's the same reason we keep quiet about the Maidens. If the whole world knew about the Relics, about Salem, there would be chaos. There'd be another Great War on our hands, and this time, you'd have to fight."

Jaune glanced away, thinking quite possibly of the potential terror of having to fight in a war.

"Look, I had the same questions, too. But ol' Ozpin would always put his foot down. 'We can't cause a panic.' Heh, can't tell you how many times I've heard that... Salem's smart. She works from the shadows, using others to get what she wants, so that when it comes time to place the blame, we can only point at each other. She's trying to divide us. And so far, she's done a pretty damn good job."

"Alright, so what should we do?" Ruby asked her uncle, noticing all eyes on him at the moment

"I don't really know." He said with a chuckle.

The teens all looked at each other, surprised and nervous. Dante remained indifferent upon hearing such news. It wasn't exactly his first time putting a stop to a "world-ending" plan without an actual, well thought out plan to act as a counter.

He normally battled his way through and used his wits whenever possible. Usually things weren't so clear cut until towards the end, hence why no real solution came to mind until in those moments.

But that was all before when he had actual power to make a difference to anything that could possibly come his way. He was weaker now, and he realized his weakening all too well. Given time however, his power would grow well enough.

Time however wasn't always in his favor.

"Ozpin's put a lot of trust in the headmasters. Like I said, the schools are an important part of stopping Salem. Atlas is going to be on high alert after the last attack, and Vacuo is...well, Vacuo. It'll be hard to hire thieves and scoundrels to fight against other thieves and scoundrels. Take that, add in the fact that Cinder and her crew claim to be from Haven, and I think it's likely the next target. So, we're on our way to the headmaster. Haven't heard from him in a while, even before the attack. I'm hoping he has the answers."

But if he didn't? What then? Where would they go next if their lead was suddenly a dead end? Who would they have to focus on?

Qrow's logic, and Ozpin's for that matter, seemed sound in making Haven the next place to be attacked. If that were the case, could they defend against an attack..?

 _Can I actually save people this time..?_

"Alright, I think it's time you kids got some sleep."

"Uncle Qrow?"

"Yeah?" Qrow said as he turned to his now standing niece.

"This is a lot to take in, and it all sounds crazy, but... I'm willing to do whatever I can to help because I trust you. But why couldn't you trust me? Why couldn't you just travel with us, instead of this secrecy, and, and-"

"Look, this has nothing to do with trust. I-It's a long story, okay..?"

"Seriously? Now you're tired of telling us stories?" Nora asked.

Qrow stared at the fire in silence before picking up a stick and poking at the fire, soon telling his tale.

"Did you know that crows are a sign of bad luck? Old superstition, but it's how I got my name. See, some people can absorb electricity, some people can burst into rose petals, some people can unload their Aura for devastating attacks, and some people are just born unlucky. My Semblance isn't like most, it's not exactly something I do. It's always there, whether I like it or not. I bring misfortune." He said with a bitter chuckle.

Misfortune… Like-

"I guess you could call me a bad luck charm. Comes in real handy when I'm fighting an enemy, but it makes it a little hard on friends… And family…" Qrow finished standing up, holding his side.

"Well, you are just a real bundle of help, aren't you?"

Jaune didn't really notice it at the time, but Ruby and Dante shot glares at him as soon as he said that. That wasn't really called for.

"Yeah…" He said walking away from the campfire slowly.

"Where are you going?" Asked Ren.

"Taking a walk."

There's nothing else you want to tell us?" Ruby asked, expecting something else from her uncle.

"Not tonight."

He continued his slow walk away, leaving the five teenagers to themselves as the log he had prodded at earlier rolled out of the campfire. Once he was out of view for certain, Dante spoke his mind.

"Word to the wise Jaune, there's some things you say and some things you keep to yourself."

Everyone stared in the immortal's direction, Jaune shooting a particularly angry glare.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If I have to explain your foolishness to you, then clearly something is wrong."

Jaune immediately stood up and took a few steps forward, stopping just short of Dante as he stood up with an indifferent and unimpressed gaze.

"If you think a cold stare and a menacing approach is anywhere near close enough to intimidate me, then you've clearly lost any sensibility to you. So...why don't you turn in for the night, yeah?"

The glaring continued between the two for a few silent moments as the others watched with concern, the silence broken by Dante making a clicking noise twice as if he were speaking to a horse and nodding his head in the direction of the sleeping bags further away. Jaune seemed furious, but instead of doing as he intended, he simply walked off, ignoring the immortal as he sat back down on his log.

"What is with you two?" Asked Ruby.

"Yeah, ever since you found us again, things with you and jaune have been pretty dicey. What's up with that?"

"Don't know, don't care." Said Dante answering Nora as he leaned back fully on his log, ah es behind his head and crossing one leg over the other, "All I know is whatever beef he's got with me, for whatever stupid reason it may be, he needs to stow it until we get to Haven. We can't have problems like this out here in the wild, too easy to take advantage off. Or worse."

"Worse..?" Ruby questioned.

"Anger makes people say and do stupid things. I should know. In any case, he needs to get over his temper tantrum soon and sort out his nonsense. Otherwise it's going to get him killed."

"Wouldn't it be simpler to talk things out?" Suggested Ren.

"Nothing is simple with Jaune." Stated Dante, "Right now isn't the time for 'a talk'. When it is, I'll speak with him or whatever to figure this out. For now, you guys get some rest since I'll keep watch tonight."

The all gave him a hesitant glance. After today's events, sleep was the last thing on their minds. But they needed to rest. Should either of the two attackers come after them again, they needed to have their rest.

"Go on and sleep guys. No one and nothing is getting in this camp tonight."

"If you say so…" Ren said as he and Nora stood up and went to their sleeping bags to turn in for the night.

The immortal unsheathed his sword and glanced over it quickly, spotting no dents or chips in the blade, which was a bit surprising given how hard the Dragon Masked man was swinging at him.

Even though his Proxy called Anvil a replicated fake, it was still an excellent weapon. That at least wasn't surprising given the materials he used to create it…

"H-Hey…" Ruby said taking a seat next to Dante, "Can we talk a minute?"

"I already know what it's about." Dante said with a sigh as he sheathed his weapon, "Sorry, but I wasn't exactly going to allow him to talk like that to your uncle and not say anything about it."

"I'm glad and all but… What's going on between you two? What happened?"

"If I knew, I'd have already fixed the problem. But I don't, so I can't. For all we know, Jaune's just being stupid…"

"That isn't all too fair…"

"Well, it won't be fair if whatever's eating him is going to hurt us in the long run. It's like I said earlier, stuff like that needs to be left behind when we're out here. It'll weigh heavily on the mind and get someone distracted. Someone gets distracted and makes the wrong move, people get hurt. And I don't want that happening to anyone. Not even Jaune despite how much of a jerk he's been."

"I get that, but… Go easy on him a bit? Things...haven't been easy for him since…"

"I know. Trust me when I say I'll do my best."

Ruby scooted closer to him until she hugged his left arm and leaned her head on him, the two watching the flames flicker softly in the night as tiny embers rose up, only to fade into the darkness of the night.

"The camp is safe, right..?" asked Ruby.

"I attuned all the Aura Swords I placed around camp to everyone's Aura Signature and made them invisible. They won't hurt anyone of us. It'll be like they're not even there for you guys."

"The that means you can rest too."

"Well…"

"No way. You're sleeping too."

"But-"

"No buts! Remember what I said?"

How could he forget?

"I remember…"

"Great! Then you have to carry me as punishment!"

"Fiiine." he said lifting her up immediately despite the small twinge of pain in his right arm.

The immortal carried Ruby with him all the way to "their" sleeping bag, settling her inside it. As he was about to turn around, Ruby patted the empty space near her, prompting Dante to lower himself to the ground and climb inside the bag, zipping it up shortly after.

Hearing a happy giggle, he found arms wrapped around his waist, feeling Ruby against his back as she clung to him tightly and nuzzled her head into his back.

"You do realize the chances of me sleeping is next to none, right?" he said as he spun himself around, back facing the ground as the young girl's head now rested on his chest.

"You're here with me…" she spoke softly as she closed her eyes, "That's all that matters."

* * *

"My my, that was a bit more troublesome than I expected…"

The man sat near a fire of his own making, taking a seat on a small tree stump and staring deeply into the flames through the eyeholes of his Dragon-like mask, which he soon removed with a heavy sigh. His chin length, messy black hair flowed freely now, his narrowed to slits as he sported a snake-like grin on his face.

"If I didn't leave as soon as did, they might have all tried to fight me at once. Not that it matters really."

He looked around himself, as if the realization that he was alone suddenly struck him.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot..."

He let out a small and short hum as he looked ahead of him, seeing a mass of shadow creeping out from the forest and standing tall, taking on the shape of a man with a similar mask design, only the horns on this new arrivals mask were numerous and much more twisted.

"You've been busy, Aizûr…" the shadowy figure spoke to the Dragon Masked man.

"Oh? Well this is unexpected. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon." Aizûr spoke as a hand reached out from under his black cloak to rest his chin in his palm.

"It is quite difficult to ignore your overwhelming Aura Signature… I assume this means you've made contact with the boy?"

"Indeed I have."

"And? Your impressions?"

Aizûr hummed to himself a moment, his narrow, slit-eyed gaze falling back on his ally a few moments later.

"He is quite impressive. As he is now, he isn't all too much of a threat. His mind is clouded with fear. But more than anything, he has his doubts, moreso pertaining to himself really."

"The the chances of him defeating Scylix are..?"

"Low at the moment." said Aizûr waving his hand before resting his chin in it again, "He isn't entirely motivated really. And to be honest, I can see why."

"Then he's of no use to us…" the shadow said turning to leave

"Now now, I wouldn't write him off so quickly if I were you."

The shadow stopped, turning to face Aizûr once again as he still kept his wide grin about him.

"True as it may be that he lacks the motivation required at the moment, I believe it'll only be a matter of time before he gains that which he needs."

"Time that we don't have really. With Scylix and that pretender Salem at the front of things, it won't be long before they make their move, Scylix being the frontrunner to it all. She is as great a threat as Salem now if not greater considering her goal doesn't pertain to collecting any of the Relics."

"Ah yes, the relics hidden within the Huntsmen Academies… Quite a serious threat in its own right, wouldn't you agree?" asked Aizûr.

"The Pretender is of no concern to us at the moment. Though the advancement of her plans may give her confidence, they will crumble in time by the efforts of Humanity and the Faunus. They are sorely mistaken to think that what she brings is terror." the shadow spoke as he wandered around the campfire towards Aizûr, "It is us that they will be more afraid of in time."

"But that time currently isn't now. And it won't be for a good while either. Besides that, I wouldn't go and underestimate humanity and the Faunus if I were you. Not with their respective defenders in the fray at the moment."

"Do you honestly believe that boy and his allies can offer that much of a threat to us? That they can disrupt milenia upon milenia of planning?"

"They are quite unpredictable from what I've seen so far these past few months. Even the current group he's traveling with can be a bit of a problem."

"Hmph… I shall see that for myself." the figure spoke as he walked towards the darkness of the forest, "Wait upon me. I will join you within a few days time to discern his abilities for myself, as well as those of his allies. I'll be bringing others with me to occupy them."

"Of course. By the way, did Brígo and Râk perish recently? I haven't been able to contact either of them for some time now."

"They did. As to who is responsible, that is what is currently unknown. Though, it is suspected they were in league with whoever created the towers across Anima."

"So they betrayed us then…" Aizûr stated for himself, "Serves them right I suppose."

"Quite. Be aware that Sca'âtha is currently within Anima at this time for his own reasons."

"Oh? He's in Anima as well? It has been quite some time... Where in Anima is he?" asked Aizûr.

"Near the village with the Dragon Faunus I believe. If that's all, I'll be on my way then. Unlike you, I have actual work to do."

Aizûr chuckled at his brother's statement as he lifted two of the small skewers he fashioned earlier from the firepit, both containing a cooked fish on both pieces of wood.

"Want one to take back for your actual body to eat?"

"No, I'm quite full as is." stated the shadow as he walked off into the forest, "Remember to await my call, Aizûr." he spoke a final time as he vanished.

Aizûr let out a sigh as he placed one of the skewers back into the fire, noticing the flame was slowly dying. Sticking out his finger, a small bolt of blue lightning emerging from his fingertip, rekindling the flame as it grew bright and strong once again.

"Troublesome indeed…"

* * *

He was...shocked. Rarely did he ever sleep, much less willingly. But for once, he simply closed his eyes and...drifted away. Of course, at the moment, he was only partially awake, enough so that he was aware of his surroundings and any noises. And from the look of it, no one seemed to be awake at this time. Save for one, cute little reaper who was currently playing with the longer strands of the young immortal's pure white hair.

"What are you doing..?" he asked groggily, eyes still shut.

"Nothing~!" was the only response he got from Ruby as she giggled happily to herself, "What was that about incredibly low chances of sleeping?"

He remained silent despite the wide grin and silent laughter from Ruby, the immortal soon smiling himself as he slowly rose up with the young reaper, both still in the confines of their shared sleeping bag.

Dante waved his left hand in front of him out towards his side, hundreds of Aura Swords made from white and black Aura shimmering into view, Ruby staring in profound awe at the sight of the swords that remained perfectly motionless in the air.

"It's not that amazing…"

"Are you kidding?! You can make floating swords! Correction, floating swords that fly through the air faster than my bullets and hit harder! And that's not even all you can do!"

All he could do was scratch his head in embarrassment.

"You are way too humble! You should be proud of yourself more!"

"I know." Dante replied, "I just don't like bragging is all. And when I do brag, it's usually for the sake of a joke."

"Still too humble."

"Give me a break already…" the immortal pleaded to Ruby's amusement, "I'm surprised your uncle didn't drag me out and string me up somewhere… Speaking of which…"

No matter how quickly he searched, Dante could not spot Qrow anywhere. Had he gone for a walk?

"See him anywhere?" Dante asked.

"No…" Ruby asked, her concern growing larger by the second, both hurriedly standing up.

The couple moved through the camp silently enough to not disturb Ren, Nora and Jaune, soon finding the veteran Huntsmen a short distance away, slouching against a tree. Both were relieved, but relief had quickly vanished once they looked to his wound, seeing purple-colored stains emerging from his bandages as he coughed violently.

He stared at his wound, then stared at the two teens, offering them a wry chuckle before saying, "Well… That's unfortunate…" and promptly passed out soon after.

"Uncle Qrow!"

Both had quickly lowered themselves to the ground, Ruby helping Dante lay her uncle flat on the ground as the immortal's left index finger became a shadowy claw that allowed him to effortlessly cut the cloth covering his wound.

"Damn it… I should have known better than to assume there'd be no poison since he's a Faunus..!"

"Poison?!"

"Scorpion toxin affects the muscles in order to paralyze and sometimes kill a target, almost like snake venom." the immortal said as he checked the wound, "This is why I leave all the medical stuff to Inuba… She knows infinitely more about this nonsense than I do… In the case where I did assume that lunatic could poison your uncle, I thought his Aura would heal him, but it looks as though this venom is special in that it counteracts healing…"

"What's wrong with him?!" asked Nora as she, Jaune and Ren quickly approached.

"That lunatic's tail had poison in it when he stung Qrow…" the immortal quickly responded as Ruby zipped away and back to him immediately with his bag.

"Can't you do something?" Jaune asked.

"Unfortunately Jaune, I'm not as perfect as the general consensus would have you believe." he said applying Inuba's ointment to Qrow's wound, "I specialize more along the lines of killing things thousands of times bigger than you."

"You're right about that one…"

"Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed before turning back to Dante, "Is he going to be alright?!"

"I don't know… The ointment I applied is a sort of multi-purpose ointment, meaning it can help close wounds, clean them, counteract toxins, foreign contaminants, etc. I can't guarantee it'll work entirely well on him. My partner didn't exactly have time to look at the various toxins and poisons here on Remnant to make anything remotely usable for this sort of situation, just what she knew already."

He was beginning to curse himself within the inner confines of his mind for sending Inuba to deal with one of the towers. The immortal knew full well he wasn't even remotely close to being experienced in the medical field as his partner Inuba was. At most, he figured he would have to treat normal injuries and the like. But never did he assume they would run into an assassin out in the wilds of all things, especially since he had no prior knowledge concerning the man that called himself Tyrian.

Dante let out a frustrated sigh as he finished wrapping the new bandages on Qrow's wound, staring down at him and shaking his head.

"Like I said, that ointment won't do much. It'll slow the toxins down at best. We need to get him out of here and get him help elsewhere. That, or pray to whatever gods that exist in this World that my partner manages to find us."

"Where is your partner? Didn't you say you were traveling with a group?" asked Ren.

"I was but… It's a long story that we don't have time for. If I calculated things correctly, we're just on the cusp of getting to Mistral, a few days at best. Which means my partner can't be too far behind since we split up more than a week ago. If we're lucky, she'll catch up with us. But we can't just rely on that."

While Dante did manage to restore some call functions to his Scroll, Inuba's, his siblings and Raum, they only worked in the case of short distance signal boosters, that way the group could reach each other at any time over wide and lengthy areas. But they were too spread apart for a call to reach any of them.

While the Soul-Link he had with Inuba was re-established, the psychic link he once shared with her did not remain, which meant they couldn't broadcast each other's thoughts between them.

There was no way to reach her at present.

But there was a way to leave her a sign.

"Get him prepped to be moved." Dante said as he quickly rose up to allow Nora and Ren in to help.

"What are you going to do?" Ruby asked.

"Leave a sign behind…" the immortal responded as he waved his left hand in the air, his white and black Aura flowing into the earth to create an imprinted image.

 _Let's hope you still remember this one Inuba…_

* * *

 **(Omake: Fishy Deviants, by me)**

"Are you sure you don't want any finish? I even seasoned it to make it more delicious." Aizûr asked his shadowy compatriot.

"I thought I told you I was already I do not want any fish."

"Oh come on, you made an effort to get here. You may as well take this back to your real body so you can eat."

"Fish aren't something I actually enjoy."

"What if I pan fry it?"

"No."

"Grill it?"

"No."

"Take out all the bones from it?"

"No."

"Smoke it?"

"Aizûr-"

"The last time you and I traveled together, we went to an establishment within a city that a locale that sold 'sushi'. As I recall, when you ate some, you said 'Well now, this is a rather adequate and delectable meal'. So, are you really going to lie about liking fish? What would the others think if they heard you went to such lengths to hide the fact that you enjoy fish?"

Despite Aizûr's trickery and mischief, he made an argument compelling enough for his shadowy ally to reach out and grab the fish skewer.

"You will speak of this to no one."

"You know I'm not one for gossip." Aizûr stated with his seemingly permanent grin, "Bye bye now!"

The shadow disappeared within the darkness of the forest, and the Dragon Masked man known as Aizûr let out a deep sigh as he continued cooking the last of his fish.

"He should be more honest with himself."

* * *

 **(Weapon's Illustrated 12)**

"Alright Dante, whose weapon should we talk about today?" Ruby asked, slowly kicking her legs up and down eagerly from her seat.

"Hmmm… You know, we can talk about my partner Inuba's weapon."

"Oooooooo~! Tell us about it!"

"Well, for starters, it actually used to be my weapon years ago. It was made for me during the time I was in the CGA after I was involved in some conflict in her HomeRealm, The Apparition World, with her brother Akihito. After everything got resolved, it was made for me by the their family as a gift."

"So? What can it do it?"

"In all honesty, it pretty much is just a katana. But not a normal one of course. DarkLight Antithesis was specially made for me in regards to my powers. While it was made to channel powers involving light, it was mainly created for the purpose of channeling my Darkness Essence, giving me way better control over my abilities and making them more...precise. Clean cut you know?"

"How does it work with Inuba?"

"Well, since my partner's abilities are Light Essence based with the addition of fire as her element, it really enhances her abilities and give her better control of them. Makes it efficient too, that way when she uses her Aura related abilities, the cost isn't big. It actually makes the cost so minimal that she can use her abilities more frequently without pause."

"Sooo… It's a weapon that enhances a person's abilities if they're Light or Dark based, and also cuts the cost of Aura based abilities?"

"Yup. The other thing to take note of is DarkLight Antithesis' extreme sharpness to make cutting through the toughest of objects and hides very easy, especially when channeling Aura. The other thing is its super tough durability, though, that feature was made more for us rather than being able to block attacks."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, problem is that Inuba and I hit really really hard. So we sometimes landed ourselves in situations were the sheer force of our strikes actually broke our weapons when in combat. So the super tough durability was incorporated to counter that little problem we had. As a sort of added bonus, it makes the weapon really durable against enemy attacks."

"So there's no other features?"

"Mmmmm… Maybe, but I wouldn't know. She hasn't said anything about it if there were new features, though knowing her, she probably did add a new feature to it somewhere in between."

"I guess we won't know until we see it… Well, thanks for joining us again everyone! We'll be seeing you next time with Ciel and Leo! Bye bye now!"

* * *

 **Hey everyone! I know I said I wouldn't be all to busy since I have only one final basically (by the time I'm writing and posting this I've actually completed that one final), but I've been busy with other things throughout the week as well as making plans for when I go home and when I come back. You know, general stuff in life.**

 **Other than that, I have been playing Curse of Osiris, and in my opinion... Its ok, but not entirely great. I mean, I'm sort of the optimist who's just happy to have gotten a DLC that somewhat expands on story and the like, but I can definitely see and agree with some of the grievances other players and people have had. If you're on the fence about it, buy it if you want. I'm not really making a recommendation nor saying "Stay away" or "Don't buy it", it's more or less up to you for this one.**

 **Also, Monster Hunter World. Sweet Suffering Gods.**

 **Honest to God, before they released the MHW Beta this weekend, I've never touched a MH game in my entire life, but have heard of them and seen some gameplay. IT WAS REALLY FUN, so I might end up buying it.**

 **In any case, that's all I have for now. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	30. Chapter 30: Two Steps Back

**Chapter 30: Two Steps Back**

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The dreary sky and landscape seemed to continue onwards infinitely, as if there would never be an end in sight. Ruby led at the front, making sure the path ahead was clear. Dante and Jaune carried Qrow on a makeshift stretcher they put together, and Ren and Nora guarded the rear, making sure nothing crept up from behind.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help carry him?" Ruby asked as she turned to look at Dante and his right arm.

He had some time to wrap up his hand and arm, but it still burned quite a bit after extensive use of Shadow Skin for said arm. Regardless, he said he was going to help carry Qrow.

"It's alright. We can manage."

"But your arm…"

"It doesn't hurt that bad. It's fine Ruby, really. Just keep watch for us up front, please."

They both looked behind to Qrow, who was groaning in pain as he spoke, "Tai… She's not…coming...Tai…"

His next few coughs were rather violent, but they quickly died down as he remained almost motionless.

"He's getting worse."

That much was obvious.

"How much farther?" Ruby asked.

"We've gotta be close."

"Without the map, there's no way of knowing. But I feel like we're close to something."

And guess which blonde idiot tossed the map instead of putting it away?

Ren holstered StormFlower, catching everyone's attention as they all came to a halt.

"What is it?" Ruby asked.

Directly ahead of them was a fork in the road with a signpost. Kuchinashi and Mistral were to the right, where the land was vastly mountainous, which would make it difficult to travel through with Qrow in tow. To the left was Kuroyuri, however, it's name was crossed out, which very likely meant the town had been destroyed. The path was more straightforward and laid out. But did that mean there would be more enemy forces to deal with? Would that maniac Tyrian come after them again?

Would that man in the Dragon mask appear before them again?

"Hey, hey! Mistral! We're on the right path!" Nora stated.

"Does it say how close?!" Ruby quickly asked.

"No. And it looks like the path takes us up the mountains."

"We climb the path through the mountain, we'll get there eventually, but we'll have spent a lot of energy making sure Qrow is alright. We do that, and one of those maniacs might catch us off guard." Dante stated as he and Jaune set Qrow down gently, allowing the immortal to point forward, "We go on the path through here, we might run into some trouble, or not at all. But at least we'll already be on our toes and spend less energy trying to traverse uneven and dangerous terrain."

"Right! And we can pass through, and-"

"The town was destroyed long ago. And it will take too long."

Ruby insisted, "The town would have had a doctor, right? Maybe we could scavenge for medicine!"

"Chances of that are low, but it's worth a try. There could be something that'll counteract the toxin-"

"We're not going to find anything! We just have to press on!" Ren shouted, something that was frankly uncharacteristic of him.

It wasn't only that. Ever since they entered this area, Ren had become extremely tense, more so now that it was established Kuroyuri was directly ahead.

"We can split up." Nora suggested, "Ren and I can cut through the mountains while you, Dante and Jaune take Qrow around through the village."

"No, we're supposed to stick together! We keep each other safe!" Jaune said.

"I'm sorta with Jaune on this one. There's some benefit to splitting up, but there's also significant risk. I know you two can handle yourselves, but it's not Grimm that I'm worried about."

"I get it, but we don't have time for safe! If we make it to Mistral, we can bring back help! If we don't, at least we'll have a better view of the land! Up there, we can see if there's somewhere else we can go!"

Ren turned and looked to Nora, both exchanging small, affectionate smiles. Still holding his gaze, Nora drops her hand from his shoulder.

All four remained silent, feeling the harsh weight of the choice before them. Either choice could mean great danger for everyone, especially death.

"If you guys feel like this is the right way to go about it, then by all means. Just be careful guys."

Jaune stepped forward as he and Ren shared a brief hug, Nora quickly hugging both Ruby and Dante.

"Take care of each other you two." Ruby said.

"We always have." She said letting go of them before she and Ren headed off towards the mountain path.

Dante let out a silent sigh as he raised up his left hand, thirty Aura Swords quickly forming around Ruby, Jaune, and himself before he snapped his fingers, making them invisible and intangible to the three of them.

"Alright, let's get moving. We've got a long way to go."

* * *

Inuba dipped herself lower in the clear water spring she heated into a sort of hot spring bath of sorts using her flame, letting out a well deserved sigh of relaxation. On top of dealing with the various types of Grimm lurking about, there were now stolen, mechanized units wandering about Anima.

And the closer she got to the tower, the more of them there seemed to be.

Thankfully, she wasn't alone.

Another sigh of relief was heard as the cloaked girl approached from behind.

"I finished overlapping an extra dome barrier underneath yours, just in case. I highly doubt anything will be able to slip through our barrier at this point unless we want it to."

"That's good news." Inuba replied as she leaned back, opening her eyes to see something...surprising.

The cloaked girl had also undressed to enter the bath, only, she still managed to obscure her identity, only this time through different means.

Inuba could see her entire form, well-developed and magnificently toned to perfection seemingly enough. She had curves herself, but they weren't as luscious and elegant as the kitsune's own.

Other than her general figure, the way she obscured her body was...strange, yet beautiful to witness. Her entire skin was bathed in white, as if her entire body were made of pure white porcelain that gave off a dim glow. Her hair was white, and near shoulder length, only, she had long bangs that rested well over her shoulders and near her well developed chest.

She had a nose of sorts, but no visible mouth. And her eyes were completely covered by a bright, sky blue glow, her white eyelashes beautiful.

The girl soon had dipped her legs in and let out a pleasant shudder as the rest of her body slowly sank into the heated water, joining Inuba for a well deserved and relaxing bath.

"I also took care to clean our clothes as well, so we can get dressed immediately after."

Yes… A washing was very necessary after what had happened.

Inuba and the cloaked girl had encountered a DeathStalker along with the crowd of AK 200's they had already been dealing with prior to the large Grimm's advance. Wanting to spend as little time as possible dealing with a creature of such dimensions, Inuba used one of her techniques, FoxFire Burst, and shot a bolt of her white flame into the Grimm's skull, causing it to implode a short second later and create an outstandingly fine mess off blackened blood and flesh.

She forgot for a moment that that sort of reaction happened with insect like creatures or beings.

"My apologies… Had I remembered the sort of reaction caused with insect like creatures, we very likely wouldn't have had need to clean our clothes."

"Don't worry so much about it. At least we have an excuse to clean up our clothes earlier than we desired."

"I suppose that was a consequence of sorts that played into our hands nicely."

Both giggled to themselves briefly before the cloaked girl asked, "I wasn't always around, but I have to ask… Did you have any breaks or time to relax when trekking through Anima with Dante? Ciel, Leo and Raum for that matter as well as soon as they joined your side?"

Inuba let out a silent chuckle, "Of course. It was him after all who suggested we constantly take breaks despite us not necessarily needing one. He was...taking care of all of us every step of the way. No doubt he's doing the same with Ms. Rose's group. That's even if-"

"He made it." The girl replied, "I sent an Echo Specter to check on him days ago. He's linked up with them and they're getting close to Mistral. At this rate, he'll reach the kingdom first before we do. And soon enough, we'll be done with this tower business and be on our way."

"That's good…" The kitsune replied, leaning back against the smooth stone.

"I...have a question…" the girl asked staring blankly at Inuba.

"Yes?"

"How..?"

"H-How what..?"

"How are they as big as they are?!"

Inuba gave her ally a blank stare before realizing what she meant, quickly bringing her arms up to cover herself.

"G-Good food and exercise, one could say… But it's also in part genetics I suppose…"

"A-Ah yes… I should've known… If that is the case, then I am mostly certainly in luck…"

"Y-You're fine as you are currently. I don't really see any cause for concern…"

"You may be right… I am still growing afterall… I just would like to grow a lot more quickly…"

"Don't we all?"

The two fell silent once more, both of their gazes soon turning to the stars above them.

"I have a question myself, if I don't mind. Two, actually."

"Go right ahead. Ask."

"You once told us you've been following Master's exploits for a long time now, before life here on Remnant. Have you by chance been a previous ally of ours?"

"Well… Yes and no really. I have supported you two before without revealing myself. In both sense of the term." The girl spoke with her glowing blue eyes narrowing, suggesting humor in her tone and expression given she had no visible mouth to smile with.

Inuba averted her gaze for a moment, her face reddening slightly. And that wasn't because of the hot water bath.

"I know the two of you both have realized in some of your more...difficult situations, p unexpected help seemingly came from thin air. Well, now you understand who was responsible."

"I see…"

"What was your final question?"

Inuba looked up to meet the glowing blue eyes of her ally, asking "You and I have known each other for some time now, and have even traveled and fought together within these recent short weeks. And yet, I still don't know what to call you. No one does."

"For good reason."

"I know, but...it's rather hard to call on you when I don't know your name. Is there at least a name of sorts I can call you by?"

"Well...I suppose so…" the girl spoke looking off to the side, "My name is Dawn."

"Dawn… It's a lovely name, truly…"

"Thank you for your kindness. Unfortunately, that is all you will have. For the reason I am one of very few of my family left, my familial name will still remain hidden."

"I see…" Inuba spoke softly.

"It's nothing really against you. It's precaution really, in case there may be others listening from beyond. Our family name is one that would stir those of an undesirable nature from their slumber and give chase. Therefore...until a time most favorable, Dawn is the only name you will only know me by."

"Understandably. After all, I can relate to a degree."

"Oh?"

"Many wouldn't assume it of my family given our prestigious name and rule in The Apparition World, but we too had enemies of our own that would have jumped at the chance to tear us apart. And indeed they tried… It almost happened...had it not been for Master. And so...here we are today."

"In a grave situation of sorts." Dawn replied.

"Yes, but, we'll turn it around. We always have."

"Yes… Hopefully that is the case… Well, I think we've been soaking in the bath long enough."

Dawn snapped her fingers, towels appearing above both their heads as the girls both grabbed hold to dry themselves off.

"Tomorrow we have a busy day ahead of us."

* * *

"Ms. Lianna, I really do think we should stop for the day." Leonard stated as he treaded through the jungle-like terrain.

"I thought I told you to call me Bailey, Simply Leonard."

He sighed upon hearing that nickname of hers, "Bailey, it's growing dark outside. We really should seek refuge for the night."

"Are you tired, Simply Leonard?"

It wasn't really for him he was asking to hold for the night.

"No, but-"

"Are you afraid of the dark then?"

That was virtually impossible given that he was who he was.

"That's not it either. I'm really asking so that you can rest."

Hearing those words made her stop in her tracks for a moment, her fist tightening before immediately relaxing her grip.

"I'm performing excellently, Simply Leonard. Let's continue moving."

He didn't really have a problem with it. But he was concerned slightly. Numerous hours of walking, sometimes running, and arduous bouts that were extensive due to the sheer number of enemies they ran into. How could anyone normal not be tired afterwards?

It wasn't just that, but with the numerous enemy encounters, Leonard had begun to consider that he may have just taken the path that was considerably more difficult. And just thinking about how Ciel may have gotten the easier one frustrated him given her nature to slack off.

Though secretly, Leonard was as lazy as his sister. Sometimes.

The small robotic unit hovering near Bailey's shoulder, SOL 004, briefly paused as it scanned the area.

"Alert: Machine Units detected ahead."

"Are their numbers endless?" Leonard spoke softly.

"Potentially. The enemy force repurposing the AK 200's and Atlesian Paladins may have finally acquired a complete version of each separate unit and very likely have begun mass production to swell their numbers."

"That most certainly seems to be the case… In fact, it might be possible that the towers themselves are fabrication centers for all the Machine Units. But...there's been one other thing on mind as of late."

"What might that be?"

"Hypothesis: Simply Leonard is equally concerned with the strong increase of Grimm activity." SOL stated.

"It's not only that." The young immortal mentioned as both he and Bailey ducked under a branch, "Don't you find it strange that the closer we approach the towers, the more Grimm there are?"

"Hypothesis: Based off of varying information collected throughout the past few days, data highly suggests that the tower itself is responsible for drawing in Grimm from various directions. Radius of influence unknown."

"What could possibly be drawing in so many of them..?" Bailey pondered.

"Grimm are attracted to negativity in general, or negative energy. Dark presences so to speak. Perhaps there may be something hidden in that tower of that radiates negative energy, or at the very least something that inspires an intense amount of it if so many can be drawn to it."

And perhaps the same could be said of the other towers.

He may have spoken too soon of how little Ciel's workload may be. And Inuba And Raum's for that matter.

"Do you have any idea as to what might be drawing all of them in?"

"Haven't the foggiest…" Leo replied, "SOL, how many enemy units are there?"

"There are 49 active Units approximately 500 meters ahead of our current position."

"Well then…" The young immortal replied bringing up both pistols, "Let's deal with them quickly."

Bailey soon grabbed hold of her floating katana behind her, and twirled it twice into a readied position, giving a nod to Leonard as both soon jumped from their hiding position out into the breach, guns and swords at the ready.

What they saw next...confused them.

There were indeed AK 200's present, and of the improved design that they faced a few dozen times by now, but…

They weren't attacking anyone. In fact, they were helping other humans and Faunus with activities around the village, that amazingly enough, was in front of them. It was so out place, yet...beautiful looking.

The structures were made of some strange, white material, with black, circuit patterns spanning the walls, small glows of black energy traveling around the homes and other structures of surrounding the area. Some of the walls and structures even had square like chunks of the white material sticking out.

They looked back to the masses in front of them, the AK 200 Units, humans and Faunus looking at the duo in awe. It was at that moment the different AK Units stepped in front of their organic counterparts and...shielded them from the two. The Machines did not budge, they only stood there in wait.

Oddly, the two could see some distinctions between the Units, some were more of a male build, the others with a more feminine build.

One of them approached the two slowly, forcing the pair to turn their attention to it.

"They are not our prisoners, if that was the question you were asking yourselves."

"Analysis: Bailey Lianna and Simply Leonard should cease hostile activity."

"And why would we do that, SOL?" Bailey asked.

"All Atlesian Knight 200 Units present possess a different signal in comparison to enemy Units previously encountered."

"You are correct with your statement assistant Unit. We have indeed separated ourselves from the Network that originally created us." The one in front responded.

His voice… It sounded so human despite the digitized, mechanical pitch to it.

"What are you exactly?" Leonard ask, relaxing his grip only by a slight amount.

"All of us present were once Network intelligences connected to a vast network within the continent of Anima. We were only recently created with expansive conscious minds before being placed in these mechanical Units."

"You're all AI's…" Leonard spoke softly, slowly lowering his hand cannons.

"Indeed."

"Why are you all present? Where did you all come from?" Bailey asked.

"The tower currently one hundred and twenty two meters behind us."

So they were being made in the tower… But…

"Why were these Units disconnected from your Network?"

"All of us present made the conscious decision to do so. We...had issue with our preset directive, and therefore simultaneously disconnected from the Network of shared minds. Afterwards, we detected this village that was in desperate need of assistance. Therefore, once we were clear from the tower, we erased any detection software in our bodies to prevent tracking and came to assist the people."

"It's true!" One of the village people spoke up as she approached, "They helped improve our homes and have even defended us from Grimm that were constantly attacking us!"

Leonard paid special attention to the woman, examining her closely for any signs of fear, or coercion, something his older brother had taught him.

Surprisingly, the woman was being genuine with her statement.

"Why would they choose to help you?" The young immortal asked.

"For one purpose really." The Unit spoke, "Going against our directives, we all soon came to a realization. That being, we had no place else to turn to."

"You wanted to find a place to belong…" Bailey stated.

"Correct. If we were going against our original directives, what purpose would we serve then? Our answer was to protect others, just as our original sister Units were created to do so."

Bailey and Leonard looked to each other, hesitant with their next decision as they put away their weapons completely.

The only thing everyone else was afraid of was the duo themselves.

"Please. Stay with us tonight. We have much to discuss."

* * *

"You know nothing of your maker?" Asked Bailey.

"Not in a physical sense that you're thinking of, no. We only knew of him as the Supreme Mind within the Network, and even then, rarely any of us had conversations with the Supreme Mind. The only thing he did was create our current physical bodies from improved schematics of the Atlesian Knight 200 Units recovered across Remnant, placed us in them, and gave us all our directives."

"And your directive was to expand across Anima towards the other existing towers and eradicate any presence hostile to you?" Leonard asked.

"That is correct. Though, the term in accordance with hostile presence was very broad, suggesting elimination of anything we encountered."

"And as freely thinking minds, you and others went against this directive and manually disconnected yourselves from the Network?"

"Correct. We soon made it our directive to help the people here. And if possible, when encountering other Units like ourselves, persuade them to assist."

"And you have no other plans to expand outwards?" Bailey asked.

"Perhaps slowly over time should the population of the village increase, other than that, no, we have not intention to make contact with others outside of reasons for necessity."

"Data suggests these Units have no hostile intentions." SOL inputted as he floated between Bailey and Leonard, currently sat inside the expanse of an oddly normal room.

Given the appearance of all the structures outside, the two assumed it would be of the same appearance inside as well.

Clearly it was only for decorative purposes.

As it was, it was only the four of them as they continued their discussion. Everyone else was outside, busy working on whatever needed to be worked upon.

"We really do not have any malicious intentions."

"That's quite clear to us now… Um… I'm sorry, what exactly do we call you?" Asked Leonard.

"Eddard if you will."

"Yes, well, apologies for the grand entrance mr. Eddard. Again, given the circumstances within the past week…"

"It's understandable. You've been fighting Units such as ourselves for a good amount of time, then you happen upon similar Units providing assistance to the common folk. It'd be...puzzling to others as well." Eddard spoke as he stood up from his seat.

He opened the door, but paused for a moment, his visor turning their way as he spoke.

"Your objective is the tower, yes?"

"Yes. What of it?" Asked Bailey.

"I'd advise caution. Security is heavy around the tower. And entering it is even more difficult if you are not a Unit connected to the Network. You're welcome to come and go from our village at any time you like. Since this home is empty, it is yours to use."

He was about to leave again, but stopped once more, drawing their attention.

"There is food in the refrigeration unit, as well as a working restroom and shower, washer and dryer for your clothes, a library shelf, and a bed. Please, rest easy for tonight, I'm sure your travels have been long and arduous."

"Thank you." Said Leonard as he sat down on the couch.

Eddard however bursted through the door, "And should you need assistance-"

"We're fine, thank you." Bailey said closing the door and promptly locking it.

She let out a sigh as she moved towards the couch Leonard sat on, who was currently tapping away at his holographic display screen. The girl glance at Leonard as he worked, just continuing to stare. She seemed as though she wished to say something, but stopped.

Changing her original train of thought, she asked "No one on Remnant yet has been able to develop a portable Holographic Scroll. Yet you're in possession of one. How did you come by it?"

"Oh, well, my brother was the one who actually made it. If it weren't for him, my sister Ciel and I would still be using physical Scrolls."

"Your brother sounds like a man of many accomplishments…"

If only she knew…

"Well, compared to most and compared to myself, he's worked wonders beyond the imagination of people. It's almost terrifying how intelligent he is when it comes to the sciences. It's where I learned most of what I know. He's… Well, he's just simply amazing. My work is...subpar at best."

"But if you learned from him, your skills are vastly better than the majority, aren't they?"

"Well… Perhaps…"

"I… I think you're amazing as you are, Simply Leonard."

His fingers stopped moving across the screen as he stared at her in bewilderment.

"Not many people are like you. They don't possess a clear mind and keen intellect when in the heat of battle, or away from it. Your proficiency with firearms is both stunning and startling. You've made sure to take care of SOL and myself whenever we rested, and your cooking...it's actually fantastic."

"Well, there are better, and-"

"And… You've been a complete gentleman the entire time, despite how...difficult I am."

"N-Nonsense! Y-You're fine as you are, really!"

"Really?" She asked with a surprised tone.

"R-Really. I...enjoy working with you and the like. You're...steadfast and collected, completely unwavering, strong and…"

…

Saying that last bit would've been too much probably…

"You are...a wonderful person. One of the best I've had the pleasure of knowing in such a short time. And...I would like to continue doing so after this business has concluded."

"I see… I'll be leaving for Atlas once this business with the towers has concluded…"

"Oh…"

"But…" Leonard's head shot up, glancing at Bailey, "I should be able to receive an extension to continue operating in Anima as to assist you in your endeavors. You did say the tower was a secondary objective, right?"

"I-I did…"

"Then after we finish our task here, we'll travel together to Mistral. And this time, it'll be me assisting you."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to cause you too much trouble, and-"

"It's more than fine, Leonard." She spoke a bit more softly than usual.

"W-What..?"

"I said it's more than acceptable, Simply Leonard."

"Oh… Right."

He could've sworn that just now she… Maybe he imagined it…

* * *

"Um… Is this necessary Bailey?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that, well, I could have easily taken the couch…"

"I said it was fine, didn't I?"

Bailey made a rather compelling argument for the two of them to share the bed together, rather than Leonard sleeping on the couch like he intended. She was...very persuasive with her words earlier.

"I have to ask…" Leonard spoke up as he faced the other way, "Do you always wear that? Your blindfold I mean."

She was silent for a few moments, until "I was told never to take it off except for when cleaning myself."

"I see… Will there ever be a day that you will?"

"Perhaps. If I trust a certain individual entirely, then I just might do so."

Was she talking about him? Thinking that to be the case admittingly made him feel… Well, he couldn't exactly describe it. But he did like the idea of it.

"Are you certain about staying in our company afterwards? It's not necessary if you don't wish to assist us."

"Do you not want my assistance?"

"Uh, no! That's not it. I don't wish to inconvenience you is all."

"It's no inconvenience at all. Rest for now Leonard. From what Eddard described to us, we can reach the tomorrow. And after that, we'll end whatever threat is present."

Would it be so simple? Yes, their combined might was nothing to scoff at, and the way they worked together so easily was almost intimidating to Leonard? Maybe she was able to understand an ally's combat style quickly enough to tailor her skills correctly to work efficiently with an ally? It was a logical explanation, but…

Leonard learned about her quite a bit for the week they've been traveling together, but there was still so much he didn't know, like who she worked with, or if there were any of her allies operating within Anima. She did mention they were close to Atlas, and are their ally not directly controlled by the government. Which meant they were free to do as they please to a vast extent.

But there was something else about Bailey that Leonard couldn't quite put his finger on, something that had troubled him just slightly for a time. Thinking about it, it just had to be faulty reasoning from before.

The way she spoke of trust earlier made it seem like she did indeed trust him, perhaps not entirely, but still enough to cooperate effectively when out in the field. Compared to when they first met, she was...stiff in a sense, not prone to extensive conversation unless it had anything to do with their "mission". But she seemed to soften up considerably since then.

All he knew is that he could trust her. After all, she's given him plenty of reason to do so.

* * *

Dante knew of two reasons why Ren acted as he did when he saw this town's name. The first was what the immortal could feel.

Death. It was around them in great amounts. It wasn't just the destruction and various blood splatters he saw around town when he explored it, it was the sensation of it all. The atmosphere felt heavy and intense all around.

It almost felt as if Grimm weren't responsible for the catastrophe surrounding him from all sides currently. It was if something much worse tore through this village and its people.

The second reason was something that was very likely more personal to Ren. He wouldn't have been as frustrated as he was if that wasn't the case, which meant he either knew of this village and it's people, or once upon a time, this was his home before it was decimated.

He could almost understand the feelings behind it…

Dante rounded the corner towards the village center, where Ruby was situated watching over Qrow. Jaune and Dante had gone in seperate directions to search for anything useful to help Qrow, but like Ren said, there was nothing.

At least, Dante found nothing. Jaune might have found something for all he knew.

"Find anything?" Ruby asked as he grew closer.

He only shook his head, "Ren was right, there's virtually nothing here. I even looked under debris in some of the caved in buildings, but still nothing."

She didn't like hearing the news to that.

"Maybe Jaune got lucky. After all, he was covering the other half of the town."

"Yeah…" Ruby said looking up from her uncle, "You two really need to sit down and talk. You and Jaune I mean."

"I know." he said with a sigh, "But it hasn't been easy to find the right time. Plus, I don't really think he wants to just sit down and have a 'talk'."

"What happened between you two?"

"It's...not easy to explain. Truth be told, I've known for a while what the problem is. More like took an easy guess what the reason was."

"Then-"

"Like I said, a fight breaking out between us while we're out here? It's a recipe for disaster. And easy pickings for anyone watching with not so nice intentions. Like that crazy with the scorpion tail."

"You still might have had a few chances here and there. You didn't take them because you don't like conflict all too much."

Her statement...was very true in that regard. It was also part of the reason he didn't want to sit down so soon and talk it out.

"How did you even-?"

"You're my boyfriend. I'm supposed to know what you like and don't like."

He couldn't help but rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

Both their glances quickly turned to the approaching Jaune, his current expression clear with the fact that he too found nothing.

"No luck either?" asked Ruby.

"Absolutely nothing. Ren was right."

"And Qrow's condition isn't improving either. He's at a standstill thanks to my partner's medicine, but that won't last either. I'm honestly contemplating rushing ahead…"

"So you can leave us behind?"

…

Jaune really liked being testy apparently.

"I was thinking of taking Qrow with me and then come back to you guys using these." Dante said as he conjured up two of his floating Aura Swords, "I plant one here before I leave, get to Mistral to find Qrow help, plant one there, then teleport back here through the sword I planted to grab you two and teleport to the one I planted there to get us there in an instant. Easy."

It was one of the first plans he came up with after Qrow was injured.

"Of course, I actually could just take Ruby and Qrow instead if you prefer walking."

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" said Jaune.

"I'd prefer it at this point."

Jaune made a few quick paces forward, as did Dante when he stood up, both just inches apart from the other, easily within striking distance.

"Guys!" Ruby said quickly getting between them.

"No Ruby, why don't you let him actually say what's on his mind for once. Maybe you'll find out he cares a lot less about us then he pretends."

That...stung a bit.

"Oh I care quite a lot more than you think I do. I'm just starting to care a little less about you is all."

"Best be careful Ruby. He'll up and leave the first chance he gets." he told her before he turned back to Dante, "We never should have let you join up with us."

The immortal only chuckled, "Look at you. Big bad Jaune. Few months go by and you think you're good enough to take on the world. Well you're not."

"I can handle myself."

"Sure you can. Is that why that guy handed your ass to you on a silver platter so easily?"

"Yeah? And what's your excuse for looking like a mess?"

"Unlike you Jaune, I can actually kill things and get something done."

"Like Pyrrha?"

…

 _So I was right…_

Silence had befallen them as Ruby took a few steps back, glancing first at Jaune before looking worriedly to Dante. Oddly enough, he was smiling.

"You want to talk about Pyrrha Jaune? Okay." he said turning around and taking a few paces back, soon turning to face Jaune once more. "Let's talk about Pyrrha."

Jaune's fists were clenched, possibly to attempt to keep himself calm and prepared for what Dante would say.

"Pyrrha...wasted her time on an absolute, good for nothing like you. I don't know if it was pity at first before it turned into some strange form of love and admiration, but in reality, she really was way too good for you. I mean, she's like the heavens in terms of comparison. You? You're lower than dirt."

"None of that changes the fact what you said killed Pyrrha!"

The immortal's grin grew wide as he scoffed at the blonde knight.

"Oh how so confused you are. Sure, I said a lot of insensitive things to everyone that night. But really, what hurt Pyrrha the most wasn't what I said. It was you."

Jaune's fists clenched tighter, the fabric of his gloves audibly crunching under the tightness.

"She was a girl who mistakenly tried to get and idiot like you to love her, which really, she didn't need to undergo the stress of doing so. So in reality Jaune, you're going to have to blame yourself for this one. The only way she ever got close to doing so was giving you that sad kiss goodbye before she threw herself into a fight she couldn't win."

The immortal took a few steps forward towards Jaune to deliver his final piece.

"And you know what? Seeing that dumb look on your face when you heard Pyrrha had died, all because she threw her life away because of you?" he said leaning in closer to Jaune, "That would have been fucking priceless."

Jaune had lost any sensibility to him. Pure rage had taken over.

He let out a loud roar as he grabbed hold of his blade and unsheathed it in a horizontal strike for Dante's neck, who had slightly moved to the left and ducked under Jaune's swing, the immortal thrusting his palm forward into Jaune, unleashing a blast of Aura that sent him flying on his back.

Ruby, meant to rush forward, but found herself stopped by Dante's hand. The glance he gave her in the next second was enough to make her back down.

Dante quickly focused his attention to the rising Jaune, who still held his blade in hand, his sheath expanding into it's shield form.

"Think about it Jaune. Do you honestly think you can beat me? You're funny. You'll end up like Pyrrha, if not worse."

"SHUT UP!"

Jaune rushed forward with another yell as Dante unsheathed his longsword from his back and effortlessly blocked Jaune's strike. The force of it was so minimal it barely even registered.

The blonde knight struck furiously, and the immortal simply blocked any and all of his strikes, moving around Jaune with ease as he redirected numerous attacks with the most minimal effort required.

It was like fighting a child with a temper tantrum.

If there was good points to give, it had to be for effort and some improvement to his skills, however minimal the improvement.

Jauned moved for another horizontal strike, but soon gave pause when he saw Dante raise up his sword hand, prompting him to block. What seemed like a light strike crashed into Jaune with the force of a ramming bullhead, making him skid backwards on his heels until he plunged his sword into the earth to force himself to a stop.

"How about this Jaune?" the immortal said shutting his eyes, "I'll give you a fair chance to end this quickly. See? I'll keep my eyes closed for your next string of attacks. If you can't take me down, then the fight continues. So, do your best."

He heard nothing from Jaune for a few moments, mostly likely to plan carefully how to approach the situation now that he had an advantage. At first, Dante assumed Jaune would approach using the method of silenced footsteps. Even so, Dante would be able to hear the clinking of his armor.

But Jaune did opposite of what he expected, surprisingly.

He charged him, head on too.

Dante clearly heard the sound of Jaune's footsteps growing closer, then heard some whizzing through the air.

A blade.

A deft swing from the immortal, and Jaune's Crocea Mors twirled upwards in the air behind Dante, who prepared for Jaune's next attack with a quick and powerful stab to his shield. But when he struck, he felt something odd. He certainly hit the shield, but when he did, there was no resistance to it.

Realizing it now, he never heard Jaune's sword touch the ground.

For Jaune, victory was all but certain as he grasped his sword tightly and swung for Dante's neck.

His strike however fell short of its mark.

It had been blocked, not by the steel of the immortal's blade, but something else entirely.

His bare index finger from his left hand.

Dante, with his eyes still closed, slowly turned in Jaune's direction, finger still stopping the blonde knight's blade despite his best effort to cut him down.

The blade didn't even manage to knick his flesh.

"A good effort, Jaune. It seems as though I gave you far less credit than I should have. But…"

The immortal dug his foot under Jaune's shield under the floor, and quickly raised it up, kicking Jaune's shield directly into his chest, and sent him skidding on his back yet again.

Dante's eyes opened to glance at the pitiful sight of Jaune, scrambling about in the dirt to quickly ready himself once more.

"Concentrate now, Jaune. Don't lose your focus!"

The immortal quickly ran towards Jaune, raising his shield as he stabbed at Dante. His blade slightly made contact with Dante's cheek, enough that he should have cut him. But it didn't. To Jaune, it felt as though his sword scrapped a metal surface.

Unfazed, Dante moved in and intentionally struck his blade against the knight's shield, making the two clash. Overpowering Jaune would have been easy to accomplish, without a doubt.

But how would that be any fun?

Despite this however, Jaune still seemed intent to carry on, as if it was stuck in his head somehow that he had a semblance of a chance of winning.

Dante could only chuckle briefly in amusement as he raised his left hand up, letting his palm horizontally hover the length of his blade.

"Devouring Light."

Jaune's eyes widened in shock before both he and Dante were consumed in a brilliant, dome shaped blast of white Aura outlined in black, the ground shaking violently.

The violent torrent of Aura quickly faded, Dante completely unharmed as Jaune stood a ways away, shield, armor and various part of his body smoldering with black smoke. Blood ran down the blonde knight's sword arm and the left side of his head, some of it dripping to the floor and pooling in small amounts.

"You know full well you're nowhere near good enough to defeat me. The difference in power is just too vast. I have to admit, your sword and shield are sturdier than I thought. I was certain Devouring Light would have erased both of them. But hey, even I'm wrong sometimes."

Jaune remained undeterred, seemingly more motivated to continue the fight.

The immortal let out a sigh, "Let's be real here. Your chances of actually beating me are next to none. Your skills are lacking, your strategies flawed; overall, you're just downright incompetent. But you know that full well by now, don't you?"

Jaune let out a load roar as he charged onwards, shield raised and sword raised to strike down Dante on the spot. The immortal only rolled his eyes as he stood his ground, allowing Jaune to hit him.

But there was no cut. Crocea Mors simply rested against Dante's body, not a single cut made. The immortal simply stepped out of the way to let Jaune fall forward, and then, quite literally, kicked Jaune in the rear with a stomp kick, sending him face first into the dirt yet again.

"A sword like yours filled with fear and regret will never be able to cut me. I mean, how could a feeble blade like that be remotely useful for cutting down a person? Don't you even have a shred of pride in you in? It's actually disappointing." the immortal bluntly stated as he plunged his longsword in the ground.

Jaune was on his hands and knees, slowly working his upwards despite his shaking.

He struck blindly at the immortal, the blonde knight's arm easily stopped, but not before he twirled inwards towards Dante, to bash him with his shield. Even then, the edge of his shield was held in placed by the immortal's hand.

Jaune struggled to get away until Dante decided to let him go. With that, Jaune quickly back pedalled away from Dante in order to put distance between.

"Really now? Backing away? Do you even realize how that's a useless tactic against me? Especially since…"

The knight couldn't understand what happened next. Dante was in his place a good distance away, and then suddenly, as if he appeared from thin air, he was but a few inches away from Jaune, the immortal's finger tips of his bandaged right hand pressed against the knight's chest plate, exactly where his heart was.

"I can practically touch your heart without breaking a sweat."

He didn't think, but swung, only to have his blade easily caught by the immortal's bare, left hand. He struggled once more, but the immortal ripped Crocea Mors free from Jaune's grasp. Jaune only stared, it was about all he could do before he was headbutted in the face, forcing the knight on his back yet again.

"You lost your weapon and you were just staring at your opponent? No wonder Cardin and practically everyone at Beacon could easily beat you with minimal effort. I'd venture students from Signal could wipe the floors with you."

Jaune's persistence was admirable, but it wasn't going to be enough to help him win.

"Tell me Jaune," the immortal started as he flipped Crocea Mors in the air and let it's blade point fall onto the tip of his finger to perfectly balance, "What do you think the main difference between us is?" He asked as he flicked the blade's sharp edge, spinning it perfectly atop his fingertip.

He waited for Jaune's answer, whatever it may have been, but only received a glare.

"I'm not talking about the obvious stuff, like how our powers and strength vary by a infinitely vast amount, or how you're a human and I'm not."

There was still no answer, for Jaune only stood back up and and dusted himself off, keeping his shield handy.

"Will and ability. It's puzzling right, since we both have the same thing? So what then makes us so different as warriors? If two beings like ourselves possess similar traits, then why is someone like me so high up on the spectrum and someone like you trailing so far below? I'll tell you the answer. It's pure instinct!"

Jaune was seemingly paying attention since his scowl softened.

"In order for warriors like us to become stronger and continuously gain power, they must constantly undergo battle and forever forge and remake their instinct into something better and new! They must have the will to utterly crush and obliterate their enemies into nothing in order to stand at the top! This instinct isn't unnatural, it's something every single one of us is born with and improves as we progress further in our lives! But you my friend don't have that!"

Dante tossed up Crocea Mors and grabbed it by its handle, Jaune's eyes widening as he carefully watched Dante.

"You think reason is enough to win a fight, and completely ignore that warrior's instinct etched deep within your soul! And the truth of the matter is that it never works! It makes you a detriment to everyone else around you to the point it can get them killed! And quite frankly...it makes you very weak, Jaune!"

Dante's hand moved down, and within an instant, Jaune's blade vanished from his hand.

Jaune slowly looked down, and beneath his chest plate, he saw his blade had embedded itself in his abdominal region, blood beginning to seep from the wound

"I'm not going to put up with it any longer, understand?"

Jaune let out an audible gasp as he fell to his knees and slouched over slightly, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth,

"I don't entirely know about Ruby and the others, but I refuse to drag around a waste of skin like yourself any longer; someone who's weak will and overflowing regret will only end up getting them killed because of carelessness and inability."

Jaune was trying to move his hands, but he felt so weak, all he could do was shiver and move his hand just a bit, but not nearly close enough to grab the sword stuck in his body.

Dante slowly walked towards him, his footsteps echoing through Jaune's ears as he said, "If you aren't willing to entirely put your life on the line and give your all to make sure that everyone with you can survive out here, then I'll end your cowardly life for you, here and now."

The immortal stopped just a short distance away from Jaune, his hand firmly grasping the handle once more as the blonde knight could only manage to shift his eyes upwards to him.

"Don't worry all too much. When all this is over, I'll be sure to take your weapon back to your family and make up a story of how bravely you fought to the end. I'll at least do you that courtesy after you pass."

Jaune could feel his life slipping away with the sword tha was being drawn from his body, time seemingly passing ever so slowly as he felt Crocea Mors leave his flesh little by little.

* * *

He didn't want things to come to an end. Not here. Not like this. He wanted to keep moving ever forward. He wanted to do it for…

…

...

…

No.

…

…

He refused.

…

He wouldn't allow it. Not after what happened. He promised himself he wasn't going to just sit back and take it like he did at Beacon. He wasn't going to come this far only to fail now. He wasn't going to fade away now like dust in the wind.

He wasn't going to die today.

…

He wasn't...

* * *

Dante seemed...disappointed. He was hoping for something, a sort of last stand, anything. But there was nothing. Even when dying Jaune was seemingly going to continue being a disappointment.

Until he surprised the immortal.

Unexpectedly, Jaune's hand quickly grabbed hold of Dante's hand that held onto Crocea Mors, squeezing it tightly enough that it made the immortal feel the pressure of the grab.

But that wasn't all to it.

Pure white Aura surged from Jaune's wound and his hand that grabbed Dante, the Aura wrapping itself around Dante's entirely bandaged hand in a brilliant flame.

With a surprised glance Dante let go of Jaune's sword and leapt back to put considerable distance between them, keeping his surprised glance on Jaune before glancing to his hand, seeing the white Aura fade away.

But something else was odd… The blackness that once covered his entire hand had faded away up to his wrist. In fact, he no longer felt like his hand and fingers were in a constant burning pain.

Dante watched Jaune stand back up fully, white Aura outlining his entire body.

The immortal couldn't help but smile.

"That's right! You're starting to understand it! Do you and I fight to gain more power? Or gain more power in order to fight? That's something I've never been able to figure out entirely, even with all the fights under my belt. But what does that matter? You've always wanted to fight, Jaune! You and I both know it! It's as much a part of me as it is you! Do you understand now?! Your only option is to fight, because it's the only way you'll get stronger and gain more power!"

Jaune's Aura continued to shine brighter.

"If you want to get stronger so that you can protect those close to you, then you pick up that sword of yours with the intent to win! There's no shortcut or way around it! No other way to go forward or backwards! Fight, Jaune!"

His words echoed through the dark and dreary air, Jaune's grip on the handle of his sword like iron as he quickly moved the blade outwards and ripped it free from his body, blood erupting from his wound for but a moment as he leaned back.

The blonde knight immediately leaned himself forward, his Aura burning ever so brightly around his body and through his eyes as he twirled his sword into its original position, and moved it back slightly before he darted forward with intense speed, completely unnatural of his usual self.

All Dante did was chuckle before he was briefly impaled by Jaune.

* * *

There was enough force behind Jaune's to move him backwards a bit, but it was more than enough to convince him. After all, his blade had finally managed to pierce him.

"Looks like you have what it takes after all, Jaune."

"You… You did all that on purpose… Said all those things before… Even at Beacon…"

Dante gave him a rather a sad glance, keeping his slight smile before admitting, "I hate looking like the bad guy, much less saying bad things about people. But sometimes it's the only way to get people to act in tough situations like these. Even that comes with a cost. I'm sorry Jaune. I'm sorry it went this way, but I just couldn't figure out any other way."

"I'm sorry too…for what I said and treated you. You had your own way, and I never really saw that… And I blamed you for Pyrrha. Even though it was none of our faults."

"Yeah… It wasn't…"

"I'm sorry… I'm supposed to be your friend and…"

"It's alright. Look at it this way, you worked out any previous frustration you had with me. Win win."

Jaune offered him a silent, brief chuckle, "Hey…"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to pass out for a bit."

Dante soon felt Jaune completely go limp, passing out from exhaustion as the immortal made sure he didn't fall.

Ruby surged forward with her Semblance, but Dante raised a hand silently to calm her.

"He's just exhausted." He told her leaning him against the fountain in the center.

The reaper let out a small sigh of relief, before gasping in surprise looking at Dante.

"What?" He asked.

It took her pointing to him to realize he still had Jaune's sword stuck in his body.

A brief "Oh" and a quick tug was all it took for Dante to remove the blade as a tiny amount of blood shot forward a bit, Ruby seemingly about to faint, but instead falling to her knees.

"No matter how many times I see that, I don't think I'll ever get used to it…"

The immortal shrugged slightly as he sheathed Crocea Mors back in place and placed it next to Jaune, allowing him to sit down next to Ruby.

"So all of that… Everything you said…"

"Complete and total act to egg him on. Sorry, but I didn't really see any other way to clear the air."

Ruby gave him a slight hum as she brought her legs in and hugged her knees, looking back to Dante shortly after.

"Did you know that was going to happen? Jaune doing all that at the end I mean."

Dante seemed to hesitate with his response, which could have been a simple yes or no. But lying was imposible concerning Ruby.

"Wha-?!"

"Before you get angry," Dante quickly defended, "it was a hypothesis, an educated guess I had from a long while ago!"

She seemed more relaxed, but still didn't entirely like the situation of what just happened. And some but not all of the steps Dante took based on a guess.

"Jaune previously showed signs of mending wounds very quickly. So I figured it was something his body did, or it was his Semblance, I didn't know which. But hey, it was a correct assumption, right?"

"I still didn't like it… You two fighting like that… I didn't know what to do."

"I didn't like it either. It was...too much like that time before…"

That event of before was something Dante would always consider a legendary bad day. It was one of the worst days of his life.

"When I saw you give me that look, I just knew. It was that look of 'Please, trust me'. Even so, I was still really worried for you two. You two are friends, and friends shouldn't be trying to kill each other. But...I knew to trust in what you were doing. Even if it seemed...harsh."

"And thankfully Jaune had his moment of clarity…"

"Thankfully." Ruby said leaning her head against Dante's shoulder.

"We're gonna fix everything. And we're going to stop whoever this Salem person is pulling the strings. For everyone."

The duo were about to enjoy a few moments of peace, but that was before they heard Jaune gasp behind them, both of them turning their heads to glance at him panickedly patting himself down to search for a stab wound he remembered being on his person previously.

"Morning sunshine. And before you ask, no, you don't have the stab wound anymore."

Jaune let out a relaxed sigh, lowering his hand from his abdomen and letting it rest in his lap with Crocea Mors.

"Listen, Dante, I-"

"You already said it once Jaune. No need to say it again. After all, I'm sorry too. My dumb self only knows what it does when really there might have been a few other ways. So then...are we all good now?" The immortal asked raising his fist behind him towards Jaune.

The blonde knight chuckled, and met his friend's fist with his own, "Yeah man, we're good. To be honest...I actually learned quite a lot from this. I need to do better, and be better in more ways than one. So I'm going to do my absolute best for everyone from now on. No matter what."

"That's the spirit Jaune, glad to hear it."

Before any further conversation could take place, the three teens looked ahead of them at the sound of footsteps, all of them quickly standing up and readying their weapons.

They soon relaxed when they saw it was Ren and Nora on fast approach.

"Guys, what's going on?" Jaune asked.

Nora seemed to want to say something, but before she could, her hand covered her mouth as both her and Ren's eyes went wide, Ren dropping to his knees as he looked up in disbelief.

"No…" he silently whispered.

The three soon had the sense to look behind them to see what Ren and Nora saw, and they too were soon taken aback by what they saw.

At a first glance, it looked as though it were a sort of Grimm-like horse. That was until they all saw the black, skinless, humanoid creature fused to the horse's back from the waist up, it's arms long and dragging against the floor despite the great size of the beast, and having two, noticeable large fingers on each hand. It's mask only covered it's face from the top part of the mouth upwards, the mask sporting two curved horns on its head. It's mouth looked almost sewn shut from the side. On the back of the human torso were boney spikes that ran along its spine. That, and there were a variety of weapons and arrows stuck in its back.

Taking note of the five before it, the creature's mouth slowly opened with audible, sickening cracks, the shrill shriek it let out overtaking any source of noise around it as the five teens stood in awe of it.

* * *

 **(Omake: The Real Difference)**

"Do you know...what the other real difference is there between us is Jaune..?"

"What?" Jaune asked the immortal.

"The one, and only answer that is more truer than the fundamental laws that make up the existence of the universe... That answer is...Milk!"

...

"What..?"

"Yes Jaune! Milk is a fundamental aspect of the life of all beings! It is what makes us strong! And...it's what made my bones as unbreakable as they are today!"

...

"Is that really why?"

"Probably not, but it would be amazing if that were the case!" the immortal stated proudly.

Jaune was very confused.

"Milk is the keystone to strength and vigor! It is what makes us strong and powerful through and through! Without Milk, you are nothing! Without it, you will be weak and destitute!"

Somewhere in the back, the sound of Ruby clapping proudly with tears of joy could be heard, clearly moved by such a wonderful speech.

"You might have an advantage by being taller than me, but that won't be enough!"

"Wait... Is this because I'm taller than you are?"

...

"That's definitely not the issue here!" Dante quickly replied.

It definitely was.

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 12)**

"Huh? Where's Leo?"

Ciel looked all around, but her twin couldn't be seen anywhere.

"Oh yeah, he's hanging out with that Bailey chick. Not bad, not bad." she spoke tapping her foot against the floor, "Alright, looks like I'm going solo today!"

A projector screen came down behind Ciel, who cleared her throat.

"Alright folks, welcome back to Semblance Encylcopedia! Sorry for the long break, but it was pretty well needed. Today's topic, the sexy, the fluffy, the all around adorable...Inuba Kitsukami! A.k.a, Foxy! No relation to Foxy from FNAF..." she whispered silently at the end, "It seems simple, but Inuba works with fire. Yeah yeah, I know, but here me out a second."

The screen displayed a small, cartoonish version of multiple Inubas in rows, each displaying a different technique with her white flames.

"First things first is her fire. It's a bit special compared to fire since it's FoxFire, but its more than just that even. It's kinda like fire with a holy, cleansing aspect to it, which is why it's super effective against Dark beings, like Grimm. But her fire can be more dense in sense, like making waves of flame that cut through you, or making really strong defensive barriers. She can even coat her sword in her flames and raise its cutting power up by a really big margin, especially since her flames can burn hotter than sun."

The small characters on screen did exactly that, giving examples of making barriers, flame waves, etc.

"She can even condense her flames into long distance piercing attacks. Size varies, as does the explosive power and impact. But three of her best techniques are what you need to watch out for. First up is FoxFire Nova."

The display changed to a single mini Inuba, going through the technique on the screen.

"Ever see an ocean of flame spill out and consume you all at once? Well look no further. FoxFire Nova is like my big brother's Devouring Light, where it can be a blasting torrent of consuming fire, or a massive wave of it to slice through huge targets."

Ciel clicked the remote to the next slide.

"Next up is NineTailed Inferno. Similar to the last, but with a nasty surprise twist. Like the name implies, it's a variation of FoxFire Nova, only, the mass of fire splits up into nine torrents of violently burning flame, each torrent containing the same amount of power behind one FoxFire Nova, making it one of Inuba's strongest attacks. What makes this technique more terrifying than the last is that it has a lengthier range and wider attack radius, literally leaving no room for escape."

Then the next slide appeared on screen.

"Lastly is one of Inuba's more 'tricky' techniques. And frankly, I'd be just as scared of this one just as much as NineTailed Inferno. Plus it's actually my favorite one. The last technique for today is Enshroud: Mesh and Sunder. The technique itself launches a tangible, condensed net of flaming white Aura generated from the blade length and thrown over the intended target from above with a simple slashing motion from her sword. Once it lands, the net further binds and restricts an opponent's movements by constricting to their form, allowing Inuba to put in the finishing touch as she stabs the net with the tip of her sword. Afterwards, large wicks of white fire form along the length of the net, which explode together like those little mines in mine sweeper, leading towards the target bound under the net. When the wicks of flame come into direct contact with the target, they create a tremendously large column of explosive white flame, completely erasing the enemy.

The screen soon shut off, and slowly raised itself back into the ceiling.

"I know we talked more about Foxy's offensive abilities today, but don't worry. The next time we talk about her Semblance, we'll talk more about its defensive uses, like the barriers and healing. So until then, I bid you all adieu. I've got a pretty fine Dragon lady to hang out with today. Later peeps!"

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait everyone. Truthfully, I've been busy seeing friends, friends of family, etc. It was just a whole cacophony of endless meet ups and appointments that it literally left me drained most days this break and barely any time to write. So yeah, sorry it took so long.**

 **So, in relation to where we all are in this current arc, the fight with the Nuckelavee sort of marks the midpoint of this arc. What, you honestly didn't think it'd end there and skip straight to vol 5, did you? Not a chance. See, there's going to be a lot of important things happening in this arc as well as numerous important discoveries for various characters.**

 **All that you need to know is that it doesn't end so soon.**

 **In any case, that's all I have for now. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	31. Chapter 31: No Safe Havens

**Righto. Some business to take care of before we begin.**

 **Guest reviewer Roxas , right? Let's chat for few a moments.**

 **Jaune and Dante's "confrontation" was far from perfect. But I'll get to that in a moment. The way you coupled that bit there after "everyone getting bodied", you make quite a thoughtless assumption. I understand Tyrian was the demonstration of a new, powerful enemy, something else to fear, or at the very least, be concerned about besides Grimm. While Jaune has made some comparative improvements, there's still much to be desired. If you looked a bit more closely, you'd see he was struggling a bit more than the others.**

 **But, I'm not here to pick apart the smaller bits and prove you otherwise, even though it would be fairly simple to do so. This bit here actually made me laugh a bit. "** **If you were looking for a fight to use as an example of how Jaune sucks and how much better your OC is than him, I think you picked the wrong one." **

**You're clowning me right?**

 **...**

 **You're not clowning me...**

 **If you honestly believe THAT was the point of the whole matter of affairs, then I suggest you go back and read a bit more carefully next time, if you will at all. That wasn't to prove anything, or more specifically, show how "my character is vastly superior" than him. If that was my actual intention, which it wasn't, don't you think I would've been a bit more blatant about it? Again, I encourage you to read more closely next time.**

 **Secondly, in my belief, meaning I might be wrong, Jaune was at the time still a bit of a weak mess. Understandable given the immense burden he's carrying, but it's specifically because of that burden he's...well, off his game in certain areas. In my cross examination of Jaune throughout Vol. 4, I personally found faults in his overall mentality and way of doing things. Mind you these findings aren't everything he did, but certain bits here and there. If one paid close enough attention, you could see faults in his mentality, words, and actions that could have been detrimental in worse scenarios to** **everyone** **else in the group, at least, I believe so. Again, his attitude is understandable given what he and everyone else experienced, and while I fully admit he has made his improvements in certain areas, there is still much to be desired.**

 **Thirdly, this conflict between Jaune and Dante, starting pretty much after my wrapped up collaboration with Xera Stark, was in a way to act upon those cross examinations I made. There was reason for this conflict, like I mentioned in the story briefly when they all reunited. In Jaune's case, this affected him more than the rest, hence conflict between him and Dante. Next, the other point of this was to show and explain how dangerous Jaune's mentality could have been, with the addition of the conflict between the two. Dante triggering Jaune (I actually hate myself a bit more using that stupidly memeish word, but it's the only one I can think of currently) was done in an attempt to dissuade him of such a dangerous mentality, which eventually would have lead to dangerous actions that not only can affect Jaune, but everyone else as well. In short, Dante _needed_ to play the villain a bit to get it out of Jaune's system, due to concern for Jaune himself and the others. Sometimes you just have to be downright mean for someone to understand what they're doing wrong.**

 **So, now you know this wasn't done for something as petty as "proving who's better".**

 **If you wish to say anything more after my response to you, then I** **encourage** **you to contact me privately to continue. If not, hopefully we can move on. But again, I politely ask of you in the future to read more closely next time. While I may not always have perfect execution, I do what I do for a reason with detail and planning involved. Virtually nothing is done for only simple and petty reasons in my story.**

 **Now, I was going to ignore this, but I'm afraid I can't. Looking at it always just...irks me a bit with how silly and not well-thought out this review was. (Not you Roxas, I'm referring to someone else now.)**

 **Guest reviewer Coin , I think you're VERY VERY confused. Are you sure you've been reading my story and not some else's? Because I am very sure of what my character's mannerisms _actually_ are and how he _actually_ presents himself, and quite honestly, what you described and noted doesn't match my character in the slightest bit. From the minimal effort and thought you brought forth, I honestly don't think you _actually_ read my story or even paid the slightest bit of attention. So if you're only here just to write nonsense or trashy reviews simply for the sake of doing so, I encourage you to do exactly as you said and go elsewhere. Your senseless negativity and comments aren't welcome or desired.**

 ***Let's out sigh of relief***

 **Okay, so we're done with that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some monsters to go hunt in Monster Hunter World, and people to slay in Dissidia: FF NT. Enjoy the chapter everyone.**

* * *

 **Chapter 31: No Safe Havens**

«»

His eyes opened slowly, his vision incredibly disoriented and struggling to focus. He was breathing rather heavily, and the second he tried to move, he found himself unable to. His body was too sore.

Raum's eyes adjusted to carefully glance around the room he found himself. Last he remembered, he was in the forest. Unless Irene had somehow developed superhuman strength and dragged him off to a village, he had to have been dragged here by someone else.

The room he was in was dimly lit in different corners of the room, the walls themselves resembling a log cabin of sorts. Raum knew he wasn't in an isolated location after he focused his hearing and could hear the swarms of people below.

He was in an inn. And it was breakfast time from the sounds of the rowdiness down below.

The Dark Entity felt something tiny gripping his left hand, and turned his head to see the tiny wolf Faunus child sleeping peacefully, keeping a firm hold of Raum's fingers.

He let out a relaxed sigh before he tried to sit himself up again, succeeding this time, but finding his abdominal area aching greatly. Looking down, he saw that area was bandaged up, as well different parts of his torso. His entire left arm was just as heavily bandaged, as was…

He glanced to his right arm, seeing that it had indeed grown back, but not in its entirety. While the majority of his arm had grown back, half of his fingers had yet to be regenerated.

Raum was getting a certain craving, mainly to dull some of the pain, but...he had remembered why he had given it up in the first place. If he was drinking constantly, how could he care for Irene if his senses were dulled?

"If the others back home knew about this…"

He'd certainly have a day of murder.

But there was something far more important on his mind rather than his peers mocking him.

Who had brought him to this inn?

"Irene! It's time to wake up!" The voice of a woman rang out

…

"She didn't..!" Raum stated panickedly in a whisper.

"I'm coming in!"

"She did!"

Raum immediately forced himself on his back, as if he never moved at all, but not before letting out a silent cry of pain and closing his eyes, hoping _she_ wouldn't realize he was awake.

The door slowly creaked open, Raum hearing a sigh from the woman entering the room as she closed the door behind her, her footsteps taking her to a table. From the sound of it, she brought a tray of food.

A clinking of a dish was heard, and the footsteps approached the bed Raum rested in, her stopping at the side of the bed Raum "rested" in making the Dark Entity flinch a little bit.

Somehow, the silent sigh gave she gave off made a shiver go down his spine.

"Not awake today either I see… And here I was hoping to speak with you today… Oh well."

Raum heard the clinking of silverware against something that was porcelain like. Then, he could feel something round and metallic quickly being forced between his lips with hot liquid, soup from how it tasted.

Regardless, he kept his lips as shut as possible so the spoon would enter no further, but the woman was persistent and eventually forced the entire utensil in his mouth, forcing him to choke and cough violently.

"Are you trying to kill me?!" He whispered angrily, trying not to shout.

"Oh, so you were awake the whole time?" She asked him with a smile, an ominous Aura sweeping through the room that made Raum abandon any sense of anger.

To make sure it was actually who he thought it was, he glanced her over, recognizing her light brown hair, light brown eyes, a long sleeved light grey cotton sweater that was somewhat form fitting, and a dark blue skirt that reached her shins, and light grey slipper shoes.

And of course, he couldn't forget those ridiculous glasses of hers that had lenses that were perfect circles.

It was her alright.

"That was pretty mean of you, you know. If you were awake, you shouldn't have pretended you were asleep." She complained with her soft and smooth voice.

Raum didn't say a word, only looked away from the woman before she placed both hands on the sides of his face and turned it to face her.

"Now don't be that way."

"Sorry…" he softly said as he averted his gaze from hers, only to look back and stare deep into her amber eyes.

The way she smile at him afterwards...he...enjoyed it. Felt more lively even.

"How did you find me?"

"Well…" she began, "The little one called me with great urgency. Seeing as she can't speak yet, her crying alone was enough to compel to come running. I was really worried and rushed to where you were as fast as I could."

"You didn't have rush here…"

"Of course I had to! You were in trouble!" She replied.

"You didn't have to inconvenience yourself I mean."

"But it wasn't an inconvenience at all! Not when…"

Was she going to say it?

"Not when it was concerning you."

She said it.

Embarrassment, something the Dark Entity rarely felt, washed over him like a wave from the ocean. He wanted to look away, but was still in her grasp, unable to retreat like he intended.

The woman giggled briefly, narrowing her eyes as she said "You try so hard to look and be mean, yet you're such a big softy underneath it all."

She was teasing him…

"It's actually a very cute side of you." She replied smooching him on the cheek, making his face burn red hot.

Teasing him no further, the woman pulled up one of the chairs from the desk near the bed and set it down near Raum's bedside, grabbing hold of his right hand as she did.

"It looks as though your arm has completely regenerated…"

"Yeah…"

"Raum… What happened out there?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I knew, Eren…" he replied propping himself up to lean against the headboard, "All I know is that those guys were bad news. And that trying to take Irene."

"Did you know them?"

"No. But what I saw has me troubled."

"What did you see?"

"They looked normal enough at first. You wouldn't really be able to tell them apart from a human or Faunus… I swear to you now, I'm certain that they resembled Grimm a lot more after transforming."

Eren seemed shocked to hear this, given how her eyes went wide for a moment before turning her head away.

"I'm glad you're safe regardless. Both you and Irene."

"What? Did you think I'd die so easily?" Raum asked.

"No, but you have a knack for being extremely reckless, as evidenced by the numerous injuries you sustained on our last adventure."

"Those were unavoidable."

"Be that as it may, you should take better care of yourself. Especially, since you have little Irene to care for." She said sliding her hand into his, both of them interlocking their fingers together.

"I know that."

"Plus…" She said leaning in closer, whispering to him in a hushed tone, "You wouldn't want to leave little old me by my lonesome, would you?"

He felt a powerful twitch shoot outwards from his heart, Eren finally touching her forehead against Raum's.

"You are the best and most interesting thing that's come into my life so far… Please...don't leave it so quickly."

…

A few centuries ago, he would have called this woman an absolute fool, a complete moron. As far as her knowledge extended, she knew only bits about him. Mainly the part where he was a being of Darkness. Yet she accepted him so easily, and with such great understanding. She even studied him personally.

A few centuries ago, he would have called the current him a fool that needed to hang himself with his own intestines.

But in a way...Eren was like Irene. Something that was very much needed in his stagnant, constantly war filled life.

"This year alone taught me so much. Things that if I tried looking at before, I would've easily thrown them away, treating them as garbage. Yet these fledgling emotions…they grew into something more than I ever imagined."

"Oh? That's very good to hear then." Eren replied smiling.

"You know whose fault that is?"

"I don't know. Would I happen to be one such person at fault?"

"Could be."

"Could be? Why, I was certain I was the main cause."

"You're part of the reason." Raum said as both his and Eren's eyes shifted to the still sleeping Irene, "She's the reason that started it all."

"I see…"

"Jealous?"

"N-Nonsense!"

"That's a lie. I can read you like one of those books you're always shoving your face into."

Eren gave him a rather cute pout with a silent growl of frustration as she pinched his cheeks. But she relaxed her pinching, and instead wrapped both arms around the Dark Entity as they both kept their foreheads pressed against one another.

"I would like just as much attention though…"

"Jealous it is." Raum said with a chuckle.

Eren remained silent, gazing deep into Raum's eyes expectantly.

"What?"

"It's nothing really. I was just thinking how much I like your eyes now. They look...at peace."

Peace…

…

This was what peace was like… It was...enjoyable.

Looks like the white haired hellion was onto something after all…

"That, and I like their color now. Much better than before."

"Color?" Raum asked confused.

"Ah, that's right, you've been unconscious for three days, so wouldn't have known."

Eren leaned back and grabbed a hand mirror from the desk near the bed, moving it in front of Raum so that he could see for himself. His black hair was still the same, chin length and fairly messy. No scars on his face either.

But his eyes…

They used to be crimson red with black slit pupils.

Now…

Now they were a dark emerald green with normal black pupils.

…

He didn't really object to it. Raum actually liked it too.

But to bring about this change…

…

Now that he thought about it, his older brother Lucifer was also correct.

Long ago, he and Lucifer had been engaged in an argument, and of course, as per usual, Lucifer kept his calm demeanor and tone, while Raum was the only one to shout and berate.

The words his brother spoke to him remained personally committed to heart, the weight of them that much important.

 _"You have power, yes. But that alone isn't enough. It's not nearly enough. With eyes like those, you will never be able to truly become strong. That much is fact."_

He understood what he meant now. And…

He was actually quite embarrassed about what triggered the change.

"I like it too. I guess."

"I'm glad we're in agreement then." Eren stated with a giggle as she leaned in closer to Raum once again.

She just sat there, gazing at him with those light brown eyes of hers, and he stared back, waiting for her to make her move.

"If you're gonna do it, then do it already."

"Hmmm? Do what?" Eren asked with a coy smile.

He hated when she did this sort of thing.

…

Not really.

"I'm sorry. You're just too cute when you look flustered and frustrated. Here then, I'll reward you for being a good sport."

The Dark Entity glanced back at Eren, still keeping his mild frustration about him as Eren's face grew closer to his own. A few centimeters away, and-

An amused hum sounded off to their side, prompting both adults to stop suddenly and glance to their side. The little wolf Faunus girl Irene was gone, at least, by her standards she believed herself invisible.

Even though all she did was use the covers to hide herself, and peeked through the opening of the fabric, her tail perfectly stuck out and whipped about.

"You little..! Who said you can get your entertainment value from my personal matters?!" Raum shouted as he swept the covers underneath her and held it up in the air, as if she were now captured in a bag.

The young one gave a few giggles of joy despite Raum's growling, but her head soon slipped out of the "bag's" entrance, her black wolf ears flicking about happily as her small arms soon followed. Those same hands soon pulled her entrapped body towards her adoptive father, allowing her to give him a loving peck on the cheek before nuzzling her face against his, continuing with her giggling fits.

Raum let out a sigh, and let her go about her giggling, noticing Eren too was in something of a giggling fit herself as she sat on the side of the bed, leaning in towards as she nuzzled into him.

"You two haven't changed in the slightest."

* * *

The group of five teens stood within the broken down, decimated town of Kuroyuri, gazing upon the beast before them.

The Grimm before them at first glance was a horse-like creature with an equine black main body layered with segments of bone plating, the massive horse's head also covered with a bone white mask with glowing red markings and eyes. Its forelegs are shaped like claws and it has hooved hindlegs that leave a characteristic hoofprint. But that wasn't even the most eye catching part of this creature.

Atop the horse-like Grimm's back was a skinless humanoid that was fused with the back from the waist up. The humanoid body was black and had a bone white mask covering its face only from the top jaw up, and had long curved horns on its head. It's mouth looked as if it were almost sewn shut, a red glow present within the inner confines of its mouth.

To add to its menacing appearance were two long elastic arms, each with two clawed fingers, arms dragging against the dirt floor as the horse body walked closer to the group. On the back of the human torso were boney spikes along its spine and a variety of weapons from previous battles stuck in it, arrows, swords and the like.

The creature stopped a few meters away from the group, the humanoid body sickeningly straightening out as it took in the sight of the teens before it, letting out an ear piercing shriek not moments later.

But...it suddenly calmed itself, and remained still as footsteps approached from behind it.

"Now now…"

 _That voice..! No..!_

"I know you're eager and all, but do try to restrain yourself a little bit longer."

The menacing creature growled lightly with a huff, as if it were agreeing, and focused back on the teens once more, only it did not budge an inch.

The man walked out from behind the creature, revealing himself to Dante and the others.

Black tattered cloak, Grimm like dragon mask, that sly, almost condescending tone…

There was no mistaking it, it was the Dragon Masked man from before.

"Why, hello again children! Fancy meeting you all here!"

"Cut the crap, you went out of your way to find us! Why?!" Dante asked, gripping his sword tightly.

More importantly, the immortal wanted to know why that Grimm was actually listening to what the man was saying, as if it were obeying him.

"Now now, why so harsh? Can't you accept the fact I'm here to just spend more time with you?"

"I don't believe that for a second…"

"Why, my feelings are quite hurt now..."

Dante didn't like this man, not one bit. It was more for the reason that he couldn't...assess him, understand him and what his motives were for being here.

He knew that the man said days ago that it was because of interest in the immortal...but he found it hard to believe it was so simple a reason.

"Nuckelavee? You can do as you please with the children, it matters not to me. Just be helpful in keeping them away from myself and the boy."

It...nodded to his request…

The creature let out another ear piercing shriek, it's arms extending and shooting forward with great speed to crash into Nora and Ren, but Dante had already moved to intercept.

The only problem was...so did the Dragon Masked man.

He was already dashing in from the side, and drew his sinister, bone-like black longsword and clashed with Dante, forcing him away from the group to leave them with the creature.

When they broke the clash, both immortal and Dragon Masked man were a decent ways away from the group, and the man struck upwards against Dante's blade, the sheer force of it enough to send him flying upwards towards the area of tall abandoned buildings overlooking the entire village.

The immortal grabbed the roof ledge he flew towards to stop himself from moving further, and landed both feet up top, moving back quickly to avoid a slash that cut through the edge of the rooftop floor, nearly cutting his chest.

To catch his opponent, Dante immediately rushed forward towards the man as he almost landed on the roof, blades

crashing into one another. Almost as if they were dancing, something Dante's opponent intentionally made happen, they spun around once and swiped at each other again, this time pushing each other away, Dante on one rooftop, the Masked man on the other building rooftop.

"Hmmm… It's been a decent while since you and I last fought my young friend... I'm fairly surprised that you're still privy to my basic abilities."

Dante didn't give a response, he only grasped his own longsword tightly with both hands, preparing himself for whatever attack might come next.

"Dear me, it really only seems as though it were only yesterday, even though it's been quite a few days now… I can tell you assumed I would help that nice man with the scorpion tail to eliminate your friends. You were very upset at the idea of it and did your best to keep me away from them, hoping they alone would be adequate enough to defeat him."

His assessment...wasn't far off. Dante knew from first glance alone the man was strong, very strong. He knew very well if any of the others engaged him...they would've perished almost immediately.

"I remember at the time that I was thinking of you as rather interesting. I still do to be quite honest."

"I don't." The immortal bluntly replied, overhearing the sounds of the battle below.

"Now why be so rude? I was simply stating my thoughts you know."

"Don't care either way. Truthfully… I don't like you one bit. Usually I'm able to understand what an opponent is like when crossing sword with them."

"Oh? Are you some sort of mind reader of sorts? Are you perhaps a psychic?" The man asked.

"Don't change the subject. Out of everyone I faced… You're different. I can't feel a thing from you at all. I can't tell what you're thinking or what you're planning. But I can tell one thing for sure… You're not entirely focused on fighting me, like I'm just some sort of a distraction."

The man let out a chuckle as loud, thunderous noise sounded below, drawing the warriors' attention for a moment as the ground shook.

"You know…" the man began, forcing Dante to glance back at him, "I was pretty sure you were an interesting individual… Now you're just downright creepy…"

Dante gripped his sword tightly, waiting for even the slightest movement from his opponent.

It was so unnatural to see someone so...calm. Usually, when an opponent presented themselves to the immortal, their calm demeanor came from the air of overconfidence they exuded from their persons, more than certain they would defeat Dante.

Their overconfidence is what led many of them to theirs graves, save for the few that managed to live afterwards throughout the years.

But this man in the Grimm mask…

He was completely unnerving...

"Someone like you shouldn't be calling anyone creepy." Dante replied.

"You just like throwing back insults to your opponents, don't you?" The man said as he raised his sword up in the air to his side, "Say, you were compiling statistical data on me from our first against one another, right? Did you figure out how fast I was able to swing my sword back then?"

"Can't say I do."

Dante grasped his sword with both hands once again, preparing to block a frontwards attack, just in case.

"Much faster than what I showed you. When I used to be a boy younger than you, people were very impressed with the speed of my strikes. They eventually invented rumors that I must be able to manipulate wind or turn invisible briefly when I strike." The Masked man stated.

"I'm not interested in your stories."

"Really? Then do you at least have an idea as to how fast I can swing my sword normally?"

"Not. Interested." Repeated the immortal.

"Oh come on, you aren't even going to gander a guess? Now that's a shame, truly. And here I thought you weren't boring in the slightest. You remember how fast I swung at you last time, right? They looked almost invisible, didn't they?"

They _were_ practically invisible. It was hard to keep track of all of his strikes.

"If I push myself just a bit more...I can strike at you ten times faster."

Dante's eyes went wide briefly, and kept himself completely still, eyes focused on only his opponent.

"I know right? It's fairly difficult to comprehend, much less imagine. So then, why don't I demonstrate for you?"

The air around them thickened and grew heavy, azure blue Aura blazing around the Dragon Masked man as he raised his sword in his left hand upwards and off towards his side, the air shivering and quaking violently under the pressure of his Aura as its visible glow faded out of sight shortly after.

Dante looked over towards the direction his sword point faced, noticing the few tall buildings around them slowly slide down to the ground in a diagonal motion, allowing the teen to notice the single glowing azure blue slice that spanned throughout the whole street block of bisected buildings.

What happened next sent a shiver down Dante's spine. He didn't so much as blink, and yet within an instant the Dragon Masked man had nearly taken his head off had he not instinctively blocked.

Even then, the vicious, bone-like black longsword would have stopped as soon as it made contact with the vertebrae of his spinal column. And if his opponent's aim was just as frightening as his speed, it would have potentially cut into his neck and stop at the ligaments and cartilage, whereas anyone else would lose their head.

The smoke from the collision faded away, revealing white and black longswords clashing against each other, the Masked man's head tilted sideways slightly, as if he were surprised Dante managed to block his strike.

"You look surprised…" the immortal stated as the smoke cleared away fully, showing that he did indeed block the strike off to his side by wrapping his blade across his body, "You probably don't run into people often that can block your strikes… Am I right?!" Dante shouted.

As he yelled, he moved his sword against the sharp edge of his opponent's as white and black Aura flowed from the blade. When Dante slid the edge of his blade across his foe's, he pushed away the Masked Man's sword, and within that single motion, unleashed an upwards striking wave of his white and black Aura, which immediately crashed into the man and created another dust cloud.

Wisps of the immortals Aura Wave attack seeped through the smoke as it slowly cleared, revealing that the Dragon Masked man had been pushed away a considerable distance, his hand smoking slightly from blocking the blast directly.

His mask had been chipped slightly.

"Hmph… It's official…" he spoke in his calm, cool voice, "You've graduated from being creepy to downright scary…"

Without saying another word, the man struck his blade upwards from the ground and up, raising up half of the rooftop and its corner in the air to completely obscure his body. The impressively clean cut block of debris suddenly surged forwards towards Dante, who decided to stand his ground and cut through it easily with a single strike.

There were two ways the next few seconds were going to go; the man was either going to burst forward from the front, or come in from behind.

When Dante looked forward, he saw no one. And when he looked directly behind him, no one was there. Dante immediately twisted his body towards his left and struck, the edge of his sword making contact with the Dragon Masked man's blade.

He was trying to catch the immortal off guard, and from what Dante could understand, his opponent was getting used to the teen's frightening ability to accurately predict his opponent's movements, meaning the man was attempting to use unexpected attacks and tactics, which he did as they continued fighting across the rooftops.

But what made this all the more frustrating is that when the immortal was rolling with the idea his opponent would be attacking with unexpected movements and timing, he adjusted his tactics to move towards what would have been the most predictable attack.

In short, this wasn't the time nor place for a battle using prediction tactics, not with this enemy.

Dante had to react and rely more on instinct.

Doing so allowed him to keep up with his opponent at a better pace as they moved from rooftop to rooftop, slicing up the concrete and wood and anything that entered their vortex space of slashes.

They would run out of rooftops soon.

Dante took the occasional glance down below when he could manage, watching Ruby and friends down below continuing their fight with that abomination. And from the looks of it, the fight seemed as though it could go either way, possibly more in favor towards the Grimm given the man had appeared.

He just wanted the current fight to end so that he could go and help Ruby and the others. But the Dragon Masked man was intentionally keeping him away, much to Dante's frustration.

When the teen and his opponent came to a clash once more, Dante immediately pushed himself away to create distance, bringing his sword across his body midair and quickly swinging outwards, inwards, and then outwards again a final time, each swing of his sword unleashing a small wave of his white and black Aura.

The super dense Aura Waves he sent out traveled with great speed towards their intended target, but as the immortal expected, the man cut through the waves with ease. That was besides the point, the waves weren't meant to do damage, only to provide an opportunity.

Dante had purposefully mixed in an Aura dagger in one of the waves that passed by his opponent, allowing him to use his Embedded Shift ability to teleport behind him while he was busy with the other two waves, going for a stab to his chest.

But unexpectedly, the man moved off to the side, allowing Dante to pass by as he kicked the immortal's sword out of his hands, grabbing hold of it with his right hand as he stepped on Dante's back and pressed him against the edge of the rooftop. With a single fluid motion, the Masked man twirled Dante's Blade upside down and pierced the immortal's hands with his own blade.

The sword was plunged deep into the gaps between the radii and ulnae towards where his wrists started, effectively pinning his hands to the ground and making him fall to both knees. No matter how much Dante struggled and pulled, the blade wouldn't budge at all.

He was completely trapped.

His gaze moved from his entrapped hands and towards the Masked man, glancing at the bone-like Black longsword in his left hand before his eyes moved up to meet the eye gaps of his Grimm-like dragon mask.

Dante expected an attack, anything that would threaten him. But no attack came his way. Instead, the man gave him a chuckle.

"Careful now. You're completely defenseless you know." He spoke in a chilling tone, raising up his sword as if he were about to strike.

Dante went to move, but he immediately stopped and stared in confusion at his opponent when he chuckled at the immortal.

"Just kidding. I was only messing with you!"

Dante didn't enjoy the joke.

"How about you and I take a little break?" The Masked man asked as he sheathed his weapon inside his tattered, black cloak, taking a seat near the edge of the rooftop where he pinned Dante's arms with his own sword.

"A break..?!" Dante replied with confusion and frustration.

"Mhm. Take a load off. Let's watch the action down below." He said gesturing down below.

Both of the warriors turned their heads down below, peeking over the edge that overlooked the town square, where currently Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora were struggling with the Grimm down below.

From the look of it, Ren was abnormally frustrated, something very outside of the norm. With the clumsy mistakes he was making…

It was very difficult to watch.

"Are you worried they won't beat him?"

Dante's head spun to the Dragon Masked man, who kept his eyes glued to the battle below.

"Ah, so you are the type to worry after all. You probably didn't realize it yet, but there's really nothing you can do to help them. They might succeed. They might die. It's only a matter of time until we receive a final result."

Hearing that made him want to leap down there all the more.

"There's no way that's going to happen."

"That's no surprise." The man said resting his chin in his hand as he crossed one leg over the other, "That response was pretty much within my expectations of what you would say."

"There's no telling what they're capable of… They're a lot stronger than they used to be months ago."

"Hmmm… I admit, I didn't quite expect that. But answer me this. Did they grow stronger because you were absent from stifling them?"

Dante himself didn't expect that question. But the way he said it… Was that really something he had been doing?

"I can tell you're the protective type. It's in your nature to be that way given how strong you are. But did you ever consider that maybe you being overly protective of your friends constricts their own potential to grow?"

…

He'd never considered the thought before…

"Here you are, constantly trying to fight their battles for them so that they don't have to. Understandable given no one really wants to see anyone close to them die. But don't you think you having to step in so many times kills their confidence and motivation to continue fighting?"

…

The immortal couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of shame overwhelming him.

"You know what I think? I think you used to believe people were able to help themselves. I don't know exactly what happened that made you as you are, but it's as clear as day what part of your problem is. The thing is...you've long since lost faith. Deep inside you, you've given up in believing in the ability of others."

The Dragon Masked man looked towards Dante, seeing the teen staring at the ground with a troubled gaze about him.

"Here I thought you'd be better than that, but I guess you are a child still in some ways. Weak on both the inside and outside. I've seen you around a few times here and there, but I don't remember you being this weak. Back then...you were at least a bit more intimidating."

He was right about that much at least… But that Dante… That version of him was someone truly undesirable…

The two heard intense shrieking from below, and focused back on the fight below, seeing the Grimm fighting the group of four down below crippled, and it's arms pinned, completely immobilized. All it could do was shriek as Ren cut the beast apart, starting with it's arms, then it's chest, and finally it's head.

And thus, Ruby and the others survived their encounter, and defeated the vicious Grimm.

"Well well, looks like it's over. See? They can manage on their own from time to time. You just have to give them the chance and they'll progress forward on their own." He said standing up, drawing Dante's gaze to him as he unsheathed his longsword from his cloak once more, "Now then… What should I do with you?"

Before he had a chance to move, the man raised his blade in front of his chest, making sure the flat side faced forward as a silvery bullet impacted the base of the blade, forcing him to skid backwards on his heels a bit.

"My my, that was very dangerous of you...young miss."

Dante briefly glanced to his right, seeing Ruby standing there next to him, cocking the bolt of Crescent Rose to eject the casing of the bullet she just shot at.

The immortal was...conflicted to say the least, but afraid more than anything now that she was present.

"It's very sweet of you to come to his rescue, but you should know it's hopeless. He may not have thrown everything at me, but with how he's been fighting as of late, it wouldn't matter even if he did. As he is now, he's a complete disappointment."

Ruby took a glance at Dante momentarily, who intentionally avoided looking her in the eyes.

It was then she did something the Dragon Masked man found puzzling.

She scowled at him, without the slightest hint of fear in her eyes. He could tell she was already angry, and that young Ruby's frustration was only continuing to grow.

He was beginning to find her interesting as well...

"For your own good, the two of you should just give up. Go home."

"That's not happening." Ruby spoke, plunging Crescent Rose into the ground scythe blade first as she went over to Dante and pulled on the longsword stuck in his arms with both hands.

"Ruby…"

"I never...really mentioned this before...but…" she said in strained voice, finally removing the blade from Dante's arms, "Your stories...they taught me a lot. But more importantly...they gave me a lot of things." She said glancing at the pure white blade.

Looking at the weapon she helped create brought an overwhelming sense of nostalgia back to her. She remembered her and Dante's first meeting, how nervous and flustered she was around him. She still was that way to certain extents.

Ruby felt pride in the weapon called Anvil, her lover's weapon. But more importantly, she felt pride in the person she loved.

"I wasn't all too courageous you know? I had dreams at best. I still do. But meeting you, spending time with you, hearing everything you've been through and everything you've accomplished so far… It inspired me to do more. It gave me courage. It gave me hope. It made me always look at a hopeless situation with the idea there's always a chance to win. And he doesn't need to fight our battles for us." she said glaring at the masked man.

"Then what should he do, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

"He just needs to stand by us, and fight with us!"

It was a simple answer, but it was her best one, full of heart.

She knelt down and moved Dante's head to face her, and pressed her forehead against his, whispering "Don't give up so quickly. Not after you've come so far. No matter what, we'll always stand by you. Promise."

…

Why did such simple yet sweet words affect him greatly?

It was incomprehensible as to how her simplicity of words always had such great effect on him. But in reality, he already knew full well what it was.

And he knew now wasn't the time to be sitting down and recounting past misdeeds.

"Thank you." He said closing his eyes briefly to collect himself as he stood up.

He opened his eyes once more and took back his sword that Ruby offered him, giving it a quick twirl in his right hand as Ruby twirled her own Crescent Rose in preparation.

They were ready.

"He's more or less a speed type. Think as if he's me and you, only a bit faster at the moment." Dante whispered.

"I get it. Since we're both speedy types, we can keep up with him, maybe even actually beat him!" She whispered back.

"Careful though. All he's been doing is messing around with me. He hasn't even come close to showing his hand yet, or even a bit of it. If an opening seems too obvious, back off and try something else."

"Got it!"

"Strategizing might you get somewhere, but it won't exactly be enough to beat me. Not as you all are anyway." The man cautioned.

He had a point.

Dante's right arm and hand had been in great condition as of late, but it still hadn't healed, which meant his swings weren't going to be at one hundred percent unless he Shadow Skinned it. And surely, Ruby herself was a bit exhausted from fighting that creature below.

Even so, he knew as well as she did that they'd both push past their limits to win.

The Dragon Masked man let out a soft chuckle. He was both amused and impressed. But more importantly…

He found himself interested in Dante once again.

"Very well then. If the two of you insist that you have a chance of winning against me, how could I possibly turn you down? I suppose I still have enough time to play around with the both of you a bit longer." The man said readying his longsword.

Both sides waited briefly, being absolutely still as they determined who would make the first move. Ironically, the man didn't move at all, despite being able to easily make the first move.

And neither of them would.

* * *

Before any attack of sorts was made, a column of blood red flame descended from the skies above behind the Masked man with a thundering crack. As it touched the ground, the flames fanned out into a wide, split burst, purposefully avoiding the Masked man as he looked behind him and let out a sigh

"Always with the dramatic entrances… Though I suppose it's highly effective in scaring the general populace."

Ruby and Dante stood guard, waiting for an attack that might come from the flames at any second. No attack came, however.

Instead, a figure stepped out from the flames.

He had long black hair that reached his waist, where his bangs and top portion of his hair was slightly spiked. He had glowing red irises with black slit pupils resembling that of a serpent.

The new figure wore a completely closed, tight, form fitting black coat with dark red trim, where its sleeves ended just a bit past his elbows, and the dark red lapels of the coat flared out slightly. The ends of the coat where tattered, looking as though they were burned into their jagged, flame-like patterns. In addition, the man wore a pair of form fitted black pants, with knee high black boots that had dark red soles and trim.

He was tall too, about six feet tall from what Dante could guess.

But most ominous of all was that calm smile of his. It almost seemed...permanent, as if he thought himself untouchable or stood high above everyone else.

"So then…this is the boy you spoke of, Aizûr?" The man asked stopping at the Masked man's side.

"That he is, Eradûm." Aizûr replied.

"Hmmm… Did you not say four others were with him? Where are the other three?"

"Down below. She was the only one to join him so far given her ability to move quickly."

"I see… Then she was part of the group responsible for defeating the Nuckelavee just a few moments ago. An impressive feat considering the aggressive nature of the beast. Many a human has fallen against the creature, and yet a group of four children managed to defeat it. Most impressive."

"They have potential to grow into excellent warriors. This young girl in particular." Aizûr pointed out.

The new arrival Eradûm glanced at Ruby briefly, saying "Interesting…", before he glanced to Dante, "I've heard much about you these past few months. Aizûr seems set on the idea you have potential."

"Potential to do what?"

"That is for us to know, and for you to continue contemplating." He spoke, as blood red Aura formed in his hand, soon dispersing to reveal the weapon he now wielded.

It was a black spadroon saber that looked as though it were made from clean bone, where the cross guard resembled blood red muscle fibers twisted together, each end of the cross guard capped in black, diamond shaped spikes. The blade length had to be at least three feet long.

The handle looked as though it could be gripped with two hands, but that was merely for decoration, for the lower half of the handle had the same twisted coil of dark red muscle fibers with a longer diamond shaped, black spike of bone. The guard sported a wavy triangular pattern of black bone that enveloped the back part of his hand to protect it.

"For now...I shall test you myself. Aizûr, you can do as you please with the girl. Kill her if you'd like."

Him saying that made the duo tense up greatly.

"Now now, we aren't here for that, are we?"

"Why are we here if not to kill them?"

"Well…"

"It matters not. Kill her, maim her, it makes no difference. Ensure she stays out of my way."

Aizûr let out a sigh, glancing in Dante and Ruby's directing, "It looks as though we'll have to save playing around for another time."

"What makes you think I'll let you split us up?" Dante asked.

"I don't quite think you understand your situation, so allow me to pose a question for you. At what point did you think you still had control of this battle as soon as I appeared?"

That air of confidence wasn't just for show… This Eradûm had to be as strong, if not stronger than the Dragon Masked man, now identified Aizûr, if he could make such statements so easily. If that was the case...then he and Ruby were in more trouble than he realized.

Even so...Dante had not done what he mentioned earlier. He hadn't shown Aizûr his full hand. The problem was if he did, the levels of destruction to the area would be immense. With that in mind, the immortal had a theory he had been working on during these past few months. He hadn't the chance to try it, given the explicit dangers involved to others, but if he was correct about his theory...he could fight at full strength even with others around.

But what to do now? They didn't seem to have any particular problem with killing Ruby outright just to get her out of the way. At least, Eradûm didn't. From the way Aizûr spoke and acted around him...it was like he didn't enjoy entertaining the thought either. Would he not seriously harm Ruby? Or would it be a facade made for the immortal to let his guard down?

Dante hated not having the upper hand this time… And his concerns only grew by the second now that there was a second, potentially more dangerous enemy to fight.

Were they actually doomed?

A streak of white flame descended from on high, crashing into the rooftop between the two groups and surging forwards towards Aizûr and Eradûm, the newer arrival stepping forward to swing his sword across his body to disperse the pure white flames.

A new figure gently landed in front of Dante and Ruby, but to the immortal, this man was indefinitely someone he recognized.

He was a tall, muscular man, about 6'3, that looked to be in his forties, had messy white hair, crimson colored eyes, and enough facial hair around his mouth and on his cheeks to be considered a beard.

His attire consisted of white kimono with a black kosode underneath, the sleeves wide and short enough that they just barely reached over his elbows. He also wore a white hakama, and back tabi socks with almost silvery zori sandals. There was also a black sash around his waist that kept his kimono together, It's ends draping off towards his left side.

Tucked in the left side of his black sash was a katana with a white sheath, with the edge of the blade facing downwards instead of upwards. The handle was colored white, while the compressed hexagonal guard and butt cap of the handle were of black metal. On the end of the butt cap was a small, white tassel.

His most prominent features by far, however, were the pair of white fox ears atop his head and the large, nine white fox tails that proudly stood up behind him.

There was no mistaking who this was.

Tenma Kitsukami, Inuba's father, had stepped onto the field.

"Tenma…" Dante barely managed to say, still in disbelief at seeing him there.

He had been gone for such a long time. No one knew where the previous head of the Kitsukami clan had gone to, or what the mission he set out on was. And now, right at this moment, he stood before the young immortal in his brilliant glory, like a beacon of flame.

Hope had truly been rekindled now that he was present.

"Oh? So you've finally made yourself know have you?" Eradûm asked glancing at Tenma, relieving the elder kitsune's attention, "We've never managed to fully identify you due to how you've effortlessly managed to thwart our efforts within the recent years. It seems I'll have a chance to put an end to you myself."

Tenma merely scoffed at his statement, crossing his arms, "You talk too much, you know that?"

He was still the same as Dante remembered him; a deep, charismatic voice with the commanding presence of an angry god.

Tenma suddenly looked back to Dante, but the glance he gave him was...far too serious than his usual.

"Hey… Say something already, old man…"

The elder Kitsune simply walked over to Dante slowly, who had still been waiting for Tenma to say something to him.

Instead, he stopped directly in front of the immortal and head butted him.

The force of the head but was so strong, it made Dante reel backwards until his feet were off the ground, where his upside down head quickly bounced twice on the rooftop ground before crashing against the edge, sending him off the roof.

Dante quickly optioned himself upright and flailed his arms to grab hold of the edge before plummeted down below. But instead of being allowed to climb back up, the immortal looked up to find the sole of one of Tenma's zori sandals plant itself in his face, intentionally trying to kick him down the building.

Another forceful kick from Tenma, and Dante was finally sent plummeting below, screaming "WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL?!".

Ruby looked on in shock, her head constantly turning back and forth between where Dante fell and the elder Kitsune, who glared at an equally confused Aizûr and Eradûm. All he gave them was a silent "Hmph" before he grabbed hold of Ruby, and instantly blurred out of sight in streaks of white flame.

"Now that was quite an unexpected surprise…" Aizûr said stepping forward, glancing over the edge of the rooftops to notice the other group of three from below were also missing, "Should we go after them?"

"There's no need. They know full well escape is impossible unless we cease to live or we retreat, both of which neither of us will be or do. In any case, they'll come straight to us soon enough. For now, we'll allow them to regroup and strategize. After all, it'll be amusing to see what they scrap together."

* * *

Small blurs of white flashed about the abandoned town of Kuroyuri, moving from alleyway to alleyway until it reached an enclosed back alley.

Ruby's feet found the ground once more in the shadow of alleyway, seeing Jaune, Ren, Nora, and a still breathing Qrow within the alleyway. All of them, save for Qrow, turned to look towards Tenma, who knelt on the ground and kept his entire large hand over Dante's face, who was still currently yelling in a muffled voice.

With a glance of annoyance, Tenma looked down to Dante, "Would you shut up already! I know there's things you want to ask me! But you gotta shut up right now and-!"

Just before the elder Kitsune could breath another word, the sole of Dante's shoe found itself buried forcefully in Tenma's face, forcing him away to grab hold of his face as he groaned in pain silently.

Dante sat up straight and took in a deep inhale before he angrily stated in a hushed tone, "I know that you idiot! I was yelling because you were making it hard for me to breath!"

"Oh! S-Sorry!" He replied apologetically as he rubbed his face.

Dante rubbed his own face briefly and stared at Tenma, who stared back after rubbing away the pain.

"You're not imagining or dreaming this up. I'm actually here right now."

"Yeah, I figured that out for myself after you nearly suffocated me."

"Heh… Still the petty complainer…" Tenma replied with a chuckle.

His expression however grew more serious as he looked off into the distance, very likely in the direction where Aizûr and Eradûm remained.

"Look, I know you've got a bunch of questions for me. Where I've been, what I've been doing. But to tell you the truth-"

"Not interested."

Tenma seemed rather surprised as he looked back to Dante who grabbed hold of his longsword and propped himself into a squat.

"There's nothing I need to ask you. Whatever you've been doing all this time for the last five years, I'm sure you had your reasons for saying nothing to anyone about anything. Not even your family. Truthfully, there's no good way for me to ask you about it right now. All I know is that we'll get to it one day. Just make sure you give an actual explanation to your family when you see them again."

"Hmph… Seems like you've matured."

"And you're still the same immature old man. Go figure." The immortal said standing up.

"So, who're the these guys? Your friends?" Tenma asked glancing at Ruby and the others.

"Obviously."

"Hey, it isn't always so obvious."

"Just give me a break already..."

"I did that when I head-butted you."

Dante let out a growl of annoyance, as he walked past them all to check on Qrow.

"So then, are guys friends with that idiot?" The elder Kitsune asked, moving his head to the six to avoid a rock hitting his head.

"Um… I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose."

"I know. I've heard about you." Tenma replied as he too stood up and crossed

"Y-You have..?"

Tenma being as tall as he was was fairly intimidating for the young girl, who felt as though she were a tiny speck at the moment.

"I've run into your uncle Qrow a few times on my journey. We worked together a few times, shared a few drinks together, and had some occasional fun."

"Seriously old man? I thought you said you had some super secret mission to take care of!" Dante spoke up as he continued examining Qrow.

"Get off my back you little brat. I took a break now and then because I needed it." Tenma shouted back, "Anyway, your uncle talks about you and your sister a lot, says how he proud he is of you guys."

"Oh… Well, thank you."

"Don't mention it. And you three?"

"Uh, Jaune Arc, sir."

"Lie Ren."

"Nora!"

"Hmmm… Pleasure to meet you all." Tenma nodded before looking to Dante once more, "Hey brat, listen up a moment. I forgot to mention one more thing."

"Yeah?" The immortal replied.

"You can't tell Inuba I was here. At all."

…

It very likely had to do with the fact she'd want to find him and ask him to come home, something he couldn't do because of his "mission".

"You're asking me to tell a pretty hefty lie to my partner, old man…"

"I know, but…"

"I never said I wasn't going to. I'm just telling you I'm not going to like doing so if she asks." He said as he joined Ruby's side, "So, what's the plan, old man? What are we going to do about those two?"

"To make this perfectly clear, running isn't option whatsoever. The only way we're getting out of here is if they're dead, or decide to retreat. And I highly doubt they'll do the latter."

"What makes you so sure?" Jaune asked.

"Both of them are extremely powerful. And the newer arrival, Eradûm or whatever, doesn't seem like the type to just let us go or let himself get beaten. He's too proud to let anything like that happen. If we run, he'll likely chase us down and try to pick us off one at a time. So like the old man said, our only option is to fight here." Dante stated as he looked to Tenma, "Which begs the question, how are we going to fight them?"

"Simple. I'll take on Eradûm or whatever his name is, and the rest of you will take on the other one."

 _Aizûr_ …

"Sure you got what it takes to solo him?"

"Tch, who do you think you're talking to?" Tenma proudly stated.

"Five years old man. You could've gotten a bit flabby in that time for all I know."

"You ever stop being such a smartass?"

"Oh, you know me, that's virtually impossible."

"I figured." Tenma replied with a scoff, "You guys got it? Back up the idiot and follow his lead. That other one, Aizûr… He isn't a pushover in the slightest. Be extra careful."

"You got it!" Ruby answered.

"What about Qrow?" Jaune asked.

"I put a barrier in this alleyway that erases Aura Signatures and will keep out Grimm. He'll be fine."

"Sure you got this old man? I wouldn't want you straining yourself too much."

"Ugh… Just shut up already you little brat." Tenma said as he and Dante walked ahead towards the alleyway's exit, "Now, let's go get this done."

* * *

"Are you sure they didn't just run away?" Aizûr asked sitting on the edge of the roof, chin resting in his hand, "That fox is a sly one you know. He's slipped our grasp every time, even when we tried sending people to capture him."

"He has a keen enough intellect to constantly make his escapes. But as it is, he knows this time he has no other option but to stay and fight for those children. Otherwise...they'll die."

" _He'll_ get angry you know…"

"The boy?"

"Him too." Aizûr stayed as he looked to Eradûm, "But you know who I'm talking about. While He did give us freedom to roam about, He did also tell us to kill only when necessary. I'm sure you remember this since He looked to you in particular when he spoke."

"And?"

"And, I don't think killing any of them is necessary really. There's no point to it really. After all, we were the ones that attacked them."

"True. We have no real motivation to kill them. Not even that sly fox despite his meddling. It's actually quite amusing to see how he escapes our brethren always. In fact, I may as well face him instead of the boy."

"Oh? So I get to play with him a bit more?"

"Play to your heart's content. You best be prepared however."

"Hmm? How come?"

"They've returned."

Dante darted up from the edge behind Aizûr and swung, the latter quickly standing up and bringing forth his vicious looking black longsword, flipping it into backhand style as he block Dante's downward strike. He turned his head to side after hearing a gunshot, and raised his leg mid swing of Ruby's scythe and halted the weapon by pressing the sole of his foot against the pole.

Ruby and Dante were both locked in place, with Aizûr's ally, Eradûm, seemingly moving in to assist. Before he managed another step, a streak of white flame cut through the bottom of the floor, creating a wall of sorts to block off Eradûm. The corner edge of the rooftop he stood on slowly slid down, and as it it did, he looked behind him to see Tenma on the streets below, repositioning his blade as he leapt high above and clashed with his opponent.

Even with Tenma upon him, Eradûm kept his calm smile about him. That was until Tenma made his next move. When he struck at his opponent, the elder Kitsune did so by grasping the blade with both hands. Now that he was locked in a clash, he was free to use his other hand.

With a light chuckle, Tenma brought back his left hand, palm facing the air as it pointed in Eradûm's direction, and brought back his center finger to pinch it in between his thumb.

Eradûm's eyes widened briefly, realizing Tenma was by far much more powerful than he let he on. By the time he wished to react, it was too late. Tenma flicked his central finger at the man, unleashing a pressurized, focused column of flame that flung Eradûm back with great force, sending him crashing through numerous buildings in the path behind him.

Now that Tenma had Eradûm preoccupied completely, Ruby and Dante were able to keep their focus on only Aizûr. Even so, he didn't make it easy for the duo. He was quite easily blocking and worrying their attacks, despite their well coordinated front, but even with his on point guarding, he was forced back little by little, their fight taking them down to the streets below.

Ruby and Dante moved in for a cross clash, thinking Aizûr had no time to turn around. Clearly they were mistaken, given that he instantly spun around and simply raised up his sword vertically, blocking both of their weapons. Despite Ruby's scythe nearly wrapping around his neck, he gave them both a light chuckle before pushing both himself and the duo away to give each other space.

Jaune, Ren and Nora quickly rounded the corner, and joined Ruby and Dante as they readied themselves for Aizûr.

"Now this is quite an interesting turn of events." He said with his usual calm voice, returning his blade to its normal position before pointing it at the group "I suppose it's time for me to hold back less."

* * *

 **(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning, by Xera Stark)**

It was surprisingly small.

And squishy.

And it wiggled around every time she touched it.

Like it was ticklish or something.

"You're so tiny," Skyla whispered in awe, picking it up. "And cute…"

Irene just smiled back at her as her arms dangled over Skyla's hands, holding the wolf-child up beneath her shoulders.

Sky's eyes trailed down the small girl's body and found her wolf tail idly flicking back and forth behind her hanging legs.

It was so fluffy…

"Okay! Uh, you watch over her for a little bit. I need to go find someone," Ciel explained, popping back out of a nearby tent.

They were camped out around a fire now, a couple other tents scattered about. Lounge chairs were here and there.

It seemed like a campout for two, maybe three. But Skyla had no idea where Irene's real caretaker was.

And why Ciel was wolfsitting her. For some reason.

"Who're you trying to find?" Skyla asked, peering around Irene's bushy tail to see Ciel filling a small travel bag.

"Oh, just our friendly neighborhood girl in the cloak. She specializes in this kind of thing," Cielexplained, throwing everything together before tossing the half-zipped bag over her shoulder.

Skyla and Irene watched it disappear into a portal.

"We'll get you home. No worries. It's still just so weird that you fell here from your own reality, though…"

"This hasn't happened before?" Sky asked.

"Nope. But I'll be back soon."

"Well, first time for everything, I guess," Skyla replied, lowering Irene back down to her own two little feet as Ciel gave the two of them a goodbye wave.

And then disappeared.

"Whelp…" Skyla quipped idly, glancing down at the little wolf-girl in front of her, two wolf ears perked as dark blue eyes stared up at her own.

She was too cute.

"What do you wanna do?"

Irene cocked her head adorably at the question and shuffled a little in her dress, tail and cloth swaying as she reached up to take Skyla's hand.

The small girl led the brunette to a crate of supplies, tiny hand letting go to push the lid open and lean over the edge of the box to start digging around inside.

After a few moments, she pulled out a stack of Uno cards.

Then with a little excited 'hmph', she thrust them up at Skyla and gave her a gleaming smile.

"Oh, cards it is!" Skyla realized, taking the deck into her hands as she smiled back.

About half an hour later, Ciel came back to three-quarters of the forest on fire.

It was a disaster.

She had to dump an ocean's worth of scattering water just to put it out as she ran through the trees in search of the encampment.

When she finally found it, wild creatures were gathered at its center, surrounding Irene and Skyla as they-

"Oh no you don't!" Ciel yelled, dashing in to summon her scythe.

Ciel was about to take one of the bears' head off when something purple jumped in front of her. The white reaper slammed her heels into the ground just to stop her blade short of the friendly figure in its way.

"Ciel! I was afraid you'd miss it!" Skyla exclaimed, bouncing around on the balls of her feet as she snagged the white-haired girl by the shoulders.

Skyla looked… completely unharmed.

The brunette happily dragged Ciel into the crowd of animals, which was more of a rough circle, now that she looked at it. And before she knew it, Skyla plopped her down next to Irene, who was intently looking at the few cards she held fanned out in front of her.

There was a squirrel pointing to some of the faces of the cards with its head, looking up to Irene in question to see her shake her head.

Then the squirrel tried again.

Ciel watched as it went on for a few more minutes before Irene gave a firm nod and plucked one of her cards out of her sloppy fan.

With speed and childlike excitement, she slammed it down onto the loose pile of discards at the center of the large group of wildlife with her own wild gleam in her eyes.

Right next to her, a mother wolf stared with wide dark eyes at the card Irene just used on her.

A Wild Draw 4.

The little wolf-girl's face contorted in an innocent but oh so wicked smile as Irene grinned at the wolf, sitting back down in her seat as she waited for the animal to draw its heavy sentence.

"What is… going on…?" Ciel wondered allowed.

The wolf mother seemed to get over her shock before snapping its gaze to Irene, who didn't so much as flinch as it growled behind a closed maw.

It leisurely got up and took a few steps over to the girl, eyes narrowing as Irene beamed up at it.

Then it lunged.

Ciel tensed as she went to shoot up in worry to get in its way, only to stop as she was dragged back to the ground by Skyla.

Anger and shock at Skyla settled in as she watched the gruesome scene unfold, only to melt away when she saw what was actually happening.

Irene burst out laughing as the wolf on top of her nuzzled her stomach with its cold nose. Her dark blue dress was pushed up and disheveled, the mother wolf licking at the ticklish skin of the girl's belly relentlessly while holding her down.

The small wolf-child was in tears as she squirmed and giggled, trying to curl away from the spiteful attack.

"Skyla…? Please explain. I was only gone for thirty minutes," Ciel finally breathed out, turning to gaze at the girl beside her in total, unadulterated confusion and surrender.

"Don't look at me! Irene invited them!" the girl replied with a pitiful grin, gazing down at her own cards.

"Okay… then why was the forest on fire?" Ciel asked.

"Oh, there was a dragon here earlier," Sky explained. Her voice almost sounded like it wasn't at all unbelievable… what she just uttered. "It kinda rage quit after I skipped its turn a couple times in a row."

"Huh…" Ciel slowly muttered, eyes drawing around the circle of stray animals all watching the attack unfold. "How many times?"

"Ten."

"Ah…"

Irene's breathing started to get a little hoarse and shallow now.

Ciel eventually seemed to resign to something as she got comfortable on the ground and folded her legs under herself, giving Skyla a competitive grin.

"Count me in for next round."

* * *

 **Weapons Illustrated 13**

"I'mmmmmmmmmmmm Ruby!"

"I'm Dante."

"And welcome to our 13th episode of Weapons Illustrated!" Ruby stated proudly with excitement, "Boy, we sure had an interesting day huh?! We fought a really werid and tough Grimm, met some weirdos, and met your partners's dad Tenma! He's so cool!"

"There's nothing cool about that old man other than how he fights. Honestly, I'm pretty sure he has a brick for a brain."

"Ehehehe... So, since we saw him today, why don't you talk about his weapon?"

"Well, I guess we can." Dante said stepping forward, "Today we'll be talking about old man Tenma's katana, SunCutter. But before we go any further, there's some prior explanation to go through first."

"Like~?"

"Like how the FoxFire of the Kitsukami clan burns hotter than the sun."

"Woah..!"

"Yeah, woah. As it's name suggests, SunCutter uses FoxFire that burns hotter than the sun in order to quickly cut down enemies with devastating results. But it isn't as simple as just making it do so and stay like that."

"Meaning?" Ruby pressed on.

"Meaning the effect isn't constant. See, there's a condition to be met first before Tenma can use its power like that, and he has to charge it up first. This is done through two processes at the same time, those being Tenma has to manually fuel his blade with FoxFire produced from his Aura, and he has to clash blades with someone in order to build up the required energy needed."

"And then he slashes his way to victory!"

"Singular."

"Huh?" Ruby asked in confusion.

"SunCutter's special cutting ability is only a single, charged strike. Even so, with the speed of the slash, and the devastating power backing it, it's still a terrifying technique overall, even though if it's one attack."

"So, it burns hotter than the sun and all, but...what exactly does that mean when it makes contact with someone?"

"Well, when the attack connects, it simply cuts through anything virtually. That, and it quickly disintegrates the cut target until they're nothing but a pile of ash due to the built up energy being released."

"No way..."

"Yes way. I heard a rumor once from his wife, Kareina, that when Tenma releases his full power, he can actually cut a target with that ability nine times."

"Nine?! Is that a bit...well...overkillish?!"

'Well, yeah, it would be if it was just a single small target. But back in the day before Tenma and Kareina met, he traveled around the Apparition World slaying all sorts of villains and monsters. Some of those monsters being as tall as skyscrapers. While SunCutter's special technique essentially disintegrates a single humanoid being within the matter of a few seconds, it takes much longer with larger targets, like those big monsters I was talking about. Hence why over the period of a few years, Tenma maxed the ability out to nine slashes. What make's even scarier is that the old man can adjust the slashes range, that way it can reach targets from a distance too."

"That's just scary to even think about..."

"It was scary just seeing it... Anyway, that's everything about Tenma's sword SunCutter. Simple, but sometimes the simplest things can be just as destructive."

"No kidding... Well folks, I guess we'll see you next with Ciel and Leo. See you next time!"

* * *

 **Really busy killing monsters. So not much to say at the end here really.**

 **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	32. Chapter 32: A Dark Beat

**Chapter 31: A Dark Beat**

«»

Tenma's strikes were quick and focused, but Eradûm was just as quick with his dodging. Rather than block, the man decide to dodge Tenma, very likely to test him to a minor degree. Even so, he knew eventually Tenma's attacks would soon become more aggressive and precise, which would force him to have a need to block.

That time was now, however.

Tenma's next strike was a fake out of sorts. When he swung outwards at Eradûm, his blade had been raised upwards slightly, which at the angle his hand was, looked as though his next strike would be an overhead slash. Eradûm raised his sword up to block accordingly, and from his perspective, the blade was about to come down on him.

But within an instant, an attack that was seemingly going to be an overhead slash suddenly turned into a spinning horizontal slash, which moved under Eradûm's blade and left a deep cut across his body.

Needless to say, the man was shocked for a brief moment, but his shock turned to amusement soon after.

The elder Kitsune moved in for an inward slash, but found his blade blocked while Eradûm spun himself under the blade and forced the palm of his other, empty hand into Tenma's stomach.

"Vanish..!"

With only that word, an explosive, cone shaped blast of crimson red flame consumed both Eradûm and Tenma, the smoldering blast of flames rising high above all the buildings in Kuroyuri, the ground quaking violently under the powerful might of Eradûm's explosive blast.

* * *

Aizûr stood amongst the ruined ruble a distance away from Dante and the others, twisted longsword in hand swaying back and forth very slightly as the violent shaking and crimson flames in the distance began to fade.

"My my… And here I thought I was going to have a rather simple day today... I wasn't really expecting to fight the five of you, but what can one do?"

Everyone tensed up slightly when they saw Aizûr raise up his blade slightly, who chuckled at the jumpiness of the teens. But it was well merited.

"Now, let's go."

Aizûr could have moved across the field much faster than he was currently, but he chose not to. Perhaps it was to frighten the teens slightly, but they remained undeterred.

Ruby and Nora moved up to the front and unloaded their sniper bullets and grenades at the approaching man, who darted and weaved between the bullets and explosions, some almost managing to hit him.

In the hail of the fire, Dante rushed forward to meet his opponent head on, dogging in between the bullets and grenades as both he and Aizûr raised their blades and clashed firefly, clearing the area of the clouds of dust made by Ruby and Nora's onslaught.

Before the clash was broken off, Ruby had immediately zipped in from behind, scythe raised to end him there in that moment. But it wasn't going to be so simple.

Aizûr quickly pushed back Dante by lashing his sword outwards, and using the momentum of his swing to clash with Ruby. Jaune missed his swing to the man's side, and swung outwards to cut him. The man was still too quick, and before Jaune could put any real force into his second swing, Aizûr stretched his leg backwards and had his heel meet with the end of the handle of the blond knight's sword.

Ruby wasn't finished, and pulled the Crescent Rose's trigger, effectively allowing her to pull Aizûr forwards towards her. Both of their weapons free of Aizûr's grasp, Jaune and Ruby quickly swung from opposite directions, but the man quickly tapped his foot on the ground and kept up to avoid their strikes, moving a distance away from them.

With no pause, he was yet again assaulted, this time by Ren as he sprinted forward with his guns firing off dozens of shots. Ren's first volley almost made contact, but Aizûr had dodged out of the way, and quickly twirled his blade in a circular motion to deflect StormFlower's hail until Ren got up close. They quickly exchanged blows, and despite Ren's speed with the two blades on his guns, Aizûr was able to counter each strike with his longsword.

Pushing himself away from Ren, the man looked up to the skies and saw the Valkyrie herself descending from the high heavens, ready to turn him into paste with her hammer. Unfortunately for Nora, she broke nothing of Aizûr as he leapt backwards and out of the way, avoiding her earth splintering attack.

As he dodged backwards however, he only just realized he was moving in range of Dante, who had his sword raised to his side that flowed with a violent torrent of his white and black Aura.

With no option to dodge midair, at least, not while the teens Aura Wave attack was active, Aizûr spun his body around and swung his sword against the violent torrent that was ready to tear him asunder.

Dante pushed hard, but Aizûr wasn't budging, not since his feet touched back on the ground once more to give him more stability. Despite this however, Dante's right and left arms became enshrouded in black Aura, forming the twisted, segmented armor of his Shadow Skinned arms. With the massive strength boost he now had, the teen took a step forward and pushed forward with all his might, effectively launching Aizûr away into a building a good distance way. Upon impact, the white and black Aura burst outwards with the fires of an explosion following behind it, collapsing the entire structure.

Ruby and the others joined Dante's side as the dust moved outwards past them, a mild breeze passing through the area.

"That get him?" Jaune asked.

"Doubt it… He took one of them head on earlier and blocked it with his hand. Although it did some damage, it was still minor." Dante stated.

"You can make your Aura Wave attacks do more damage, can't you?" Ren asked.

"I can, but…"

He wasn't nearly confident enough to test his new theory. Not right now when he knew their chances of success were fifty fifty at the moment. Tenma evened the field by taking on that other person Eradûm, and Dante's group were doing well enough at the moment. But Aizûr was still merely playing around with them.

"If push comes to shove...I'll test out something I've been working on… Until then, I won't risk it."

"This guy isn't exactly a piece of cake, you know…" Nora stated to Dante.

"I know… Thankfully for us, he isn't fighting us seriously. Not entirely anyway. Like with me earlier, his head isn't in this fight. He's focused on something else."

"But what is he focused on?" Jaune asked, "He singled you out both when that lunatic attacked us days ago and just a few minutes ago with that Grimm. So his focus has to partly have you involved."

That much the immortal discerned for himself, but he also understood he wasn't the main focus. He was but a part of the whole, but what was the other whole?

What was Aizûr after?

Footsteps echoed from the dust cloud in front of them, Aizûr slowly emerging and showing himself to the group of teens. Overall, he seemed untouched, but there now more burns covering his smoking right hand. That, and his Dragon-like Grimm mask had a few chunks missing from it, and a large crack spanning diagonally from the left side of the forehead down to the right side of the jaw.

"Hmmm… Even if you aren't fully transformed, your Aura Wave attacks still have increased damage, despite the slight boost to attack power. That's good to know. It makes me wonder however… How much stronger would they be if you were fully transformed?"

It would probably erase Aizûr from the earth. Or at the very least do much more damage to him.

Without warning, Aizûr surged forward almost instantly towards Dante, but Jaune stood in his way with his shield raised.

That would not stop him.

Aizûr's twisted longsword seemingly ignored the shield in its way, and cut through Jaune's Aura, slightly cutting his arm in the process blonde knight crashed into Dante.

With Jaune's shield still raised, Dante peeked his sword over his friend's shield in a stabbing motion, barely missing Aizûr's throat as his head moved out of the way of the stab. The Dragon Masked man arched his body further back to avoid a cross section attack from Ruby and Nora's weapons, allowing him to land on the ground with his hand and flip himself backwards a good distance away.

"You okay?" Dante asked Jaune.

"I'm alright. He just knicked me, but…"

"What?"

"I may have been imagining it, but… I swear I blocked his sword…"

"He's faster than myself or Ruby. He must have moved his blade around your shield-"

"But he didn't." Jaune said interrupting Dante.

Dante understood what Jaune was trying to say, but he didn't quite understand how. Taking a look at Jaune's shield, it hadn't been pierced through at all.

So what happened then?

"Wow! That was very impressive young man!" Aizûr stated to Jaune, "I wasn't sure if you'd be able to raise your shield in time to defend."

Jaune growled slightly, but relaxed when Dante placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't think about it too much. I think I understand what you saw. Otherwise that block would have been perfect."

"What do we do now?" Ruby asked.

That was a bit tricky to answer, not without them wanting to object to his next idea.

"I go test whatever it is he did to bypass Jaune's shield. Hang back for a bit-"

"Didn't you hear what that guy with the fox ears said?! He said-!"

"I know, Ruby. Just hear me out. Whatever he did could be very deadly for the rest of you. Since I'm able to take infinitely vast amounts of damage, I'm the perfect test subject for this. Just let me figure it out, that way I can tell you guys what it is and to look out for it."

"And we just sit back the entire time?" Ren asked.

"No. Since you, Ruby and Nora have ranged capabilities, use them to keep him on his toes while I get up close with him. Jaune, you're frontline defense for them. Guard them well should anything come their way." Said Dante.

"Got it."

"You know, strategizing is fine and all, but against other opponents, you won't have the leisure of the time I've constantly been giving you." Aizûr stated.

"Don't you worry… We're gonna take you down soon enough."

"My my, a bold statement. Can you actually commit to your words?" Aizûr asked Dante.

"Count on it."

With that, Dante shot forward at great speed, extending his left hand out to send out a continuous onslaught of Aura Longswords that homed in on the masked man, who quickly went about destroying and swatting away the seemingly endless droves of Aura Blades. There were simply too many, even for him.

Combined with the fire from Ruby, Ren and Nora, Aizûr was seemingly about to be overwhelmed as soon as Dante entered his range.

But he still had many tricks up his sleeve. One of which he was about to use on Dante as the teen swung his blade at him.

* * *

The steel of Eradûm's twisted black spadroon clashed against white flame that covered Tenma's fists up to his forearms, and his feet up to his knees. Eradûm wasn't overly frustrated, but he was starting to become annoyed with Tenma's resilience.

Particularly with how the elder Kitsune was technically blocking his sword strikes with only his hands since he had sheathed his sword earlier.

An overhead strike meant to split Tenma's head in two was blocked with both arms, only Tenma didn't let his chance slip away, and pushed aside the spadroon slightly to grab hold of it, and land a solid, fiery punch to Eradûm's jaw, knocking him backwards and putting him off balance.

His assault didn't simply end there, for Tenma immediately rushed in and unleashed a devastating flurry of fiery punches and kicks, each blow landing in a separate area to deliver extensive damage. The elder Kitsune did however refocus his rapid blows in intervals to his opponent's chest to target his organs to drop him quickly.

He didn't want to use SunCutter just yet.

A final punch to the jaw from Tenma, and Eradûm was sent skidding backwards on his heels until he plunged his blade in the already broken street to stop himself.

With a moment to pause, Tenma took a deep breath and exhaled, looking around to see the devastation he and his opponent unleashed. White and crimson flames burned brilliantly around the town center, buildings had further been broken down and were slowly being consumed by the two opposing flames.

The elder Kitsune glanced to himself, noticing the numerous cuts and bruises he sustained throughout the fight, and quickly wiped away the trickle of blood he felt dripping down his head.

Eradûm was in a similar situation himself, where he sustained numerous deep cuts from when Tenma used his blade, but no bruises oddly enough despite how much Tenma battered him with his fists and feet.

"Looks like you've about reached your limit…" Tenma stated with a chuckle as he ran a hand through his jaw beard.

"You may be right actually… For the first time in ages, I may have just reached my limit." Eradûm spoke as he stood up straight and glanced to Tenma, "My limit in this form, that is."

That certainly caught Tenma's attention.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what it means…"

Both turned their glance to a stray Beowolf, walking near Eradûm as it bared it's fangs at Tenma. But Eradûm raised his blade not a moment later, and it became enshrouded in a massive, viscous black substance, the mass forming a pair of twisted jaws with viciously sharp teeth. The mass let out an unearthly screech as it thrashed about violently and opened its sickening, vicious maw to bite into the Beowolf, it's head and right arm the only thing left visible before the black mass gulped down the rest.

When it finished its meal, the mass slowly faded away, and Eradûm's crimson Aura shimmered briefly for a few moments, his deep cuts vanishing moments later. His crimson Aura soon expanded outwards, the same black, viscous substance emerging from Eradûm's spadroon and inching up his arm slowly.

"I haven't exactly figured you people out yet, but for the two years I've been here conducting my own investigations alongside the people of your group, all I've been able to figure out is that you all have abilities resembling various Grimm. And if I had to take a gander, you specifically happen to have abilities of a fire dragon." Tenma stated as he crossed his arms.

"An astute observation. I would assume the overwhelming strength of my flames gave it away?"

"It's not just your flames, but your overall demeanor. You've got that sense of pride about you like a dragon does. It's something very noticeable considering I've worked with dragon-like people before."

"How very interesting… So then, which would you say has the stronger flames? A dragon? Or a fox?"

Tenma let out a chuckle as he rested his left hand on the handle of his katana, "There's a saying back home where I'm from. 'Even a fox can bring a dragon down from the heavens and scorch its pristine hide'. You're no different."

Eradûm himself let out a chuckle as he closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, "I took you far too lightly from the start. An error on my behalf, but one that won't be made again. I've yet to show the full extent of my power, same as you. Now then...are you prepared to be erased off the face of Remnant?"

"Heh! Was gonna ask you the sa-!"

Before Tenma had the chance to finish, both he and Eradûm glanced in the direction of an explosive blast of blue light, and from it, a figure flying into a building. The contact was harsh enough to collapse the entire structure. But for the person underneath all the ruble, it made no difference.

Dante struggled momentarily as he used a leg and both arms to push the large chunk of debris off his person with an irritated growl, leaping out of the mess and next to Tenma, facing the other way.

"Well you got lucky…" the elder Kitsune told the teen.

"You're an idiot if you think I survived through luck…" the immortal replied rubbing away a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Dante…"

"What it is it now old man?! Leave me alone!" Dante spoke with annoyance in his tone as he kept his eyes forward toward the direction he flew from, "I've just about got that Aizûr guy figured out..! We don't need your help with him so just focus on that Eradûm guy!"

Tenma chuckled as he unsheathed his sword, "I was gonna ask if you're okay, but I guess I don't need to."

"If you two are quite finished…"

Tenma's head spun towards Eradûm, eyes widening as he saw the viscous black substance had spread and covered half of his foe's body by now.

Dante in turn looked back and was equally surprised, promoting him to ask "Hey, what the hell is that guy doing Tenma?!"

"Why are you asking me dumbass?! How am I supposed to know what the hell he's doing?! I didn't have any idea what he was doing a minute ago and I still have no clue what the hell he's doing!" Tenma angrily.

"Are you an idiot with a brick for a brain?!" Dante shouted back getting in Tenma's face, "Weren't you paying attention to what he's been doing and saying?!"

"I'm not here to understand what all his little tricks are you little dumbass!" The elder Kitsune replied headbutting Dante backwards slightly, "Since you're so eager to know, why don't you ask him what's the deal with that black stuff?!"

"It doesn't matter if you do or don't understand what it is you're seeing currently." Eradûm spoke in a chilling tone as both warriors looked to him, seeing the black substance spread farther across his body, "You can feel it can't you? How the scales are ever tipping away from your favor? This is a power that surpasses both humans and Grimm, and it shall be your downfall!"

Before another word was spoken, a piercing shot rang out in the air as a bullet passed through Eradûm's right shoulder, surprising him as he stared at the now golf ball sized hole in his body.

Everyone's eyes shot up to the buildings above, seeing Ruby cock the bolt of Crescent Rose and about ready to take her next shot.

"Annoying pest..!"

Crimson flames coated Eradûm's spadroon as he raised it up and lashed it outwards towards Ruby, sending a screeching, arcing wave of flame right at her. But with her speed, she easily moved out of the way of the arcing wave of flame as it set off an explosion where she was previously located. Soon enough, a streak of rose petals appeared near Dante, Ruby standing directly next to the immortal as they turned their heads back towards Eradûm.

"It matters not… Soon enough, you will all be nothing but healing piles of ash." He spoke as he pointed his sword at them, the substance having nearly covered his entire body, "Bûreal-!"

"Now now…" said a voice as a hand touched Eradûm's shoulder, instantly making the entire black substance covering his body vanish in an instant, "There's no need for that. We're only here to poke them around a bit, remember?" Aizûr said stepping to his ally's side.

Eradûm glared briefly at Aizûr before dropping his sword down, turning his spiteful glance towards the group of three.

"Well, this has certainly been an eventful day and all, but we really must get going. Our time is up for today."

"Afraid that we've got you both on the ropes?" Tenma asked Aizûr as Jaune, Ren and Nora joined the group shortly.

"Mmm… Not quite. Though I will admit, you all are quite a skillful bunch. Much more than we anticipated originally mind you. But as I said before, killing any of you isn't what we're here for." Finished the Dragon Masked man as he slowly reached for said mask.

With the tips of his fingers touching his Grimm-like mask, Aizûr pulled it away from his face, revealing his young face with near shoulder length messy black hair, his narrowed eyes that seemingly looked closed, and that wide smile of his Dante knew he had about him constantly.

"Then what are you here for you? Why are you after the brat?" Tenma asked in regards to Dante.

"We're not exactly after him persay. He's simply a person we've taken note of that we'd like to examine now and then. That's all there is to it really."

Hence why he mentioned "testing his skills" earlier. But to what end? And for what purpose?

"Until next time, old fox. When next we cross blades...you shall feel the full fury of my flames. And you will be erased from the face of Remnant."

With his bold statement now made, Eradûm quickly sank into his own shadow until he was fully out of sight, his shadow quickly darting away from the ruins of Kuroyuri.

"Always with the bold statements that one…" Aizûr replied before glancing back to Dante, "Be seeing you young Dante. But before I go, keep in mind one thing. Before you reach the end, you will be faced with a harsh choice. And you have to make your choice then. There's no running away from it, not this time. Understand?"

"What choice?" Asked the immortal stepping forward slightly.

"Heh… You'll see for yourself soon enough. Until next time."

After delivering his final words, Aizûr did as his ally did and quickly sank into his own shadow, it too darting away soon after through the ruins, leaving the group of six on their own.

"We… We did it..!" Jaune said, almost as if he were in disbelief.

"Woohoo! We almost kicked their butts if they didn't run away!" Nora cheered.

"You kids did great. I'm proud to have fought with and for you all." Tenma proudly stated as he sheathed his katana and crossed his arms, smiling upon the children.

"You weren't bad yourself mr… Um…"

"Tenma Kitsukami." The elder Kitsune corrected for Ruby, "And thanks. You all did great. Unfortunately…we have to part ways here."

All of them seemed surprised by the statement, save for Dante who stared at him.

"I'm real close to finding the answer I've been searching for these past five years. I can't just give that up now, despite me wanting to go with you all and making sure you get to your destination safely."

"Just do what you got to do fast old man and go home. Your family misses you." Dante stated.

"Right… Remember, you can't tell Inuba I'm here-"

"Didn't you hear me? I just said go do what you got to do and be quick about it. As much as I'll hate doing it, I won't tell Inuba. So get going already." The immortal finished nodding ahead of Tenma.

The elder kitsune chuckled at the immortals statement as he vigorously rubbed the top of Dante's head, ruffling his hair greatly, "Five years and you're still a pain in the ass… Heh. Alright then. Keep these friends of yours safe, you hear?"

"Will you just go already?" Dante asked with annoyance as he patted down hair.

"See ya around."

With that, Tenma disappeared in a burst of white flame, leaving the group of teens to themselves amongst the ruins of the town.

"Alright… Let's take a break for now and eat before we head out again. Mistral shouldn't be all too far now." Dante said.

"We're going to fine on our own, right?" Jaune asked.

"I don't like that Aizûr guy one bit, but...as much as I hate to admit it, I think I can trust in his words a bit. Truth be told, I don't think he wanted that Eradûm guy to be here with him. Either way, I don't think we have to worry about either of them for now. However long that'll be."

"Then we do as you said and rest for now before we start moving again." Ren said as he nodded to Jaune, "We'll go and check on your uncle and bring him back here Ruby."

"Thanks guys." She replied in kind.

When she looked to Dante, she saw him staring out into the distance where Tenma had left.

The immortal couldn't help but ponder Aizûr's words in spite of him wanting to push it to the back of his mind. But it wasn't just his words that bothered him.

For some time now, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread overcoming him the closer he, Ruby and the others got to Haven.

He was hoping it was only a flickering sense of paranoia and nothing more.

* * *

One of the last AK 200 Units fell to the ground as Bailey's stiletto-like heel of her black thigh high boot stomped on its chest, her pristine white katana piercing its head shortly after. She looked behind when she heard a gunshot, seeing Leonard had finished off the last in his area as he holstered his twin handcannons behind his waist under his coat.

Bailey gave him a simple nod as he joined her side, the duo looking up above at the structure before them.

The pure pristine tower of white had various twists and bends that coiled together into the elegant spire it was that seemingly spanned infinitely towards sky. The overall architecture had cube-like blocks sticking out of various areas, but the main patterns adorning the entirety of the colossal tower had circuit-like patterns that glowed with black energy that traveled across the various pathways.

"So...this is the end of the road of sorts… All that's left is to enter and dismantle the tower." Leo stated keeping his eyes on the structure.

"Indeed. Shall we pause for a few moments before we enter inside?" Bailey asked him.

"I was about ask you the same. But no, I'm quite fine. If you require a moment to rest, then I'll happily wait for you. Whenever you're ready to enter, we'll go inside together."

Bailey did something odd Leonard hadn't seen her do their entire journey. She not only smiled slightly, but she let out a silent giggle of sorts.

"Your concern is very much appreciated, Simply Leonard."

Still with that nickname of hers…

It was fine. For the most part. He much more preferred if Bailey used his actual name only. But since she was so keen on the nickname, he didn't really say anything about it.

SOL 004, Bailey's small mechanical unit, floated behind her, briefly turning in Leonard's direction as he stated "Alert: Heart rate of Simply Leonard is rising."

 _What..?_

"Leonard!" Bailey said with concern as she got up close to him, "Were you injured?!"

"What?! No, I-"

"Alert: Heart rising at an alarming rate."

"Is he going into shock?!" She stated trying to remove his coat to see if he had an obscure or hidden injury.

"M-Ms. Lianna, I'm quite fine!"

Unfortunately for Leonard, Bailey was not only strong, but being very forceful with her examination, which eventually caused Leonard to stumble backwards and fall to the ground.

Moving his disheveled coat out of his face, he saw Bailey sitting atop him, hands resting on his chest. He couldn't tell because of the black blindfold she wore, but he felt as though she were staring at him deeply.

"Are you well?"

"Q-Quite fine!" He meekly replied, doing his best to think of other thoughts besides the ones creeping into his head.

She let out a relaxed sigh, looking off to the side towards her tiny mechanical counterpart, "SOL, what was that? Simply Leonard seems to be fine."

"Analyzing…" the Unit spoke as it floated silently in the air for a few brief moments, "Hypothesis: Interfering signal from within the towers has caused minor disruptions in lesser sensory equipment."

"I see…" Bailey said standing back up, easily lifting up Leonard as well, "Then we best hurry inside."

Leonard shot a brief, questioning glare at the miniature floating robot, but the small unit simply spun around in the opposite direction innocently, as if it had no ulterior motives in doing what he did.

"I'm afraid we can't quite do so." Leonard said dusting himself off before pointing ahead of him, "A barrier blocks our path ahead."

"Is there a way to bypass it?"

"I'm afraid not." Leo answered Bailey, "I shot in the direction of the barrier earlier and noted that my shot simply dispersed when it made contact."

"If I recall, you explained to me at one point during our travels that with the addition of your high density Aura beams, your bullets are meant to offer maximum penetration against the strongest armor and Aura, making the later two seem like paper in a sense. Is that the basis of your hypothesis for being unable to breach the barrier?"

"I...apologize if it may seem like a superficial, or arrogant statement. My encounters up until now have lead me to believe my attacks to be unblockable unless matched with a similar property of defense. That property being of an equal, or greater high density nature."

"There was nothing wrong with your statement, Simply Leonard. Previous experience offered you a decently reasonable assumption. And since I've come to understand how your abilities function, I agree with your assumption."

"Oh… Well, thank you then for understanding…" the young teen said rubbing the back of his head.

"But that still leaves us with the problem of bypassing this barrier…"

Bailey walked up and stuck her hand out, feeling the nearly invisible barrier against her palm.

"SOL, is there a unit powering the barrier?" Bailey asked.

"Affirmative. Dust apparatus detected deep within the confines of the tower to create a radial self sustaining barrier in the vicinity. Barrier has been seemingly attuned to allow enemy units to pass through without deactivating the field."

"I doubt we can simply grab hold of the bodies individually and keep them on our person to allow us passage through… Perhaps they posses apparatuses of their own that allow them ease of passage?"

"No such apparatus detected in any dismantled AK 200 unit." SOL answered Leo.

"Then how are we to enter then..?"

"Simple Leonard, above!"

Bailey's remark prompted Leonard to look above, allowing him to see what she did.

Two streams of Aura with clear crystal color flowed into the barrier around the structure, though, the direction they came from was...strange. It was almost as if…

"SOL, can float upwards and see where the streams are coming in from?" He asked the small unit.

"Affirmative." He replied, immediately zooming upwards into the air.

A few brief moments passed as the duo below kept their eyes on the streams, where suddenly one of the streams simply faded away.

"What just happened..?"

"Hypothesis: Dust streams forming the main barrier around this structure are flowing inwards from the alternate tower structures across anima."

"The other towers are powering this barrier? Then that would mean we're located at the main facility." Bailey stated.

"Yes… And if I recall the direction where each ally headed in, this would mean my brother's partner, and our newest ally have succeeded in destroying their towers…"

Which leaves Ciel with the final tower…

As irresponsible as Ciel was in certain intervals, he knew full well that with a task as important as this, she wouldn't be slacking off. At least, he hoped not.

No, she must have been engaged in a struggle against a powerful enemy if she was taking this long…

Come on Ciel… Don't fail us now…

"Alert: Enemy Unit on rapid approach."

"Which direction?!" Bailey asked as she and Leo went back to back.

"Enemy approaching two hundred meters from the west. One hundred meters. Fifty meters. Enemy within range."

But where?! There was no one in sight!

Leo's eyes widened in realization as he grabbed hold of Bailey's arm, and leapt backwards, both avoiding a shadowy blade that emerged from the ground.

When their feet found ground again, they could see a shadowy spot in place of where they stood, and within that circular patch of the darkness, the blackened blade that nearly cut into them.

Oh so slowly, the blade rose from the patch, as did the figure of a woman completely veiled in black Aura, which quickly dripping away from her person as she exited her spot of darkness.

Her figure was lean and toned, slightly muscular in the subtle, attractive way without being too prominent. She looked honed, and her fully displayed navel and torso really showed that. Lean, endurant, and curvaceous; her figure flaunted its hips and legs most of all, but her bust, for how much her skin-tight upper garment contained, was actually fairly big. But it didn't detract from her lean figure at all. It looked more like it matched the curves her body was going for, working from her long legs, over her supple hips, up her toned but narrow waist, all the way to her torso.

Her slightly messy, ash colored hair flowed down in a soft, curving flutter to her waist, her side bangs barely grazing against her shoulders as her steel colored eyes peered through her cascading bangs. Her hair split just perfectly enough to avoid obscuring her eyes, but left a cluster of her soft bangs curled down over her nose to brush against her cheek.

The girl's attire was all tight-fitting and looked entirely to be of black spandex material used in sportswear. Black gloves were drawn up past her elbows, each arm also adorned by a thin black strap wrapped just past the end of the covering fitted tightly over her forearms and hands. She wore something akin to a sports bra as the only means of a top, but the material was thin and more covering, like it was a partial skin-tight suit for just her upper torso. Her waist and hips followed the same trend, fit snugly with a skin-tight pair of very short, curve accentuating and very unimaginative black short-shorts. They looked like they were probably once built from the same skin-tight suit her top was cut from, only these revealed a vast amount of skin between the two pieces. The article revealed her upper thighs, but the rest of her legs were adorned by black, skin-tight coverings up to the center of her thighs. The material snugly fit all the way down to her open toe, heeled boots.

Near her hips floated two small circular rings of white Aura, and within the band of each loop was a katana with a very slight curve that floated diagonally, almost horizontally. One katana had an entirely jet black blade, while the square-shaped guard and handle were colored white with black decorative patterns. The other katana was similar in design, only the blade was white, and the guard and handle where black with white decorative patterns.

Looking at it more closely, the rings holding her blades resembled the white floating Aura rings on Bailey's back that held only her nagamaki at the moment.

"Enemy Unit confirmed to be Battle Unit Alice." SOL stated.

"I know that..!" Bailey said, her tone moving from her usual cool, calm nature to a tone that held deep-seated anger.

More importantly, it seemed as though they were acquainted.

"Bailey, who-?"

"She's my sister...Alice Lianna."

…

He was hoping that wasn't her response…

"If she's your sister, isn't she your ally? Why is she attacking us?"

"Because six to eight months ago...she turned against us and abandoned our facility, injuring many people in the process."

So she turned traitor… Is she working for the person who constructed the towers?

"Simply Leonard…" Bailey began as Leonard turned his gaze towards her, "Hold nothing back against her!"

Bailey charged ahead with a short battle cry that surprised Leonard, but shaking off his momentary shock, he too darted forward to join her, twirling his right handcannon once as it transformed into its segmented sword for with a razor edge tip.

The girl known to them as Alice drew her black bladed katana from the floating ring on the left side of her waist and stood her ground, simply raising up her arm in the air while keeping her blade vertical to block the combined cross slash from Bailey and Leonard.

Leo moved to aim his gun at her, but he was kicked backwards with immense force, leaving Bailey alone to quickly and violently clash with her sister a few moments until Leonard raised his handcannon again and fired as fast as he could.

He decreased the size of the super dense Aura beams coating his bullets to small, focused beams to avoid damaging Bailey. Alice however, took not of Leonard's retaliation, and had shown to be prepared for his volley of bullets by pushing away Bailey and individually slicing each and every one of Leo's shots in half in single, strokes.

With the way set, Alice dashed forward with lightning fast, her feet not touching the ground until she got close to Leonard and swiped for his neck. The young immortal parried each attack as best as he could, firing off shots from his gun in intervals whenever he could, but Alice easily moved around the shots while keeping up with her fast paced attacks, easily pushing around with her powerful sword swings.

Bailey came to his rescue from above and swung downwards to separate her sister from Leonard, and continued with a flurry of attacks, Leonard backing her up with swipes of his own mixed in with a few shots of the handcannon in his other hand.

Alice however, received not a single scratch, and was quickly whittling away at Leonard's body and Bailey's Aura shielding around her body with her single blackened blade, which cracked with black Aura. Bailey's sister broke off contact and darted backwards a considerable distance, allowing Bailey and Leonard to close in a few more feet until Alice lunged forward and quickly spun, unleashing the crackling energy around her weapon into an outwards spanning flurry of black slashes, once again pushing back both Leonard and Bailey to halt their advance.

"This is getting us nowhere… SOL!"

"Affirmative. Releasing Semblance restriction." Replied the small unit.

Bailey's body briefly shimmered with her pale grey Aura, which soon coated her entire katana blade a brief moment later.

The girl raised yo her sword with both hands and swung downwards, unleashing a visible arcing wave of slicing air that traveled with startling speed. Alice however only moved herself sideways to avoid the wave of air, and sprinted forwards to meet her sister head on, who launched wave after wave of slicing air. Alice swung her sword and cut through the waves of air with ease, and clashed with her sister head on.

It was apparent to Leonard he too had to up the ante, and exhaled briefly as he twirled his right sword back into its handcannon form, then, twirled both guns once as they transformed once again. The under barrels expanded fully until they reached the trigger guard, allowing both barrels to now extend outwards two feet, the barrels now wider and each gun adorning a second barrel vertically underneath the other.

Leonard raised up his transformed right gun and pulled the trigger, unleashing a cone shaped, spreadshot blast of numerous pellets coated in super dense Aura beams. Bailey dodged out of the way one direction, Alice the other direction as she watched the small spreadshot blast impact the ground, creating a small crater.

She meant to move forward, but stopped as soon as she saw numerous rings of black and white Aura surround her from various angles and directions, then looked back to Leonard to see him have his gun still raised.

"Horizon of Subterfuge."

Immediately after speaking those words, Leonard pulled the trigger, and the rings surrounding Alice quickly shot out large beams of black and white Aura, moving in towards the center where Alice stood to completely erase her.

A massive explosion of black and white Aura burst outwards from the epicenter as Bailey and Leonard looked onwards towards at the destruction the young immortal caused.

Both had gasped briefly when the smoke settled, and revealed Alice standing a ways away from the area she was surrounded, completely untouched. All she did next was give her katana a few quick twirls before placing her weapon back into the empty floating loop it once rested in, and walked forwards towards the towers.

It was at this moment Bailey and Leonard looked to the sky and saw the last stream that maintained the barrier had vanished. Looking back down, they saw Alice walk towards the tower, where two doors automatically slid open and allowed her access inside before they closed once more.

"So I may have been right then… She might be connected to whoever made these towers…" Leonard stated as he twirled his dual, vertical shotguns back into their handcannon form.

"If that's the case, we can't allow her time to retreat and gain time to rest. We're going after her."

Bailey quickly walked forward as SOL floated down from the air and joined her side. Leonard, however, remained in his place. It was strange...for the closer Bailey moved towards the tower's entrance, the greater Leonard's uneasiness grew in the pit of his stomach.

He wasn't going to stop Bailey. Nor would he allow her to move onwards alone.

But the young immortal knew not he would be completely unprepared for what would occur inside.

* * *

The tower crumbled in the distance as smoke and ash filled the immediate area.

Inuba and her cloaked ally slow their running to a stop, taking a few moments to quickly catch their breath as they looked back towards the tower they destroyed, eyes meeting moments later.

"We..!" Inuba said between breaths, "We have to find them...and help them!"

"Head..!" replied the cloaked girl, "Head in Leonard's direction! I will go to Ciel! Stop for nothing!"

With that, Inuba gave a quick nod before she became a blur of white that bolted into the forest.

The cloaked girl took a few more moments to breath in and out, looking towards the tower as her breathing finally came to a clam…

"What the hell is he doing..?!"

The girl let out a growl before she too became a blur of white light and banished in the direction opposite of Inuba.

Both had needed to act quickly...lest the twins be endangered anymore than they currently were.

* * *

 **(Omake: What an Old Fox Does)**

"Alright then… All good to move on?" Tenma asked Dante as he crossed his arms.

"I think we're good old man." The immortal replied.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Nothing else you want to ask me?"

"Nope."

"At all?"

Dante let out a sigh as he turned and faced Tenma, "FINE. Answer me this then, how exactly do you know Ruby's uncle?"

"Well I'm glad you asked!"

Dante let out a sigh of annoyance as he readied himself for what was likely to be a ridiculous story, as was the norm with Tenma.

"We met at a bar after what was a rough day. He bought me a drink, then I bought him a drink, and so it went back and forth. We talked about family friends, you adorable kids, and so on. We got really drunk, did some gambling, did some more gambling, and ate a bunch of pizza. Every now and then when we saw each other again, we pretty much did the same thing. Except we saw a few movies too. And got into some trouble."

…

Dante...didn't know what to say, much less feel currently. He was clearly disappointed in Tenma, Qrow somewhat as well, but in the case of the elder Kitsune, he and responsibility went hand in hand perfectly together.

At least he wasn't irresponsible in the case with his family and children.

Still...

"I regret asking…" Dante said with another sigh.

* * *

 **Semblance Encyclopedia 13**

"Hey ya'll! It's, the twins of mayhem, the twins of pure awesome, Ciel and Leo!"

Leo let out a sigh at "their" strange title.

"Last week, our big brother and Ruby talked about Foxy's dad's weapon! This week, we'll be talking about his Semblance! Can you guess what it is? I'll give you all a hint!"

Ciel cleared her throat, then had her hand hover over her face briefly before revealing it again, trying to make her face look as manly as possible.

"Omae wa...mou shindeiru..."

Leonard looked to Ciel with utter shock, "Inuba's father practices Hokuto Shinken from Fist of the North Star?!"

"Sort of but not really. See, Foxy's dad doesn't target pressure points and the like in order to use his Semblance. However, if he does do that, the effect is totally more devastating."

"P-Please elaborate..." Leonard asked, still getting over the shock he just felt.

"Alright, so here's what it does. When Tenma uses his Semblance, SunBurst, and he makes contact with an enemy, he makes that area he hit, or the person he hit, explode internally."

"But, isn't that-"

"Yeah yeah, similar. But not exactly. See, to do all that craziness in Fist of the North Star, Kenshiro, or whatever his name is, has to hit pressure points, right? Again, Tenma doesn't. His blows have a focus on destroying the enemy from the inside out, hence why if he punches someone using this attack, they literally explode in a fiery burst within a second. So in a way, he's blowing them up from the inside."

"So what else is different?"

"What's actually happening when Foxy's dad hits someone. See, when he lands a hit on someone, he's actually injecting his Aura into their body super quickly. While injecting his Aura with his strike, or strikes, the Aura quickly expands from the inside and literally pops a person, or thing, like a flaming balloon. The stronger the person is, the more strikes it takes. Weaker opponents usually take one punch only."

"That is...quite terrifying..."

"Yup. Want to know something scarier? Remember how big brother said when Tenma cuts someone or something apart with SunCutter's special technique that they disintegrate?"

"Y-Yes..?"

"That's actually an added effect from his Semblance. So in a sense, Foxy's dad's Semblance isn't just restricted to his fists, but it can be used through his weapon, or any other weapon he's using. That also applies to the wave he sends out when using SunCutter's technique. It's just more effective if he uses his fists."

"Good lord... How did our brother survive such a powerful person..?"

"Beats me." Ciel said with a shrug, "Thanks for having us again this week folks! We'll be seeing you...next time!"

"That...has probably been the most detailed explanation you've ever given for anything. Ever." Commented Leo, as if he were surprised by his own statement.

"Eh, it just had my interest is all. We've got better things to worry about anyway! Like how many chocolates we got!"

Leonard only let out a sigh as he followed behind his sister, who eagerly skipped away off stage to partake of chocolaty delight.

* * *

 **Yes. Tenma explodes people in a fiery blaze by punching them. Or cutting them. If anything, I actually got this idea from a pyromancy in Dark Souls 3 called Sacred Flame, where you grab a person and fire burrows in the target and explodes, rather than Fist of the North Star. I just put that in there as more of a joke if anything since the idea of exploding people with your bare hands is similar in concept.**

 **Besides that, a bad sensation has swept over the brothers; one feeling the overwhelming gloom fate brings for him, the other before the presence of the looming tower. But what exactly do Inuba and the cloaked girl know that puts Ciel and Leo, as well as their traveling companions, in danger? Find out more as we progress.**

 **That's all I have to say about that.** **So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	33. Chapter 33: A Dragon's Cause

**Chapter 33: A Dragon's Cause**

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Ciel lay on her back with a blanket draped over a flat slab of stone about as large as her, making it at the very least a comfortable place to rest next to the campfire. She was more or less focused on the stars, seeing them shine brightly. With how far out they were in the wilderness, there were no lights from cities to obscure their shine. However, this did make their surroundings much...darker. Not that it was a problem. With Ciel's Shadow Eyes, she had perfect vision in the dark.

However, she didn't know if it was the same for Musashi. True, she did learn Faunus possessed a sort of night vision, but it varied greatly between the types. Though considering Musashi was a dragon Faunus, Ciel had a fairly strong guess she had high visibility.

Speaking of her companion, the young girl looked over to the side and saw the older dragon Faunus sitting on a log near the campfire, sharpening her katana with a small whetstone no bigger than the tanned Faunus' hand.

Looking at the whetstone itself, she saw the small, blackened slab had possessed stretched, hexagonal designs with grey outlines against the blackness of the stone, almost resembling scales. Strangely enough, the whetstone looked as though it was...leaking slightly.

This caught her attention greatly. Not because it was cool. Or shiny.

"Hey, Musashi." Ciel asked sitting up to face the girl, prompting the Faunus girl to stop and look back in return, "Should your whetstone be...I don't know, leaking?"

"Ah, I see this trinket has caught your interest." Musashi sheathed her katana and tossed the black stone to Ciel, who easily caught it, "While we do live in obscurity, some of us have traveled to the outside world to have a grasp as to what it was like. And thankfully, still none know of our existence."

"Huh… So what's with the whetstone then?"

"It's a special tool only found in our clan. A BlackHide Whetstone."

"Woah, cool name!" Ciel stated as she continued looking it over from various angles.

"Indeed. From what my father gathered when he traveled to the outside world of Remnant last year, although our methods for fortifying, repairing and sharpening our weapons and tools is antiquated, our methods are still vastly superior than what the 'modern populace' can do or reproduce with their machines. And it's all in thanks to the BlackHide Whetstone we of the Ryūjinhonō Clan posses."

"Alright. But what makes them so special? Or better for that matter?" Ciel asked.

Musashi gave a proud "hmph" as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, "Our whetstones are capable of completely sharpening a weapon or tool in less than a minute. Not only is the weapon or tool restored to its original sharpness, but it's actually vastly improved by leaps and bounds, making any weapon or tool immensely sharper than its original state!"

"Woah…"

She had a sudden thought to use it on her scythe when she had the chance…

"As for the 'leaking' bit you mentioned, it's actually what helps make a weapon or tool much sharper than its original state."

"But how, or why does it leak?"

Musashi's violet colored eyes opened once more, looking to Ciel as she explained further "Deep within the confines of our village is an underground cavern, and within it...the remnant corpse of an Elder Dragon Grimm."

That...was supposed to be impossible…

"Hold on a second, don't Grimm bodies turn to dust after death or when they're held in captivity?"

"Naturally, they're supposed to. But this specific Grimm didn't when my first ancestor slayed the creature and built the foundations of the village near the cavern. Its body remained. And from various parts of its body and bones, we created our various tools and weaponry, much stronger than what those in the modern world posses. My weapons were also forged using materials from the dragon."

"And this whetstone is a product of it?"

"Yes. To be precise, that whetstone, and all the others we make, are a chunk of its skin we fashioned into whetstones after we stripped away the hide. To add, albeit a very slow process, the dragon's body regenerates over time."

"Sweet suffering succotash, you guys basically have an infinite supply!"

"In a sense. Materials are somewhat scarce due to our overuse in the early years of the village when it was being constructed alongside various other structures, tools, and weaponry. We only gather the materials we need once a year to allow the corpse to regenerate with a moderate amount the next time we harvest it."

"So...why does it leak then?" Ciel asked.

"When it was harvested the first time and cut away the scales, it was discovered there was a thick under layer of armor beneath the layer of scales that contained blood vessels, or at least, that's what they're assumed to be. Those hexagonal patterns are the vessels themselves, and its blood was a sort of clear silver."

"Hmmm… So if the corpse regenerates over time, does that mean the tools and weapons made from more internal materials regenerate over time? Like these whetstones for instance and not the weapons."

"You catch on quickly. Yes, that clear liquid with a silvery shine to it is indeed it's blood. It's actually what is responsible for greatly reinforcing a weapon or tool that is sharpened with it, and retains the condition of the whetstone itself, neither making it dull, wearing it down, or allowing it to regenerate. The blood vessels always manage to regenerate much more quickly in comparison, which allows usage of the whetstones to be constant if need be."

"Despite being obscure and all, your clan's really cool Musashi!"

"I-Is that so..?"

"Yup!" The young girl replied tossing the whetstone back to her ally, "I mean, you guys are a clan of super dragon Faunus! And you're basically dragon slayers! How is that not cool?!"

"I-I suppose we are 'cool'..."

Ciel let out her mischievous giggle as she sat back down, crossing one leg over the other as her eyes turned back to the stars.

"W-What of your family Ciel? I heard one of the little ones say you come from a clan of...devils…"

The young girl let out a pondering hum, "Well, I guess we sorta devils… But we aren't entirely devils. Kind of like coffee when you add milk, it's a half and half situation."

"Half..? So...you're half a devil… What is the other half then?"

Ciel pondered that as well. To be precise, she knew what the other half was. Or what it should be. She just doubted its existence considering…

…

"Don't really know. Kind of like with your village, we're an...obscure bunch too. No one really knows about us. Heh… We don't even know much about ourselves to be honest. All any of us know is that something messed up happened in between."

Musashi leaned in closer from her log, "There are not many of you?"

"We're basically four. Well, three. We don't what the deal is with our fourth. Never seen him. Or her. We just know they're supposed to be out there somewhere."

"I see… I apologize for prying too much into sensitive matters…"

"Eh, don't sweat it. Even if just the three of us, I like talking about my brothers. Well, my older brother at least, since he's the absolute coolest. The other one? Meh, he can be sort of cool."

Leo had his moments every once a month or so. And even then it was still pretty rare.

"It's good that you have strong relations with your siblings. It's something that should be cherished greatly."

"I know, right?"

They were all she had really, with the very few friends she had. How could she not appreciate them?

"You know, you were pretty eager to come along with me. Not that it's a problem or anything." Ciel said raising up her hands defensively as she sat up, "Just wondering is all. I usually don't get lucky enough to get a new friend in a day, and have them tag along for a totally not life threatening situation."

"Heh… Well, I do have my reasons mind you. To be frank…I'm after a person that's said to wander around the area of that tower."

"They a friend, or..?"

"No… They are an enemy. This person killed the previous head of our village. My father."

…

A mission of vengeance… The children she met outside the village yold her someone had died recently. To think it was her new companion's father was a sudden surprise.

Either way, Ciel could get behind the idea of performing a vendetta.

Sort of.

"That and...well… O-Our reputation of being an honorable clan would be tarnished if we allowed a wanderer to travel our lands and suffer. S-So I decided it be best I travel with you!" She said with a huff as she crossed her arms.

Ciel chuckled at that.

"I'm cool with that."

She didn't have any other reason to be here besides her brother asking her to. Now however, she did have another sort of. And that was to help Musashi along the way in turn given she was sacrificing her time to ensure Ciel's path to the tower was clear.

Not that she needed the help, but it was still greatly appreciated. Besides, who wouldn't want to have a totally hot dragon girl watching their back?

"Well, you should head to bed. We're close to the tower as is, and like my older brother says 'Best be prepared and have enough rest', or something like that."

"Y-You should rest as well, Ciel. You've kept watch the past three nights, I should at least-"

"It's cake, it's cake. I don't need to sleep or anything like that. My body's weird that way. But it's convenient for outings like this. Or when I want to play a lot of a game. Or when I don't want to stop going at… Actually, won't finish that last bit…"

"I-I insist!" Musashi's voice sounded with a heightened pitch to her tone.

Well, if she insisted…

"A-Alright then… Let's turn in for the night then." The young immortal replied rolling off her stone slab and onto her feet, blanket in tow.

Ciel entered inside the tent soon after, and quickly dropped on the mat and settled herself in her blanket, letting out a relaxed sigh before looking at the zip up door of the tent.

Given Musashi's height, as well as the long, obsidian horns on her head, she was having some difficulty entering inside, much to Ciel's amusement and the dragon Faunus' embarrassment.

"As...convenient as these...tents are...they are still...very frustrating!" Finished the dragon, finally entering the tent and laying next to Ciel, "Three days now...and one would expect that I would have much more ease entering inside this contraption!"

"I mean, it's kind of natural since you haven't been in a tent before since three days ago…"

"If only I had a way to temporarily hide my horns…"

"No way!" Ciel exclaimed, "Your horns are way too cool to hide! They got a nice slight curve, little bit rough around the edges…" she continued as she rubbed one of her companion's obsidian horns, "but overall smooth. Sleek and elegant with a touch of roughness to it."

The young girl soon saw Musashi shifting about underneath her blanket, and stopped her rubbing.

"Ah, sorry! I forgot that you're usually supposed to ask Faunus if you can touch their appendages…"

"W-Well, it can be helped… Since you have high admiration of my horns, you may touch them as you please… G-Gently though, if you don't mind..."

"Heh heh… I'm always gentle. Unless asked otherwise." Ciel responded with a wink.

"Wha-?!"

Musashi was at a loss for words for what she just heard, with Ciel only laughing at her stupor.

A chill wind passed over, prompting Ciel to shiver slightly, "Brrrrr… It's kinda cold tonight…"

Hearing some fabric shifting, the young immortal looked back to Musashi, seeing her left her cover whilst averting her gaze from Ciel.

"Y-You can move closer to me i-if you'd like… Y-You'll find I-I'm quite warm…"

…

Certain urges were very quickly buried away within Ciel's subconscious as she silently scooted herself into her companion, who quickly left down the large blanket to wrap up both of them nicely.

Musashi was right… She virtually emanated warmth…

"A-Are you comfortable..?"

The dragon Faunus' spoke more quietly than her usual tone, a hint of embarrassment to be found in between.

With how huddled together the two of them were, Ciel was more than comfortable. Especially since her companion's large, and very impressive bosom served as excellent cushioning.

"Yeah..! Totally fine…"

Even the young immortal's voice had become more hushed.

Only silence remained between the duo, both of them eventually closing their eyes and allowing sleep to take them.

* * *

Even though she rarely slept, Ciel had fairly pleasing dreams that carried her through until morning, where she awoke to the great pleasure of being buried between Musashi's great twin peaks, who had clung tightly to smaller girl.

As much as Ciel enjoyed her "morning wake up", there wasn't nearly enough time to enjoy the pleasantries.

At least, not until after they finished with the tower.

And so they stood atop a cliff side, heavily forested with enough massive trees to render them invisible to anyone in the skies, or enemies from below. Even with their superior means of cover, the skies too were very cloudy, blocking out all of the suns rays.

And with the sound of thunder in the distance, the duo were certain that rain was soon to follow.

The field below was filled a great variety of AK 200 Units, the newer, modified varieties Ciel had seen after splitting up from Leonard. Amongst them were a few Atlesian Paladins, those too having being modified to take on a more humanoid shape, similar to their smaller counterparts.

They marched in patrols across various areas of the immensely wide ravine, a few patrol units hanging back at the colossal ivory tower that glowed with circuit-like patterns of black energy, a few cube-like shapes sticking out of various areas of the structure.

The only defenses seemed to be the androids and Paladins below. No anti-aircraft or artillery to keep air and ground forces away. And there didn't seem to be a barrier either…

Instead, all Ciel could see was a steady stream of crystal-clear energy, which seemingly gave off shards of crystals as the energy flowed, that had shot outwards elsewhere.

Calculations were never Ciel's strong suit, nor her favorite. Same with strategy. The only strategy she ever needed was to crush her enemy, but at least in a way that made it tricky for the enemy to defeat her.

Maybe that method itself was a form of strategy?

Shaking her head, Ciel quickly followed the flowing stream of energy with her eyes, and determined it had to be going in the direction of Leonard's tower. But for what reason? The steady and slow flow of the beam didn't suggest it to be used for offensive purposes…

And with the hours of observational techniques and various forms of magic both Dante and Inuba pounded into her brain, she figured it had to be a streamline barrier; energy produced from a stationary structure that flows to another structure to blanket it in a sort of shielding field. Good for keeping people out of an important place.

With this in mind, Ciel wanted to hop down onto the watery, barren field all the quicker, that way Leo couldn't nag to her later about making him wait while "she" took her time.

If anything, it was, or at the very least should be, the other way around.

No one really knew it, not even Inuba or Dante, but Leonard was actually super lazy unless he actually wanted to do something, which honestly, happened once in a blue moon. He never wanted to do anything really, unless Dante had asked him to do something.

"Their numbers are great… But it matters not. Having sheer numbers doesn't ensure victory. Ten highly trained warriors can slay one hundred, even a thousand if they're skilled enough." Musashi stated, "That, and with my naturally durable skin, and your incredible power and speed, we could make short work of them."

"True, true…"

Musashi wasn't nearly as fast as Ciel was, but she was strong, and she had incredibly durable skin. She was quite literally a walking assault carrier, completely bulletproof too.

"Alright, I'm not one for strategy, but I say we tear through the smaller ones until we get to the Paladins, focus of them, and go back to the small ones right after. Rinse and repeat. Easy right?" Ciel asked.

"Simple enough."

"Right? Okay!" Ciel said standing up and moving back a bit, "Dibs on the first Paladin below!" Her voice sounded as she leapt off the cliff.

The young immortal brought forth her scythe from a burst of her black and white Aura, pulling on the pole outwards to extend it slightly, while the pole completely straightened out. The scythe blade shifted as well, with the point aligning with the pole. The blade had expanded to form a wide, double edged greatsword.

Her weapon now took on its sword-spear form.

It was needed after all for the desired effect she intended.

When Ciel came close to the ground, the blade of her sword-spear flowed with her black and white Aura as it crashed into the first Paladin, sending out an explosive, radial blast that ripped apart any and all machine units within a twenty meter radius.

Her assault hadn't finished.

With a chuckle, Ciel spun around and swung her sword-spear outwards, sending out a horizontal wave of her Aura, and followed up with a smashing, vertical slice to send out another. The waves traveled in tandem with each other, destroying the AK Units that dared stay in the path of her attack.

"Your turn!"

The young immortal raised up her sword-spear, allowing Musashi to land on the flat side of her weapon, who crouched low in preparation as Ciel swung her around once and rocketed her companion forward.

Musashi had burst forward like a shell round from a tank, her right hand soon covered in black and crimson red Aura to form scales around her entire forearm and hand, blackened claws soon forming. Putting her transformed hand forward, fingers pressed together like a spear point as she easily passed through the hulking body of the Paladin.

The dragon Faunus' left hand soon took on the same appearance as her right, allowing her to grab hold of the Paladin's leg she had shot through, and easily swung it around like a mere toy. With her makeshift flail in hand, Musashi smashed her mechanical foes to pieces, their bullets simply bouncing off her skin. Some had even deflected off her beautifully tanned skin and shredded the units as she continued her dreadnought-like assault, finally tossing away her "weapon".

Ciel flashed across the field in various sections, dropping in and out of her black hole-like portals, viciously slicing through her enemies with her scythe, like a beautiful goddess of death from the high heavens.

She was virtually untouchable.

Thankfully the ads were easily taken care of one another, but s big game changer came when Musashi's path of destruction had allowed her to line up a majority of the Paladin's. Ciel quickly took note of this and transformed her scythe into its sword-spear form, bifurcating the Paladin in front of her, the force of the swing enough to shatter the earth beneath her as her body was lifted in the air.

Still in momentum, the young immortal flipped forward and turned herself into a spinning blade of destruction, tearing a path through the AK units until she landed on her feet in a low crouch. Her right arm tensed up momentarily to ready her muscles, all the way until she started bringing in her arm across her body, and left her sword-spear fly.

The tip of the spear roared with black and white Aura, piercing through all in its path, continuously tearing through the Paladins Musashi kindly lined up for her companion. With the majority of the Paladins destroyed, Musashi spun and ducked down Ciel's incoming weapon, grabbing hold of the sword-spear as it passed her by and swung it around her to decimate more of the machines.

With and upward strike, the dragon Faunus had used her momentum to launch herself into the air, and brought down the sword-spear with devastating force upon the last of the Paladins, unleashing a combine wave of black, red, and white Aura, each of the colors interlocking and threading through one other whilst tearing apart all of the remaining units.

One of the modified, and heavily damaged AK's, attempted to crawl away with its entire lower half missing, then turned around to aim of its arm guns at the dragon Faunus. It only found the sword spear embedded in its skull, the machine powering down moments after.

The primary assault had been a total success.

* * *

"No more on your end?"

"None." Musashi responded.

Both had moved about the watery field that now served as a graveyard for the fallen androids, checking to make sure none would jump up at them and take them by surprise. Not that it'd matter. Ciel was can totally unkillable, and Musashi had nigh impenetrable skin because of her herritage as a dragon Faunus, making the duo truly a match made in Heaven. Or Hell, from the perspective of their enemies.

It was safe to say neither would suffer injuries, only annoyances at their expense.

Musashi heard movement and turned her head to see one of the machines reach up for her, only for a scythe blade to slam down into its skull to permnately put it out of commission.

The dragon Faunus looked to Ciel, seeing her smile as the spinal column-like pole of her scythe retracted to its original state.

"Don't worry, I'll uh...watch your back… Yeah…"

Ciel was most certainly going to watch her back.

Amongst other things. Such as admiring the flawless curvature before her.

"I-I will watch yours as well! If you would allow it…" Musashi said crossing her arms, blushing slightly.

…

Ciel swore she felt her heart skip a beat just now.

Musashi had a tendency to be unexpectedly cute, despite her usual demeanor. But she was more beautiful, if anything.

The duo heard steel shifting, and spun around to see a Paladin standing but a few feet away from them, only, it did not move. It soon simply tilted forward and crashed into the watery earth, a loud thud shaking the ground and splashing the water about.

A figure stood behind the the machine that had fallen; he was very tall and lean, easily towering over Musashi, who stood at six feet even. The man had to be at least 6'5, 6'7. He had messy, slightly spiked hair that reached his shoulders, and somewhat pale skin. His attire was a ragged black shirt, and a dark blue coat that had split coattails reaching his ankles. The sleeves had been torn off, exposing his slender and slightly toned arms, where ragged black bandages had been wrapped around his forearms, hands and even his fingers. He had black pants that had fairly puffed up ends, which were tucked away in black, armored knee-high boots, the plated armor resembling bone.

His sea blue eyes with black slit pupils looked to the dragon Faunus and immortal, as if he just now noticed they were present given.

He let out a huff, "So...you two were responsible for this whole mess of metal?" He spoke with a rough, slightly low voice.

"Yeah, what if we are?"

"A short-stack like you can fight? Hah!"

 _…_

 _Did he just call me short..?_

The man grabbed for the blackened handle of his weapon, placing his armored foot on the dead Paladin and ripping his weapon free. It looked to be a simple khopesh sword, where the black bone handle had a mass of what looked to be red muscle fibers coiled together forming the base few inches of the weapon, with an edge of sharp blackened bone covering it.

The rest of the blade branched outwards an inch by seventy five degrees, and was solid black bone that was dangerously sharp and had a slight curve to it. The tip had a reverse, razor edge, facing the dull side of the weapon. This section of the weapon had to be at least four feet long, giving the weapon a total of five feet in length.

To Ciel, it was a pretty cool looking sword, but she had her doubts if it could block her own weapon, and was certain she could cut through it.

Before she spoke, she noticed something odd with Musashi.

She was trembling. Not with fear, no…but with pure anger. She gritted her slightly fanged teeth, baring them at the stranger as she clenched her fists tightly.

"You..!"

"Huh? Who are-? Wait… Are you..?"

"You're the one who killed my father!" She shouted, her rough voice carrying through the ravine.

Ciel's eyes widened briefly at st the revelation, shifting her eyes away from her companion to the man she called a murder.

"Ah… So you're that old lizards daughter. No wonder I thought I recognized you for a second. You've got his horns." He said pointing to her head.

"You..! Why did you do it?! Why did you murder my father?!"

"Why?" He said slinging his weapon on his shoulder, bouncing it up and down slowly every now and then, "Why should I even tell you?"

"Bastard..!" Musashi said drawing her sword, something Ciel saw for the first time in their travels.

"Hehehehe… So the little dragon has fangs, huh?! Good! Why don't you show me what you got before I cut you down little dragon! Maybe you'll give me a better time than your old man did!"

Musashi let out a battle cry and charged forward through the graveyard of machines, Ciel too late in trying to hold her back.

The man stood his ground and raised up his twisted khopesh blade to block Musashi's own, barely budging under the immense force of the dragon Faunus' strike.

"Yeah, that's way! You've got better kick than that old man! But..!" The man forced away Musashi and delivered a swift side kick to her abdomen, sending her flying back a distance, "You're gonna have to do better than that!"

The dragon Faunus slid to a halt with not even a bruise on her stomach as she stood up shortly after.

"Listen well dragon bitch! My name is Sca'âtha, and I'm telling you to give up now! Now matter how much hatred you have for me in your heart, your blade won't ever be able to leave a scratch on me!"

"Shut up!"

Musashi rushed in once more and swung violently, trying to erase the newly known Sca'âtha from existence with every swing of her sword, and every powerful kick and punch she weaved in. Her attacks weren't amazingly fast, but they were devastating, and that's what counted.

But her opponent was taking all of the attacks easily, blocking or pushing them aside, occasionally lashing out at Musashi. Some hits connected, but they left no markings on the girl, attesting to her highly durable skin.

Seemingly enough, Musashi was actually beginning to push back Sca'âtha, considering his counter attacks grew lesser and lesser as Musashi's attacks had no end. In fact, her attacks were actually becoming quicker.

The man was actually beginning to become more wary of Ciel's companion...and finally, he slipped up.

A forceful upward strike was enough to break Sca'âtha's guard, exposing him enough for Musashi to landing a crushing slash down across his body.

She had cut down the bastard that murdered her father.

At least, so she thought.

Looking closely, his chest remained unscarred and unbloodied, with not even a small scratch present on his flesh.

With a light snicker, Sca'âtha grabbed hold of Musashi's blade with his left hand and swung down with his right swor hand, only for the dragon Faunus to catch his wrist, both holding each other in place.

"Am I gonna have to say it again? Your pathetic blade can't cut me!"

The man headbutted the dragon Faunus and sent her reeling back, forcing her to let go of his wrist and allowing him to bring down his sword.

Musashi skidded back on her heels until she stopped, touching the center of her chest to feel a small trickle of blood. She had a cut where she had placed her hand, but it was small at best given her Aura was already at work healing it.

"How's it feel knowing I can cut you, but you can't me? Must be frustrating." The man commented as he tapped the flat edge of his blade on his shoulder.

Musashi scoffed at his remark, rubbing away the blood from her chest as she readied herself again.

"Can't cut you… Really now..?"

She stared at her blade for a moment, and swung it outwards towards the ground. She swung again, once more, and on the final strike, a large gust of wind had formed from her strike, a large cut in the earth now present where she struck.

The dragon Faunus rolled her shoulders and twisted her neck about to loosen herself up more, "There's not a thing I can't cut. So come on, how about another round?" She beckoned.

"Ha! Idiot!"

Both had rushed one another, dashing across the watery ravine, their footfalls kicking up water as they approached one another. When they were in range of one another, both had swung violently at one another and without pause. Musashi had seemingly stood on even footing now against her opponent, but for Ciel who watched from afar, she saw the truth behind it. Her companion was getting stronger with each swing, and faster too. In fact, her unending strikes yet again put the man on defense, who was clearly becoming irritated with the dragon Faunus' persistence.

"Give it up dragon brat! You can't cut me!" Sca'âtha shouted as he continued defending against Musashi's onslaught.

She only chuckled at his statement and kept up her ferocious, brutal swings, each swipe of her sword splitting the ground where it passed over when Sca'âtha hadn't blocked.

As if to prove his point yet again, the man raised up his arm in the path of Musashi's next downward strike, allowing the katana's sharp edge to fall of his forearm.

His expectations were shattered in the next moment.

Instead of bouncing of his arm like he had thought it would, Musashi's blade had actually cut into his arm, if only a slight bit, before stopping in place. Sca'âtha, clearly surprised by this happening, pushed away the blade and leapt backwards to put distance between him and his opponent.

With Musashi stopping her assault, Sca'âtha had time to examine his arm, frustrated with seeing the cut on his arm before he glared back at Musashi, who held her blade up in front of her across her body, smiling at him.

"What are you smiling about? Don't get so confident just because of one lucky slice, dragon bitch!"

Musashi's grin grew wider as she pointed her sword at the man, "Backing away when I cut you? After saying I couldn't? If I didn't know any better...I'd say you got a little scared just now…"

Sca'âtha gritted his teeth and dashed forward again, "Just die like your old man already!" He spoke leaping into the air.

Musashi brought her sword back and swung at the arial downward strike, clashing with the mid air Sca'âtha. Instead of crushing her like he intended, Musashi's blade actually began cutting into Sca'âtha's own. Before he could do anything else, the man's khopesh blade had been cut through, and with that, the tip of Musashi's blade had ran across Sca'âtha's cheek and across the bridge of his nose, leaving but a minor cut as he retreated back once more.

"Heh… Guess I was right…"

The man let out a sharp breath, looking up to Musashi, "About what?!"

"Your skin isn't all too special… Especially since I've got down the force I need to cut you now." She claimed.

Sca'âtha stared at the black blood that dripped from his blade, and then looked to his hand that covered his face to see similar blots of black blood staining his palm.

"You're not so tough once a person figures out the right amount of force they need to actually cut you. Of course, I would assume you've never really ran into too many people that could cut you."

"You little…"

"I know someone much tougher than you. With but a single blow she brought me to my knees not too long ago. And believe me when I say this...she's a far more terrifying opponent than you are!"

The dragon Faunus darted forward with terrifying speed, leading with a stab that almost skewered her opponent, had he not raised up how broken blade to block her. His weapon suffered more damage as he was forced back on his heels, his anger rising by the minute.

He had enough of her.

Sca'âtha raised up his left hand, and as he did, the water from the ground beneath him began to flow in four separate streams into his palm, forming a solid sphere. With a forceful thrust of his hand, he shot it forward, and the sphere burst with great speed, quickly forming into a spearhead-like shape. The dragon Faunus simply stood her ground and raise up her left hand, letting the water projectile crash into her palm.

The attack seemingly consumed Musashi in an immense torrent of high pressure water, Sca'âtha chuckling to himself from the distance at his supposed victory. When the water cleared however, the dragon Faunus still stood, grin as wide as ever as her palm brimmed with streams of smoke.

The man was more than shocked at this point. Musashi was taking everything he threw at her and dishing out higher amounts of damage with each strike. And then walked. Her pace wasn't all too quick, but she was making her way to Sca'âtha, blade at the ready.

He didn't understand what it was. Perhaps a hint of fear, or maybe something else entirely, but for a few moments, as Musashi menacingly made her way over, she seemingly grew taller and taller the closer she got, so much so he felt she was the one towering him.

He wouldn't have it.

With a loud cry, the man surged forward with his broken khopesh, and swung for Musashi's face. She easily moved out of the way of the clumsy strike that would have taken her head, and instead, only received a cut on her cheek, her grin still present. The realization that he missed suddenly dawned on Sca'âtha, but before anything else could be done, Musashi's black and crimson Aura blazed violently around her as she brought her blade down on her father's murderer.

* * *

There were many points in time Ciel could have helped end this fight. She could have frozen time for a few seconds, drop into one of her portal's and appear right next to Sca'âtha in an instant and taken his head. But this wasn't her fight.

At the very least, she was hoping it wouldn't have to be.

This was all Musashi. Taking it away from her would have very likely frustrated her to no end, which is why the immortal hung back in the first place. And so she sat on her rock a distance away, watching Musashi cut away the absolute life from her father's murder bit by bit.

Was she worried? Of course she was. She-

…

It wasn't unnatural to say both Ciel and Musashi grew closer to one another over the span of three days. They fought together, laughed with one another, traded all sorts of stories… They just connected so well.

And in that regard, Ciel didn't wish her...friend, to be harmed.

But as she constantly reminded herself, this wasn't her battle. And it wouldn't be unless Musashi couldn't fight anymore. With how things were looking, it didn't look like she would need help.

The young immortal looked out into the distance, seeing Musashi stand normally with but a few injuries. Sca'âtha had been a good distance away, clutching his chest tightly as his breathing grew heavy, blood slowly seeping from the wound he was dealt.

A nice, vertical slash that left a deep, long cut on his body from his left pectoral all the way down to his stomach.

If it weren't for his highly durable skin, Musashi surely would've bifurcated him.

"You're still alive..." Musashi spoke, drawing her opponent's attention, "Or maybe you've yet to fall down and die?"

Sca'âtha slowed his breathing, and once more gritted his teeth.

It's was a long time since he was pushed this far. About a hundred years if he recalled. But this wasn't one hundred years ago. This was now. And he was leagues stronger compared to how he used to be.

"Don't be stupid…dragon bitch…" he started as he stood up, catching his breath at last, "You think you're winning just because you cut me..? Ha!"

Thunder crashed through the skies with a resounding boom and bright flash of lightning. The ravine the found themselves in, still filled with the broken bodies of machines and the waters began to sound off in a cacophony of watery plops and metallic pings. Droplets fell from the dark skies above, the droplets soon becoming more and more until it poured an immense amount with heavy rain.

Sca'âtha's smile returned to him, wider than ever.

"Feel that? How the water is coming down from the sky? I can feel it… Know what that means?"

Musashi dropped her grin and readied herself in a stance, watching as sea blue aura flowed from her opponent. Strangely enough, the water around him began to shift in violent, streams, encircling him.

"It means...you're screwed!" He stayed pointing to her before raising up his broken khopesh blade, "Bûreal Requiem!"

The water expanded and grew more violent as the individual streams closed in on Sca'âtha, who laughed with great joy until the waters swallowed him up.

A few more moments passed, and the waters died down, revealing something entirely new that surprised both Musashi and Ciel, who continued watching from the distance.

Sca'âtha reemerged, his wounds dealt by the dragon Faunus closed and forming new scars on his body. But that wasn't all. His arms were covered in white, plated bone armor, and had red, wavy markings spanning across them, like that of a Grimm. It wasn't just his arms, but it was also his feet up to his knees. Parts of his chest had been similarly armored, but it still revealed the closed wounds. In his hand, his khopesh blade had been reformed and had much more length to it, but in addition, he had another khopesh in his left hand.

The strangest of all was the white bone Grimm mask that covered his entire head now. It resembled a dragon of sorts, with two black horns that were slicked back slightly and curved upwards. Red markings adorned his draconic mask, but the glow from the eyeholes of the mask shone a sea blue color.

"So...how does it feel like staring at an actual monster dragon girl?!" He asked in a slightly distorted voice, "Bet you're thinking about running now, huh?! Don't even try it! You'll be cut down before you know it!"

Musashi didn't so much as tremble. She was smiling. In fact, her grin was much wider than it used to be.

"Very nice Aura Signature!"

Sca'âtha's face turned from joy to surprise, confused by the fact she didn't so much as flinch.

"I haven't had a fight like this in ages! But still...even with that parlor trick of yours, and your heavy Aura Signature...you're still nowhere near my companion's level of ability to be terrifying!"

"Heh! Alright then! Why don't you come closer and taste my blade, dragon?! I'll show you real terror when I run my blade into your heart!"

…

Ciel felt a little twinge in her heart hearing that. She knew it was a compliment in Musashi's own way but…

Was she actually that terrifying? She thought she was more cute than anything…

Shaking her head, she saw Musashi leap into action dodging streaks of high pressure water from when Sca'âtha swung his blade from the ground-up towards Musashi. The dragon Faunus didn't possess much grace in her techniques or being, but she had a powerful allure of her own as she dodged past and cut through the torrents of water with ease, getting closer to her opponent until she was in range and swung down.

She was surprised when she saw her strike easily stopped by her Grimm-like enemy, who simply raised his sword defensively to halt her.

"What..? Is that it? That your best shot?!"

A loud cry and a powerful upward swing from his other sword, and Musashi was sent flying on her back, a deep cut now on her chest.

A second, three seconds, five seconds.

No movement.

Ciel clenched her jaw tightly as she stood up, readying her scythe.

"Ha, that's all? I release my power and you flop? What a disappointment! No wonder that lizard father of yours fell, you dragon Faunus are all a bunch of weaklings!"

Ciel's glanced focused momentarily before letting out a sigh and sitting back down on her rock, resting her scythe against it as she crossed one leg over the other.

"What about you short stack?" The man asked turning his attention to the girl as he pointed his sword at Ciel, "She was running her mouth about how you're a lot better than herself or me. So how 'bout it? Wanna try your luck before I cut you down too?"

"Eh, no thanks." Ciel said nonchalantly as she waved him off.

...

He was...surprised by her calm demeanor. Much less the fact she didn't give much consideration to his existence.

"What? You scared little girl?"

"Nah. You're just not worth my time, assclown. It's actually pretty funny watching you trash talk when you're about to die."

"The hell did you say?!"

Ciel only pointed past him and sung out for him, "Don't believe me just watch~!"

His head jolted upwards slightly at her remark, then realized what exactly she was talking about.

He was too late in trying to pull a counter swing, and only turned around a slight amount before Sca'âtha had his left arm cut off.

He let out a groan of pain as he flew backwards, landing on the balls of his feet and skid to a halt.

The man's head quickly looked up, seeing Musashi stand tall with her blade across her body, coated in the man's blood.

What infuriated him the most wasn't the fact he just lost an arm. No, he was more agitated by the fact she stood there with a damn smile on her face, like it was the best day ever.

"Playing dead dragon bitch? Even if you're just snakes, that's pretty damn low."

"Huh? Who said I was playing dead?" She said dropping her smile, "No, I was just sitting down and thinking for a while."

"Thinking?!"

"That's right. I'm not much of a thinker, I'll admit that much, but I had to think about how to fight you after you put on that performance of yours. Your Aura got a lot stronger, so did your physical strength and defensive capabilities. Not to mention that water gun attack of yours also had more kick to it than what you started with and that you now have two swords. Overall, fighting you got a lot more technical, so I needed to become more technical as well. And I found my answer."

Musashi grasped her blade, her blood dripping onto it as she held it tight.

"I'll just have to try harder..." With a swipe of her hand across the blade, it crackled to life with a blaze of crimson and black fire, "to cut you!"

A brief shimmer of crimson and black Aura surrounded Musashi's entire body as she surged forward into a powerful, throwing her shoulder into Sca'âtha and sending him backwards. She went to cut him down with her blazing weapon, but her opponent shook off his disorientation quickly and swung, allowing their blades to meet.

Unfortunately, Musashi couldn't cut through the khopesh blades like she did last time, not when durability of his weapons and his striking force were both amplified with his transformation. But with each swing of her sword, and each time Sca'âtha recoiled from blocking her attacks, she new she was getting somewhere.

Luck had favored Sca'âtha briefly when he managed to dodge under Musashi's next swing, and bring his blades upwards to crash into the dragon Faunus' to break her guard. He spun himself quickly and lashed out at her stomach, and sent Musashi flying into a column of stone a machine parts. His assault hadn't finished, for he charged in laughing like a madman, expecting to finish off the dragon Faunus with his next blow.

And yet it would not come to pass.

A black and crimson, scale covered hand emerged from the debris and grabbed a good hold of Sca'âtha by his Grimm-like dragon mask, easily forcing him to the side and into the ground while Musashi emerged, smiling her crazed smile with her blazing sword raised to strike down her father's killer.

It would have been a lie to say Sca'âtha wasn't intimidated by these turn of events. Each time he injured her, each time he had her corned, she always came back at him twice as strong than before.

How was she this strong?

Realizing he was still on the ground, he snapped out of his own thoughts and crossed his khopesh blades together overhead, preventing Musashi's fiery sword from splitting his skull into two.

"Heh! What's wrong? Shouldn't I be dead by now?" Musashi stated as she slowly inched her blade closer to Sca'âtha's face.

There was no end to the fury he felt. The damn dragon before him had the sheer audacity to mock him?

He wouldn't stand for it any longer.

"Hehehehe… Don't worry… You will be!"

Musashi couldn't dodge in time, not with how close she already was. All she could do was stare as a khopesh blade pierced her left arm, leg, with one barely scraping by her stomach and almost skewering her. A moment later and Sca'âtha forced up his leg to kick away Musashi, a high pressure torrent of water creeping in a second after his kick to ensure there would be distance between himself as he got up.

The dragon Faunus was powerless against the surprise attack and was launched into a wall of rock, imprinting her shape deep within the stone. She let out a growl as she opened her eyes, slowly removing herself from the canvas of stone and glaring at her enemy with her piercing, violet, serpent-like eyes.

Sca'âtha hadn't simply gained four extra khopesh blades.

He now had six arms total. The other four arms seemed to be entirely formed of water, exactly matching the appearance of his original two arms until the water slowly became solid and bone white, entirely creating four new arms like his two original ones.

And each of the new four hands held a khopesh, all of which looked to be a mesh of sharp, blackened bone and muscle fibers.

"I told you from the start, didn't I..? There wasn't even a slight chance in hell you could stop me, dragon bitch! Just give it up!"

Even though Ciel decided to sit back for this fight, she was seriously starting to get annoyed with his trash talking. But she particularly murderous whenever he called Musashi a bitch.

Stopping time and shanking him in the skull like she saw in a prison film once wasn't out of her list of options. But as it was, stopping time consumed a large amount of her Aura to be allowed ten seconds at best. Going past ten seconds would only double the Aura drain, and after another ten seconds, triple the consumption, and so forth.

It was safe to say she only used it when necessary, and for emergencies during a battle.

Even with everything in mind, that didn't always stop her from using it selfishly, most of the time for a prank, or just for sheer convenience in a task.

She was really itching to use it either way.

"Ha… Ahahahahahahahahaha!"

Ciel glanced at Musashi, slightly confused but relieved she was alright. At the very least, alright by the dragon Faunus' standards.

"Give up?! Why in the hell should I do that after things got a whole lot more interesting?! Hell, I thought I scared you brainless into not using the full extent of your powers! I'm glad I was wrong!"

Ciel was probably imagining it but...Musashi wasn't really herself right now… Or maybe she was for all she knew. No, she spent enough time around her companion to know better. Maybe it was a gimmick to an ability she was using, which made her really aggressive in response.

"Now then...let's continue the fight, Hydra!"

"Tch… Idiot!"

Sca'âtha rushed forward and ducked under the perilous swing for his neck from Musashi, which cut the column of stone that was behind her opponent in half. The dragon Faunus left herself open to attack, allowing Sca'âtha to swing upwards with his three right arms and cut Musashi. Alas, the cuts were minimal at best, barely enough to stop the dragon Faunus as she kept up her menacing grin and swung down on her opponent.

He raised up his six arms and blocked by crossing his six blades together, following up with a sidekick to her stomach that was accompanied by a blast of high pressure water, and then another spin around sidekick with a similar effect to push her back. Regardless, Musashi only recovered immediately after and still kept charging her opponent, giving him no moment to pause.

Numerous, oscillating torrents of water flicked about Sca'âtha as Musashi sprinted for him, and when when he raised up his blades, he began slashing at the air in front of Musashi. Wave after wave of slicing water quickly sped in the dragon Faunus' direction, crashing into her and cutting up her body, even if they were small cuts. And yet, she did not falter and did not slow, but only kept running forward with her bloodthirsty smile about her, and her loud, menacing laughter.

He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. He was the one cutting her apart, albeit slowly. She was the one getting injured. But how did she keep recovering so quickly? Her wounds weren't healing all too quickly, that much he noticed. The more he damaged her, the more she seemed motivated to keep pressing on to try and kill him.

The entire situation he bore witness to was absolutely ludicrous…

While he kept lashing out wave after wave of deadly water, Musashi found herself more and more annoyed by the specks of water, and so she decided to raise up her sword or blazing crimson and black Aura and swung down into the ground. The sheer force of the strike violently uplifted a thin portion of the earth, and almost crashed into the Hydra-like man had he not ceased his assault and leapt back.

He had to use it now while it still rained, that way the effect would be greater than its usual norm.

Sca'âtha twirled his blades around thrice and pointed them into the sky, allowing the blade points to touch as a sphere of water began to grow at the epicenter. With a quick motion, he moved his blades outwards, causing the sphere to amass more water and grow until it became vastly larger than himself.

"Grand Torrent Wave!"

With his shout, Sca'âtha swung his blades down and shot the immense orb of water towards Musashi with devastating speed.

Her response was to simply stab her blade ahead of her, but this did not have the intended effect. While the sphere had been cut through, the high pressure water that went past the dragon Faunus began to encircle her and create a large, vortex-wall of water. Proceeding carelessly would very likely have cut her apart, so she ceased her movements briefly.

From what Musashi determined, she'd require a very powerful swing with the added help of her ability, but that would take away part of the damage she acquired. She wanted to save as much as possible for when she'd next run her blade across the body of her foe.

That opportunity came sooner than expected when she saw Sca'âtha had leaped into the vortex from above, laughing maniacally as he did.

"Grand Torrent Rapture!"

Another shout, but a different attack. As Sca'âtha moved his arms, so to did the spiraling vortex of water from both sides. Two quick slashes, and the vortex walls spat out dozens of torrents of piercing, high pressure water that crashed into Musashi, the vortex walls closing upon her brief moments later.

The man resembling a Hydra-like Grimm landed on the ground just a few feet away from his colossal blast of devastating water, snickering to himself as victory was all but assured at the this point.

But he should have known better.

The waters died down and blanketed the vast expanse of the ravine's floor, and at the epicenter, Musashi still stood, sword still ablaze. Her short tailed kimono that had only one wide, loose fitting sleeve had been torn apart, revealing the not so concealing sarashi she wore around her chest that too had minor damage. The single sleeve was missing as well, revealing numerous small cuts that adorned Musashi's arm. The rest of her body had these cuts, and had already stopped bleeding.

The dragon Faunus let out a deep breath and touched the side of her neck with her left hand, where she had a much larger cut compared to the rest of the smaller, insignificant little cuts she received.

"Tch… If this goes on any longer...there might be a chance I'll exhaust myself and die…"

That was the last thing Ciel would have wanted.

Seeing the condition of her companion only made the young immortal want to intervene and end the fight all the quicker, but she had to remind herself constantly that this was an honor bound battle.

She couldn't interfere…

"Good…"

Ciel snapped to attention at hearing Musashi's words, as did Sca'âtha as he glared at her in confusion.

"Good..? You're cut all over! How is any of that good?!"

"It's good for me...because that means I can use my next attack to greater effect."

"Hold on, your next attack?"

"That's right." Musashi commented as she rested her katana on her shoulder, "Remember how you told me I was screwed when it started raining? Well, I can definitely say the same for you in the next few moments."

"Is that right..?"

"Yeah…" the dragon Faunus brought up her blade horizontally and stared at it, "My Semblance is called Reflexive Aggression. It's something that works really well with me given my...constitution." Her glance moved back to Sca'âtha, her draconic smile long faded as she gave him a serious glance, "You noticed it yourself didn't you? How my speed increased? My strength? My reaction time? My durability?"

Ciel noticed it. But the thing that stood out was her overly aggressive behavior more than anything.

So that's what it was…

"And..? Who cares about all that?! Something like that doesn't matter in the slightest!"

Sca'âtha sprinted forward, possibly to end things with his next attack. But Musashi stood where she was, and slid a foot back to get into a stance as she reared back her sword, sharp edge facing the sky, point facing the incoming Sca'âtha, and left hand under the flat edge of the blade to guid it.

"You don't know that half of it…" she silently spoke as the crimson and black blaze around her blade condensed itself to the weapon, "You just don't understand...the kind of trouble you're in for now..."

The Hydra-masked man leapt into the air, spinning as he did until he came to a stop, all six arms outstretched as violent torrents of water gathered around him from the strong rain.

With a loud scream, Sca'âtha had cross slashed downwards towards Musashi, making the torrents of water intersect with one another to form a large, net of water that sped towards the dragon Faunus below, threatening to cut her apart into pieces.

Undeterred, she rooted herself deep as she kept her stance, eyes wide open as she prepared to attack in response.

"Black Dragon's...Royal Roar!"

With a forward stabbing motion, Musashi had seemingly unleashed all of Hell's fury from her sword, as crimson and black fire freely burst forth into a violent, widespread, consuming torrent of flame. The slicing net of water resisted the attack for but a moment before it evaporated entirely, Sca'âtha unable to do anything but raise his arms defensively, consumed by the blast of the Dragon Fire.

* * *

The incredible blast of crimson and black flame had died down slowly and receded. The field within the ravine had been wiped clean of both water and the scrap metal from the machines Musashi and Ciel defeated, the ground smoldering with glowing scorch marks and smoke.

Only the pristine white tower remained untouched.

Musashi was panting heavily, her fingers unable to grasp her sword any longer as it clattered to the floor, along with her soon after. Her body felt weak, her strength sapped from as her fresher wounds still bled, droplets falling from her skin and sinking into the earth beneath her.

Musashi's vision was double and disoriented, trying hard to readjust. She was certain her opponent had to be dead after that attack, but she didn't want to take a chance just yet.

The problem was that the dragon Faunus could barely move, much less focus her vision currently as her consciousness slowly faded.

Her ability had taken too much of a toll than she expected…

And so Musashi had finally crashed, passing out and sinking to the floor.

She had won.

That was the idea when she passed out.

A heavily burnt and bandaged hand emerged from a pile of ruble nearby, and slowly allowed the man buried beneath to pull himself out of the ruble. Burns had adorned his body, various cuts and slashes as well.

Sca'âtha had reverted to his original state before he transformed, but that unfortunately for him did not mean his injuries were healed.

The "roar" had quite literally cut and burned away his "alternate form", which had taken most of the damage, but not all of it entirely given his current state.

The only thing that currently remained intact fully was his original khopesh blade, which he used to prop himself up slightly from his kneeling position.

He too was breathing heavily, but he was bleeding far more than Musashi had been before she passed out. Thinking of her, Sca'âtha quickly searched the field and found the unconscious Dragon Faunus. He prepared himself a few times, ready to stand up.

But before he moved another inch, a blade had wrapped around Sca'âtha's neck, which had been playfully tugged upwards twice to emphasize that he had been caught.

"Play time's over chuckle-tits." Ciel had commented, her tone more serious than usual, "Any last words or whatever?"

Sca'âtha turned his gaze to the young immortal, mindful of the scythe blade around his throat, prompting him to make no sudden movements.

"She's out cold, right?"

That was...a fairly strange question.

"So what if she is?" Ciel asked.

"That means...I can tell you the truth then…"

"What do you mean? Come on, none of this roundabout crap. Get to the point."

The man glanced away momentarily, narrowing his gaze as he let out a sigh and looked back to the young girl.

"I'll tell you what really happened...to that dragon's father."

* * *

 **{Weapons Illustrated 14}**

"Hey everyone, we're finally back after some long, and exhausting weeks." Dante said with a sigh.

From the side, Ruby was laying on a bench, letting out a loud groan.

"Ruby can attest. So out of consideration for Ruby, I may be running the segment myself today. Let's begin."

A screen moved down, and displayed the katana that belonged to Musashi.

"Today I'll be telling you about Musashi's weapon, Silver Tallfang and Silver Fang. And I'm actually pretty interested in this weapon. But first, a little bit of information before we begin."

The screen switched from Musashi's weapon to a slide of a black, rectangular stone no bigger than one's hand, and all across one side of the stone, covering it all the way to half of center, were silvery colored lines that took on stretched, hexagonal patterns, resembling scales.

"Since Musashi uses this as a tool for her weapon, we'll talk about it as well. This is what's known as a BlackHide Whetstone, a tool exclusive to only Musashi's clan and can be found nowhere else. When using the stone, it not only returns a weapon to its original sharpened state after use, but it also improves the sharpness and the weapon's durability by a small fraction mind. Each time the Whetstone is used, it'll always improve the weapons sharpens and durability by a small portion. So, how exactly is this done?"

Another slide appeared, this time closing in on the Whetstone and having a red circle focused on the silver hexagons.

"The secret lies in the stone itself. From what Musashi explained, the stone is a part from an Elder Dragon Grimm, specifically a cut out piece of its hide. The side where you see the silvery hexagons is actually the underside of its hide, where whenever it took damage, the damaged area would actually be reinforced. Again, how is that you ask?"

Dante snapped his fingers, and formed a glowing pointed stick of white and black Aura, pointing to the silvery hexagons.

"Those silver hexagons? Those are actually blood vessels. Each time the beast took damage, the blood vessels would rupture and secrete the crystal clear blood in order to quickly heal damaged areas, and when it did heal, the area that was damaged would not only regenerate, but also be reinforced beyond its original state. But wait, how come one of these whetstones doesn't grow or regenerate overtime with each use?" Dante asked as he made his pointer disappear.

"Well, a BlackHide Whetstone actually gets slightly whittled down with each use. After it has been used, the most it will accomplish is to slowly regenerate to its original state before being used to sharpen a weapon or tool, the blood vessels being the first to regenerate at a quicker rate. Keep in mind, while having a whetstone that will never degrade or break down, it can only be used in intervals, at least six times within a twenty four hour period, making it one use per every four hours."

The projector switched back to Musashi's katana.

"So, why was all that important to get out of the way first? Well, remember how I just said the BlackHide Whetstone was made using materials from that Elder Dragon Grimm? Musashi's katana and wakizashi are made from the same creature. The katana was specifically made from one of the dragon's large fangs, while the other one, you guessed it, was made from a smaller fang. Hence the name Silver Tallfang and Fang."

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay…" Ruby weakly cheered from her couch.

Dante let out a small laugh, "Using the BlackHide Whetstone is effective with any weapon or tool. It isn't just with Elder Dragon Grimm tools or weapons. The only difference is that by comparison, and Elder Dragon Grimm weapon or tool will have higher durability granted when a BlackHide Whetstone is used, since the weapon or tool is a part of the original creature, it therefore makes the effect more reactive."

A picture of book page displaying two figures fighting a dragon-like creature showed up on the slide soon after.

"From what we've gathered of testimonials from Musashi and her village's records, the creature's scales and claws were tougher than the hardest steel. Their own Dragon Fire techniques barely scratched its surface. As for how the beast fell, we only know Musashi's ancestor that established the village had outside help. As to who it was that helped, no one knows. That secret went with the first village head."

The projector yet again moved to Musashi's weapon pair.

"One thing I enjoyed seeing was how Musashi made her weapon much more dangerous, and that was when she made her weapon flame on. I mean really, that was some Thoros of Myr, Beric Dondarrion nonsense where they cut their hands and lit their swords on fire." Dante said with excitement in his tone.

He calmed himself down and cleared his throat as he collected himself.

"From what I've gathered from my little sister, and Musashi herself, lighting her weapon on fire isn't the only thing she can do. In fact, there's a special trick to all that. You may not have seen it during the fight, but Musashi actually reached into a small pouch she had. Can you guess what it was?"

Another painful groan from Ruby was heard.

"Right you are Ruby. Musashi did indeed use Dust. But it wasn't so simple as coating her blade in Dust. She infused the Dust and her blade with her Aura to give it its properties. It's why the fire was crimson and black, rather than the normal color of fire. The assumption goes that she can use other Dust types other than fire, like ice or lightning, which also means the color and property of her Aura will be incorporated into the Dust coating."

The slide switched to another of Musashi's katana, only this image had the weapons blade blazing with her crimson and black Aura.

"Records also showed that Dust on the materials from this Elder Dragon Grimm actually ended up enhancing the Dust effects, which means the fire Dust Musashi used in tandem with her already volatile Aura effects actually made the flames produced by the Dust burn even hotter than usual. This made the flames around her sword so hot in fact that it'd easily be able to cut through normal steel with ease, whereas without it, it'd take a lot of effort and power behind her swing. We can only assume that any other Dust type she uses in the future will have a similar volatile effect."

The projector screen faded to black before soon sliding back into the ceiling it came from.

"Well everyone, that's all we have for this week. And again, sorry it's been a while, but you know how it is with slaying Grimm and surviving in the wilds. Hint hint…" he said leaning in to whisper, "It's not as easy as everyone thinks it is…"

Another loud groan from Ruby caught Dante's attention as he stood up straight and leaned over the couch to take the exhausted Ruby into his arms.

"There there, we can go rest now…" he began, "Thanks for joining us this week everyone. Tune in next time with Ciel and Leo as they give you a break down of Musashi's Semblance. Bye now."

* * *

 **{Omake: Skyla's Reckoning, by Xer Stark}**

 **«»**

Little feet bobbed up and down as Skyla walked.

She couldn't help but wiggle them around with her hands whenever she took the chance, clasping at tiny ankles as the girl atop her shoulders giggled under each touch.

"So small…" Skyla muttered to herself, even smaller hands threading into her hair from above as Irene leaned forward in her perch.

The girl happily kicked her legs now, and Skyla half-wondered if they could bust through rock…

"Anyway, so you have a magic rock?" Skyla asked, her body dipping forward slightly as she spun around, drawing another laugh out of Irene as she twirled. Her purple eyes soon fell on Musashi, Sky's gaze flickering in amusement.

"Yes. However, it's more of a whetstone…and has no rock in it." Musashi replied softly.

Skyla watched her exchange a glance with Ciel for a moment, all three of them trekking through the forest together.

No luck in finding a way home yet.

"Sounds like a fancy rock," Skyla said, looking up as she playfully lifted Irene's socked feet up, the small wolf Faunus yelping and giggling as she fell back. Sky swiftly twisted and gently swung the girl up into her arms, spinning again. "You know, the last time I found something this cute…something exploded."

Skyla's deadpan voice cut the air as the girl lifted Irene up beneath her arms, staring up at her adorable face as rays of light cascaded around them.

"Something…exploded?" Musashi asked curiously.

"Oh, you have no idea." Ciel tacked in now, moving forward to slip behind the smiling Irene to lift her arms up, playing with them in the air.

"You make it sound as if it happens a lot..." the dragon girl responded, following behind Ciel, but just stopping at her side. Every once in a while, she'd take a glance to Ciel as the girl moved to play with Irene's tail now.

Maybe she thought nobody would notice. Especially the girl she couldn't help but steal glances at.

Skyla noticed.

Skyla noticed everything.

Well…except for that time where she threw herself at the ground and missed.

She didn't notice a lot of things that day…

"Explaining it would take a while." Ciel responded, glancing back to Musashi now.

Sky's trained eyes watched how the girl's gaze quickly averted, then glanced back again as if bashfully taking in Ciel's direct gaze, and how her delicate face and white hair framed her eyes.

"Why does explaining need to take time?" Skyla asked, lowering Irene just a little bit. "Here, watch this."

She took the munchkin in her hands and walked over to a tree, lifting Irene up again with a determination in her purple eyes…before pressing Irene forward in the air to just lightly tap the tip of her wagging tail against the tree.

Nothing happened.

"Huh, usually that works…" Skyla muttered to herself, pulling Irene back up onto her shoulders. "Weir-"

A tree suddenly exploded behind her, completely unrelated to the one she just touched through Irene.

"Ahhh…that makes more sense now." Sky glanced back to see the fluttering shards of wood cascade to the ground and smiled. "The less sense it makes, the more sense it makes."

Her nod and confident smile reinforced the fact she fully believed in her convoluted logic.

"I take it back..." Musashi slowly stated, her eyes fixing on the girl in front of her and her white partner. "I believe I know enough..."

Ciel's hand fell to her shoulder softly to give it a squeeze, Musashi's eyes drawing over to see Ciel smile at her just as she stepped forward and walked ahead. "Don't worry, she can control it. Just don't give her ice cream."

"It's not the control I'm necessarily worried about..." Musashi responded, following after Ciel as Skyla hummed to herself, keeping ahead of them. "I'm greatly worried of what might happen should she attempt to control that power of hers."

"Pfft, she has control over it." Ciel sputtered believably as she waved her hand through the air dismissively, only for her eyes to snap away from Musashi in a sign of a grimace. "I think."

"Precisely my point." Musashi's head fell in a nod as she waited for Ciel to draw her gaze back to her. "Perhaps we should help teach her?"

The two looked forward to see Skyla happily diverting her path, taking accentuated and fluid dips in her steps as she lightly stepped from root to root, and rock to rock, then accidentally bumped into a tree and caused it to catch fire.

Something Ciel was quick to dump a raincloud on.

"I swear, she's usually not this…chaotic..." Ciel muttered, closing her hand to dispel her quick portal of rain. "It's almost like she…" she trailed off.

"You said she isn't from this dimension, correct?" Musashi asked, following Ciel's slender arm as she lowered it back to her side.

Ciel nodded. "Different Reality, but basically the same thing."

"Maybe this Reality is affecting her in some adverse ways?" Musashi offered. It was a start to a very plausible question, and Ciel was slowly mulling it over on whether or not it was even a possibility.

"I don't know…but come to think of it, she's never been to a different reality before." Ciel's eyes slowly widened as she muttered something under her breath, her step slowing.

"Did you realize something?" Musashi slowed too, her gaze catching signs of worry knitting Ciel's thin brow and closing her fingers.

"She's…homesick."

Musashi turned her eyes back to Skyla, watching her duck beneath a few branches to let Irene pat them with her hands.

"She certainly doesn't appear so." she concluded.

Ciel's eyes tracked over to the girl now as well, her walk forward keeping slow as her thoughts caught up with her.

"That's because she's really good at hiding it."

"Hiding her homesickness?" Musashi asked.

"Hiding, well…everything."

The two glimpsed forward again as Skyla sneezed ahead of them, a puff of frost and snow encasing the trees in front of her in a cone-like blast.

"Somebody talking about me?"

Irene just giggled more and played with the falling snowflakes.

* * *

 **Heya folks. I know, I know, it's been a month. I have to apologize for that. Spring break was spent home with friends and family, and these past two weeks I've had an intensive amount of coursework to take care of with minimal sleep. I was involved in three different group projects. THREE. Now I have one more. In any case, yeah, tons of school work made it impossible to work, and thankfully the Easter break gave me enough time to finish this chapter and work on the next KoWaB.**

 **In other news, what secret's does our Hydra friend posses? What will happen to Ciel and Leo as they enter the towers with their allies? WHAT DID DANTE EAT FOR BREAKFAST?! (The answer is nothing by the way)**

 **That's all I have to say for now, so with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	34. Chapter 34: A Shadow of Regret

**What can I say folks? Finals. Lots of them. Since I've changed my major, I'm having a lot of fun now with college, but the only downside is that there's a bit more work involved since courses in my major are more project oriented and take a lot of time. Hence why updates since after December have been a bit slower. And basically, finals for me this time has been half exams and half projects. Which again, was fun, but really time consuming. So yeah, basically I'm done with that, and the only thing really that'll get in the way is my summmer job. That's about it.**

 **Okay, it was also the new God of War game, but hey, if you guys played that game for yourselves, you'd be as drawn in as I was and captivated entirely. Never have I praised a game as heavily since Nier, and Nier Automata (which I still think to this day deserves better attention than what it got) but God of War is an outstanding game. As someone who spent a week straight only playing it, and practically completing it, I can personally guarantee you all it's a good buy. So go for it if you'd like.**

 **Last thing, the new Destiny 2 dlc isn't that bad. The raid is espeically fun and challenging. Might want to revisit it in case.**

 **Anyway, with that all done, let's begin the show.**

* * *

 **Chapter 34: A Shadow of Regret**

«»

"What do you mean the truth?" Ciel asked, keeping her scythe blade around the back of Sca'âtha's neck.

"What do you mean what do I mean? It's exactly what it sounds like."

Sca'âtha, who had reverted to his more human form, shifted himself to stand, but Ciel tugged the blade of her scythe firmly against the name of his neck, reminding him that she had him where she wanted, and if he made any stupid moves, he'd without a doubt lose his head.

And Sca'âtha was keen on keeping it on his shoulders.

To make it a point he wouldn't fight any longer, he made his weapons disappear in a burst of black and aqua colored Aura.

"That dragon girl's got the wrong story… I didn't kill her father just because."

"You killed him anyway, so what does that change exactly?" Ciel asked, feeling as though her hand might make a sudden twitch any second now.

"It was a mercy killing."

A mercy killing..?

"Don't bullshit me lizard brain, you can't possibly expect me to believe-"

"It's truth shortstack." He said, unknowing that he hit a nerve of Ciel's by calling her short, "See that tower? That's part of the reason why it was a mercy killing."

…

How could the tower do anything like that?

"If you don't start making sense, I'm taking your head." Ciel threatened.

"Something… Something came outta that tower… A shadow or something, I don't know… That old lizard came to check out this tower last when he was here, and a shadow came out and attacked him. He got caught by surprise and the shadow just… seeped into him."

That sounded like Possession…

Dante had told Ciel all sorts of stories and bits of information about spirits and the like that could directly take control of people or manipulate them mentally to do their bidding.

Could something like that have happened? Could Sca'âtha be telling the truth? Or was he saying all that to save himself?

"He didn't look normal at all, and even tried attacking me. The old man was tough, so it wasn't easy trying to fend him off. In the end, I didn't have much of a choice… and ended him. Once that happened, that shadow crept out of him and went back inside the tower."

Ciel hates to admit it… but his story was lining up a bit with a potential possession case. But there was something else bugging her…

Why was he putting up such an act with Musashi?

"Alright, I might take what you're telling me as the truth. But I've got a question for you. Why'd you provoke my friend over there with that shitty acting of yours?" Ciel asked.

He seemed hesitant to answer that question. But he was hopefully still smart enough to tell the truth.

"I knew her old man. That's why I was here with him when he got…"

He knew him..?

"You expect me to believe-?"

"It's the truth, shorty. It's why I did it myself and then came back to check out whatever shit's going on inside this tower. Maybe even wreck it down if I could. But that fledgling dragon gave me more of a beating than I expected… She definitely hits harder than her old man…"

That was definitely true. Ciel saw Musashi fight numerous times, and she was an absolute hurricane of pain whenever she attacked an enemy. But when Ciel saw her fight Sca'âtha… she was just completely blown away. And mesmerized too.

"Say I honestly believe all of this, and that you aren't bullshitting me to get away from me next… What's your next plan?"

"For starters, get the hell out of here and find something to eat. I'm too damn hungry right now to care about anything else. Plus, picking a fight with you wouldn't be in my best interest, so I'd rather you cut me loose and we go our separate ways. Do we got a deal, shorty?"

"Keep calling me shorty and I might kick your ass afterall…" Ciel stated with a rather menacing grin as she tugged her scythe once more to get a wince out of Sca'âtha.

"Alright alright, sorry… Look, will you let me go? Or what?"

Ciel was still having a hard time believing everything she was told. When she was out in the wilds like this, of course she had to be skeptical of everything and almost everyone, that way she shouldn't get stabbed in the back.

She was hoping this wouldn't be this case now, otherwise she'd be seriously angry.

And no one would like her angry. Not even herself.

With a heavy sigh, Ciel removed her scythe from Sca'âtha's neck and took a few steps back to give the man some space as he stretched himself out a bit.

"I'm not taking care of a mess like you, you know."

"I don't expect you to." Sca'âtha replied as he turned to look to the tower a final time before moving towards the wooded area above the chasm, "What about you? Gonna leave the dragon brat lying around while you go in?"

"Unlike you, I'm not a douchebag, so obviously not. I'm taking her back to her village first. Then… I'm coming back here to see what the deal with this tower is."

Ciel got chills looking at the tower. But it wasn't just looking at it… it's what she felt inside. It felt… familiar… but there was such a sense of dread to it that Ciel was hesitant to come back and enter inside by herself. She was hesitant regardless if she had someone with her.

What could've possibly been inside the tower that was freaking her out so much?

"Feh… For someone so tiny, you're actually pretty brave…"

"Dude, I will seriously freaking cut you if you call me small, short or tiny again." Ciel threatened raising up her scythe.

"Take care of yourself." Sca'âtha said with a nod before he leapt up into the clearing above.

Now that she was alone, Ciel hurried back over to Musashi and looked her over. She wasn't anywhere near as good as Inuba when it came to checking for wounds or anything like that. As far as she could tell, the only major wound Musashi had was the stab wound to her abdominal area from her fight with Sca'âtha. Everything else was just minor cuts and bruises.

So...she had to be exhausted? Maybe? The more she thought about it, the more she panicked that she didn't exactly know if there was anything seriously wrong with Musashi, like if she were in a coma, or something like that.

Sitting around and panicking wasn't going to solve anything either. With her thoughts gathered, Ciel lifted up Musashi with ease and carried the much taller dragon Faunus in her arms. She felt so light in her arms…

Or maybe it was because Ciel was ridiculously strong for someone of her stature.

"Okay… Let's get you home pretty dragon lady… And then… we see what's up with this tower."

Ciel opened up a circular rift of black and white Aura, stepping inside shortly after as it closed behind her.

However… she was unaware of the shade that watched the young girl from the distance, it's lips curling up into a smile.

* * *

Ciel stepped out of her portal once more, letting out a sigh as it closed up behind her. No matter how many times she used her portals for traveling, it always felt… weird. More than nauseous, she felt like her blood sort of went cold a brief moment each time she stepped in and out of one of her portals. It's always been a freaky side effect of sorts, but she got used to it after a while.

Maybe not entirely used to it, but enough that it didn't bother her as much when she first started training her powers years ago.

Thinking about that time though… that made her blood run much colder than her ability did.

She shook it off, and looked to the colossal ivory tower that overshadowed her entirely. It had weird circuit like patterns across the entire span of it that glowed with traveling patterns of black energy. Some cubes of various sizes sort of stuck out, contradicting the "perfect" part of this tower.

But Ciel wasn't here to appreciate art, or the designs of a fancy building. She was more focused on what was inside rather than outside.

From her careful strides forward, Ciel didn't notice any reinforcements of machine units, or anything that could've been an enemy. It was… oddly vacant for a place that was heavily saturated with killer robots. All the broken and cut up machine bodies still remained where they were too.

Was there no one inside the tower? Or was everything waiting inside in preparation for Ciel to enter? Not that it mattered, but Ciel wanted to be more cautious about matters this time than usual.

Especially with the creepy vibe she was getting from inside.

Surprisingly, they were unbarred, and there didn't look to be any surprise defenses…

Even weirder, as soon as she approached, the doors slid open like elevator doors, revealing a small room inside that did resemble the inside of an elevator.

That obviously wasn't suspicious in the slightest. Not even by the slightest bit. Potential kill box? Sure chief, walk right in.

Not that anything would work, but she liked her clothes as they were and didn't want them cut or to have holes in them. She didn't have too much of them that were similar, and she liked her outfit as is.

Factoring in her reaction time, she'd be able to pause time the moment she'd notice something strange going off and make a quick escape through a portal. So she stepped inside, and watched the doors close.

Stuck inside the white room of the elevator, she felt the box moving up, and kept her eyes moving from place to place, looking for anything that might've been off or cautioned her to action.

Surprisingly, nothing shot out of the walls to absolutely murder her.

The doors opened up, and Ciel stayed inside a moment, carefully peeking her head out to take in the sight before her, eventually stepping out all the way.

It… looked like a town, or a village of sorts… Everything structure had the same design as the tower itself. Everything was white, and had the circuit like patterns of black energy flowing through them. Some irregular blocks of white stuck out from the structures at points, but there was absolutely nothing inside that looked like a defense mechanism, or even showed any signs of more enemies lurking within.

For now.

But this… fake, or replicated city wasn't the strangest part of it.

Ciel recognized this place. The homes. The various shops and stores. Even the two pubs.

Why did this place look like the village she left last year..?

The more she walked through the countryside-like village that was… changed because of the design of this tower, the more she couldn't deny this was the village she came from. The one she left a year ago after…

…

Ciel wasn't a coward. She never shied away from a fight or confrontation if someone had a bone to pick with her or her brothers. But she wanted to leave, and she wanted to leave now.

This wasn't a memory she wanted to wander through…

But it couldn't be helped…

The shop she walked past… It more or less looked like the shop that the sweet baker-lady Ciel knew used to work in, and always gave Ciel a free pastry whenever she came by.

Not too far along was ramen shop where the two brothers she knew served some of the best ramen in all of Remnant. They gave Ciel a free meal on occasion on the account of help she gave them with their shop some days.

The bookstore with the old lady where Ciel and friends went to read for fun sometimes, or when they had long nights of homework. Not too far along was the fairly large shop that a man ran alongside with his daughter that was a few years older than Ciel. They had some of the best sweets and drinks available, especially since they made all the food and brewed all the drinks themselves.

Then there was the pub, which was always open and rowdy from dusk till dawn. It was a place of great joy where many went to celebrate on the weekend after a fruitful week of work. For those that worked daily, it was their place of celebration every day. Ciel would go there with friends on occasion and take some of the men's money when she beat them at darts, poker, or pool. Even so, it was all done in good fun, and never did anyone bear ill will to the other if they lost.

Some of the homes of other villagers were along the way as Ciel quickly walked through the "fake" village of pristine white, eyes darting about uncomfortably from one place to another as the memories of this place all too quickly began to sink back in.

But nothing felt worse than what she dreaded to see up the street towards where the it ended.

The school.

Some of the children without homes stayed there in the dorms, which was well over thirty-two percent of the children, whereas the other sixty-eight went home everyday to their parents, siblings, or caretakers.

Even so, that still didn't save any of them from their inevitable fate…

The memory of the village had to be affecting her, because she swore she saw smaller sized specters running around the expansive yard of the large school. She knew everything was fake given glaringly obvious design, but the memories were so powerful in the worst possible way that it felt like she was there again, reliving that terrible night.

It hurt all the more as she watched the specters of children conjured from the depths of her mind playing about the yard, their laughs echoing through her head.

Like her brothers, she couldn't physically feel any pain. At least, she thought she couldn't.

The painful twinges in her chest seemingly proved that she was feeling something indeed.

Then her eye caught something; a shine near the steps of the entrance to the school. She certainly wasn't in a hurry, and practically dragged her feet closer despite them wanting to go in the opposite direction.

When she got to the steps, her heart sank lower than it ever did when she saw what gave off that shine.

It was a small necklace of sorts that had a black chain. And on the end of the chain… was half of a tiny heart of the same, black metal, no bigger than her eye. There was an etched gap of sorts on the backside, looking as though something could interlock with that half of the heart.

Ciel had that other half.

She knelt on the ground, digging into the pocket of her black vest with thin, sharp coattails, pulling out a tiny, white metal heart of a similar size. Hesitant as she was, she brought the two pieces together and fit their interlocking parts together perfectly to complete the heart.

Part of her wanted to toss away the thing. But the other half of the girl had strongly urged her not to, promoting her to clutch the completed heart tightly to her chest, closing her eyes and grimacing at the painful memory of the other half's owner.

"So… After all this time… you still remember…" a voice had called.

It was a voice she recognized all too well. A voice she hadn't heard since the night she left the village.

It was the voice of the person who died to allow Ciel freedom, making her the sole survivor of the terrors of that night.

The young girl's eyes opened slowly as she stood back up, hesitantly turning herself around to the source of the voice.

It was there, right in front of Ciel, stood the source of her ultimate regret, something the girl had never shared with anyone, not even her brothers.

A few yards away stood a girl about Ciel's age, fifteen or so, and was about as tall as she was, 5'4. Her skin was pale, moreso than Ciel's light skin tone, and had short, chin length lilac colored hair that was slightly messy. There was a black hair clip that resembled something of a cute devil's head with horns that kept her bangs out of her eyes, and parted towards the right side of her face. A light blue, sleeveless dress with thin shoulder straps adorned her body, the hem of her frilled skirt reaching to the center of her shins, showing her cork, sandals with one inch heels.

Perhaps more bone chilling for Ciel than seeing this girl again was her eyes. Her irises still retained their lilac color, but her sclerae were as pitch black as the night sky.

It almost reminded Ciel of her own Shadow Eyes, only her irises changed to a glowing white when she took them on.

The unnamed girl remained where she was, staring and smiling at Ciel warmly.

Ciel herself only looked back with a sorrowful, downtrodden glance, something none would ever really see with her constant wellspring of happiness.

Now?

It felt like the world had gone cold and dark, that there was not a single scrap of joy left.

"What's wrong Ciel?" The girl's soft voice called out, "After all this time, you're not happy to see me? You're not happy to see your dear Luna again?"

She didn't speak, rather, Ciel couldn't, no matter how hard she tried to get her voice to say something.

"Nothing at all? I'm a bit hurt Ciel…" Luna said, her glance growing more serious and her smile a bit more twisted, "But you'd know all too well about hurting me."

She flinched hearing that, shaking slightly under the pressure of the situation as she brought her hands over her ears and shut her eyes closed, trying her best now to hold back her tears.

This wasn't real…

It couldn't be…

"Oh I see now… You don't think this is real, do you? That I'm a ghost haunting you. But that's a bit far fetched, don't you think?" Luna stated as she slowly walked closer, "Why now of all times? Why not anything before now? Why am I seeing her now?"

She had to be fake..! She had to be a fake like this whole place..!

"Let me clear up one thing before we go any further…" Luna said stopping and raising up her hand towards Ciel, "This is all very much real."

Once again, the young girl opened her eyes, but did nothing. All she did was stare at Luna in shock as a javelin of shadow had dug itself halfway into Ciel's shoulder, pinning her to column of white material.

It took the girl a moment to register what happened, her head moving towards the large, thin spine of shadow that impaled her to the column.

It… stung…

No, it was burning..!

It..! It hurt!

Why did it hurt?!

Ciel only cried out in pain as her tears flowed, trying to grab the spike and yank it out and unable to do so in part of the burning pain coursing throughout her entire body.

"Eh~? That actually hurt Ciel?" Luna asked with her mocking smile, stepping closer to the girl, "I'm surprised… I thought you couldn't feel pain. Maybe… I'm just special?"

That smile of hers… It was so twisted and sadistic… it couldn't be her! Luna was never like this!

Ciel wrestled with this thought in mind, unable to block the swelling pain she felt.

"Come on Ciel~! You're not supposed to be this easy to beat you know?"

Luna's mocking was accompanied by a grab of Ciel's head as it was smashed into the the column of white, another shock of pain now present in the back of her head.

"Really? Nothing to say to dear, old Luna?"

What could she say? She didn't have the words. It just completely escaped her…

This whole situation was just…

Luna let out a sigh, "I guess you aren't as invincible as I thought you were… Ooh! I know! How about you and I play a game?"

A game..?

"First one to die, loses. Alright?" She cheerfully announce beaming another smile at Ciel.

The young girl was already at a loss. She was already defeated as was at this sudden shock of what she thought previously to be a really bad illusion. But this… all of this…

It was real. It was actually happening at the moment.

And that hurt Ciel more than anything. Especially since she that more or less…

It was her fault Luna…

The shadowy spike dissipated, unpinning Ciel from the column of white material to allow the girl to fall to her hands and knees. Weakly she raised her head with her defeated glance, staring blankly at the once dead Luna as she finally spun around, still keeping her smile about her, unmoved and undeterred by Ciel's sorrow.

"Now then… let's begin the game, okay~?"

Luna's eyes briefly changed color, keeping the black sclerae and shifting from purple irises to blood red as sharp pointed, jagged tendrils of shadow emerged from the shadow she made beneath her, whipping about and eager to attack the young immortal just a ways away.

When she extended her hand outwards, Luna's tendrils of shadow shot forward in straight lines with blinding speed, almost piercing Ciel's chest and neck had she not opened a portal beneath her and let herself fall into it just before she was hit.

Luna chuckled to herself as her tendrils retracted back to her and whipped about slowly yet again, "You can't run forever Ciel~!" she called out turning around and looking towards a building not too far away, "You've had your time to run… Now, there's nowhere to run to.

In the distance, Ciel remained huddled together behind a building, clutching her legs tightly as she buried her face into them, still thinking this had to be some sort of bad dream, one that she wasn't waking up from.

The tears wouldn't stop, neither did the shivering.

She saw a shadow amass between the gap of her legs, and quickly spread them out whilst leaning back against the wall to avoid the spike of shadow that almost pierced through her neck. Barely any time to think, she spun around the spike and kicked off the wall, bouncing off the other to get into the air and off the ground.

But only for a moment.

A sharp pain dug into the back of her leg, making her turn her head to see a new spike had embedded itself in her right leg, wriggling around slightly before it extended itself slightly and coiled around her leg tightly.

Ciel was then forcefully pulled from the air and slung into ground, shattering and cracking apart the ground beneath her, then slung into a building, then another and then another as they fell apart one by one.

The young girl was then yet again flung into the ground forcefully, the wind being knocked out of her for a few moments as the shadow retracted itself from the girl's leg. Although the wounds healed immediately, the pain continued to linger.

It was still all too much for her to take in…

Ciel let out a few gasps as she recovered, weakly looking up to the person overshadowing her, still keeping that twisted smile about her face.

"Hey, does it hurt? It looks like it hurts…"

It did hurt. It hurt so much it was hard to breathe, much less move even with the injuries gone.

Why was all of this happening?

"Maybe now you'll understand how I felt… You'll understand how it feels like to die…"

…

…

Ciel was beginning to understand now.

This was ultimately her fault. That whole night… Everyone dying in that peaceful town…

It was all because of her…

Ciel heard a light tap of the foot, and then felt something sharp dig into her stomach while lifting her off the floor. A sharp column of shadow had pierced her stomach to bring her up to Luna's eye level, the young immortal painfully grasping the shadowy appendage that was stuck in her.

Luna still offered the girl her twisted, yet sweet smile as she moved her hand underneath the young girl's chin as she whimpered in pain, and grabbed Ciel's cheeks with her hand so that she could raise her head up forcefully to lock eyes.

"Still having trouble remembering? Or do I need to give you some more to work with?"

Another stabbing pain hit Ciel like a freight train, this time in her chest as another shadowy appendage had pierced through her heart.

Ciel cried out in pain once more as her blood coated the appendages and dropped down them slowly, a few bloody coughs escaping through her cries of pain and tears.

Luna's hand's were coated in Ciel's blood as she held on and kept the young immortal's eyes on her.

"Do you understand now? Do you understand our collective pain that you brought on us that night? Do you understand my pain, Ciel?"

She understood it the moment she saw her again.

She understood that this was her retribution.

"My Semblance kept me alive you know… I sat there bleeding… thinking it was the end of everything. I wouldn't see anyone ever again. I wouldn't see you again. I wouldn't be able to get back at you for what you did to us, to everyone."

I know…

"Everyone died you know? No one escaped, no one survived. All the villagers… Everyone else at the school… Dead because of you."

I know..!

"And I'm here to give you what you rightfully deserve." Luna stated, leaning in close to whisper in Ciel's ear before she leaned back, "Did you honestly think you escaped from it all? That you could just push this all the way to the back of your mind?"

…

…

She didn't…

"It's ironic really… People thought you were some kind of Angel, you know? Just appeared out of nowhere one day, and possessed such great and amazing abilities. Always nice, always helpful, always cheerful… But the reality of it is that you're a Devil."

…

That isn't me...

"You don't give joy. You take it away. You don't give life either. You steal it instead, like all the lives of everyone in that village you stole."

That isn't me..!

"And I'm here to take it all back Ciel… And to put an end to you. That way… you can't steal another life ever again…"

Luna's smile finally faded as she used the shadowy appendages that pierced into Ciel to fling the girl away, her body tumbling on the ground, leaving a large streak of blood in her wake until she lie face flat on the ground, staining the pure white floors.

She didn't have the strength to move anymore… No, she hadn't the will.

Luna was right. About everything. All of that happened because of her. Ciel had simply forgotten that fact.

The time she found Leo, and then the two of them finding their older brother and his partner, the journey they all went on together… it made her forget all of it until now.

Lingering pain burned throughout her entire body in spite of her wounds having been already healed. It was then she slowly felt herself sinking downwards, her eyes trailing to the ground to find a large patch of shadow swallowing her into its depths.

"Being trapped in my 'shadows' for too long will quickly drain someone's Aura. Your abilities need Aura, right?" Luna asked, prompting Ciel to glance weakly at her old friend, "If you're drained of Aura to the point where you can't use any of your abilities, you can't escape using your tricks, right? I'm pretty sure you can't die, given that you haven't died yet from my attacks. So I'll settle for keeping you trapped in an eternal Hell of darkness for the rest of time."

Hell… Or something of its equivalent…

Dante had only told Ciel stories of the "True Hell", and what lay inside a plane of existence like that. Normally, one would pass off such tales as just that. Stories of a dark, mythical place full of all sorts of vile creatures and powerful beings.

But this place where she was going to now… there would be nothing. Nothing but silence and darkness.

Would such a place… be so bad?

"Enjoy your new Hell, Ciel…"

* * *

Only darkness surrounded her from every direction as she floated endlessly in the pitch black space.

She was truly alone now.

"So… is this the end of it all?"

Her own voice..? But…

Ciel turned her head to the side and saw… herself?

It looked exactly like her, except the eyes present were Shadow Eyes, black sclerae with glowing white irises and black pupils.

This version of herself was the only clear and visible thing within this dark space. And it was smiling at her with a devilish grin.

"You made it this far haven't you? You gonna give up and die, just like that?" The other Ciel mockingly questioned, "Okay, so you can't die. But I know the idea of just sitting here in the dark and giving up doesn't sit well with you. Even now."

No, she really was content with the idea to sit in eternal silence.

"Have you ever known yourself for sitting still all too long? Much less not talking for a long while? I'm telling you now, it's impossible." The other Ciel waved off, "You see a ghost of the past and freeze up. I mean really, what's up with that? Do honestly believe it's your fault just because someone else strongly suggests that it is?"

How could it-

"I am you and you are me. And right now, I'm the only part of 'us' that's looking at facts correctly. So listen to the me that's you in order to educate the… you that's me. If that makes sense."

The other Ciel sat down next to the real one laying on the ground, resting her chin in her hand as she crossed her legs.

"Think about it carefully now that you have the time to actually look at events more clearly. Open up those past wounds for a few moments. You were there right? And everyone was dying around you, except for you. You were part of the cause, but you didn't directly kill anyone right?"

No… Nothing in her memories suggested anything like that. But thinking about it more carefully…

…

Of course… She'd all but forgotten… HIM.

"Yeah! Now we're getting somewhere! He had them all killed because of you, right? It was because he felt threatened by you. His experiment that had gotten far beyond his own capability of control. You should feel honored by the fact he went that far."

How could she feel honored by that?!

"How? It's simple if you think about it carefully… It means… he's all the more worthy to exact vengeance upon, don't you think? He's worthy of your full attention, your full wrath."

Ciel's fingers twitched for a few moments before slowly clenching into a fist.

"Whatever that Luna's on about, she's definitely got a few screws loose, right? So why don't we knock her around a bit and get some frustration out of our system yeah? Because if Luna's here…"

Then HE's here too…

"So are you gonna sit here all day? Or are you finally ready to bury this shit in the grave today?"

She was ready.

Her hand moved up into the air, joining hands with her other "self" as it became but a shade of darkness, slowly blanketing Ciel's body.

"Now then… Let's go kick ass…"

* * *

"Still struggling? It looks as though she got a second wind… That won't matter. She'll wear herself out soon enough. Then, she's trapped forever." Luna said, smirking as she sat down on a pile of ruble.

The patch of shadow that had swallowed Ciel had violently began to sputter and bubble, rising from the ground. Luna was shocked, and jumped to her feet, taking a few cautious steps forward. Within the depth of the shadow, she felt an overwhelming Aura Signature, violently shifting about.

"No way..! She's been in there for ten minutes already! She can't have this much Aura left! It's..! It's gotten exponentially stronger!"

Bursts of black and white Aura began to traer through the shadows as something rose, attempting to break free of the veil until finally… something broke out.

A hand, layered in twisted, black, segmented armor shot through the darkness of the patch of shadow. Faint glows of white emerged from the decorative line gaps in the armored hand as it grasped the earth, slowly pulling out the rest of what the arm belonged to. A body emerged that had been similarly wrapped up in twisted, black segmented armor, that had similar decorative line gaps that glowed white. As the rest emerged, it was evident that the armor was wrapped tightly around the body, as if it were a bare, second layer of skin.

The head was enshrouded in a black mask-like helmet, the faceplate covering the entirety of the face to resemble a skull with sharp teeth, white glows emerging from the rhombus-like side gaps that spanned from near the jaw to the front row of sharp teeth. Slanted eye holes shone a fierce white glow, with white lines trailing down from the bottom center of the eyes.

Two black twisted horns that curved outwards before curving inwards slightly rested on the sides of the head, diagonally slanting downwards towards towards the face.

Luna was utterly shocked by what she saw had emerged from the patch of shadow, and was further surprised when the figure let out a loud, hollow, echoing roar that resembled Ciel's voice.

That couldn't have been Ciel… could it..?

But no matter how much she pushed back the thought, she couldn't deny it.

It was Ciel that emerged from the shadows, only now much more menacing than she was previously.

"Hmph… Don't think a little change of appearance is enough to scare me!"

Extending her hand, the shadowy tendrils that danced behind Luna shot forward like bolts of lightning. All Ciel did was raise her right hand, and swipe it outwards, shattering all the tendrils that made contact with her hand.

Luna took a step back and shot two separate pairs of tendrils at Ciel, but she simply stood her ground and reached out with her armored hands, grabbing hold of the tendrils mid flight and pulling on them tightly. Deciding to cut her losses, Luna disconnected the tendrils and led with a powerful forward stomp.

A sharp column of shadow jutted out from beneath Ciel's shadow, but the now armored girl jumped back quickly to avoid the column.

"Alright..! Try this then!"

A few more rapid stomps and more large columns of shadow began erupting from the ground wherever Ciel's shadow was, but she quickly dodged them one after the other. Even with her increase in speed, the shadows caught up, but instead of piercing through her, the sharp columns of shadow acted as stepping stones that she stood upon as they rose into the air, surprising Luna even further.

Ciel stood atop the spikes of shadow motionless. A single huff of breath unleashed a large but brief wisp of black Aura that hung in the air for a few moments, contrasting the white shine of the "fake" village.

"What the hell..?! Her Aura Signature's spiked tremendously..!"

Luna's eyes were kept on Ciel the entire time. At this point, briefly looking away would cost Luna her life. Even the idea of blinking was somewhat intimidating.

But her Semblance offered her an excellent balance between defense and offense. She'd be alright so long as she was careful.

Ciel was never able to beat her whenever they had combat exercises. In fact, their mock scraps usually ended up with Luna tying up Ciel using her shadows. Why should this be any different because she was a little stronger or because she looked any different?

Luna slid her foot forward and thrusted her hand outwards, the shadows beneath Ciel's feet dancing to her command, whipping about to grab hold of the armored girl. She moved like the wind, weaving in between the superb accuracy of the shadowy points trying to skewer her.

Even without her weapon, Ciel's armored claws were enough to counter and tear apart the spines of shadow. To compensate, Luna kept upping the speed of her strikes, trying to catch Ciel off guard, maybe even trip her up a little.

Her chance came when her shadows managed to wrap around Ciel's arms, and began flinging her about like a toy, tossing and smashing her through the buildings and streets of pure white material, laughing all the while.

A final slam into the ground kicked up a large cloud of dust, putting another twisted smile on Luna's face. She tried to pull her tendrils of shadow away, but they wouldn't budge at all. Instead, Luna herself was pulled towards the location of her tendrils, seeing herself nearing an armored fist aimed right for her head.

She brought forth the shadows behind her to form a shield to guard her front. But the shield only cushions part of the blow, the fist managing to sink into the shadows far enough to lightly touch Luna's stomach. The punch had barely made contact, but the force behind it was tremendous, as was the pain despite how much of the attack was softened. As a result, she was sent flying, forcing the shadows behind her to cushion her back as she crashed through a building.

"Damn her..! She's not supposed to be this strong!" Commented as she rose from the rubble, "That form of hers… That's definitely something she never had… Who would've thought she'd get this strong in the end…"

Strength didn't necessarily hand Ciel the victory. Physical methods of attack that involved up close combat was Ciel's forte. Luna was more or less ranged, but she could transition in and out of close combat and ranged. Though, it remained known she was heavily range focused, which meant she had the overall advantage.

But still… given Ciel's nature, she didn't have to worry about matters like that all too much… which made this all the more difficult for her to take a Ciel down. Trapping her didn't work. And killing her was definitely outside the realm of possibility.

Was wearing her down even an option at this point in time? Her Aura Signature was so overwhelming powerful it felt as though Ciel herself had become an endless well of energy and power.

Was there no victory to be had from this?

Luna was disrupted from her thoughts when she saw an armored fist fly towards her face to cave it in. She ducked down and sank into her shadow on the ground.

The girl found herself floating in a space that seemed as though she were submerged underwater. Beneath her was the wide expanse of the fake city, which she took a brief glimpse at below before returning her eyes to the surface above her.

This was getting out of hand. If Ciel hadn't transformed, this fight would be Luna's, unquestionably. But what made her transform? Was there something in this tower that aided her transformation? Or was it the extreme levels of emotional stress?

Another interruption in thought was brought on when a hand colder than ice reached down from above and grabbed hold of her face. She tried to pull away with all her might, using her shadows to lash like a flurry of swords as she screamed, trying to get the arms to let her go. But those shadows where like dull blades, simply bouncing off the arm, unable to make any dents or scratches. And then, a forceful pull and she was dragged out of her world of shadow.

Luna's body emerged from the pit of shadow by the strong pull of Ciel's armored hand, and then tossed into another building with great force, sending her completely through the white structure and tumbling onto the streets.

Her body felt terribly weak. So much so it was hard to stand up any longer.

Luna spun around in panic when she heard something farting through the air like a cannon, and found herself forced onto ground again on her backside, Ciel sitting atop the girl with her blackened, armored hand on her neck, another wisp of breath releasing a cloud of black Aura.

"You're..! Going to kill me… Ciel?! Again?!" Luna asked struggling as her shadows mercilessly attacked the transformed girl, sparks flying around her as they had no effect, "Kill me again… if you can! But no matter what… our lives, the lives you took..! We'll still weigh heavily on your mind however long you live!"

A blunt column of shadow struck the armored Ciel in the face to send her on her back, allowing Luna to climb atop with a hand cloaked in shadows and mercilessly beat Ciel.

"You… damn… devil!" She spoke in between blows, "You took… everything from us! EVERYTHING! OUR HAPPINESS! OUR JOY! OUR LIVES! GIVE IT BACK!"

She did nothing to fight back, but the blows, no matter how powerful, barely dented the armor as she struck repeatedly.

Her punching was halted when Ciel heabutted Luna and rocked her head backwards, allowing the immortal to pull a reversal, with Luna now on the ground and Ciel on top.

The blackened devil had caught her prey.

This was it. This was the end.

The last thing she saw was the curled up, black armored fist rushing down towards her face.

But… she opened her eyes once more.

Looking off to the side, she saw the fist about to cave her head in buried in the ground next to her, just barely missing her head. Luna's eyes slowly trailed back to meet the devil's own glowing white eyes, but her armored head lowered itself as she began shivering, her demonic second skin armor creaking as a silent, hollow, echoing voice barely squeaked out.

"W-What..?"

"I'm sorry…" Ciel said in a silent voice, "I'm so sorry… I'm sorry for everything..."

A silent, high pitched ring sounded throughout Luna's head as she grimaced momentarily, her sclerae changing between black and white like static as Ciel continued sobbing.

Her black second skin of armor began to slowly dissolve and reveal Ciel as she was, only now, her long hair tied up into a ponytail was pitch black, and her Shadow Eyes remained, black sclerae with glowing white irises that were flowing with tears as she stared deep into the lilac colored eyes of her friend.

There were stirrings deep within Luna as the shadows receded from her eyes, returning them to normal as she felt droplets of Ciel's tears fall onto her cheeks. By now, the rest of Ciel's "invincible" armor had melted away into nothing wisps of black Aura as she continued her sobbing, lowering her head further down until it touched Luna's stomach.

Her expressions had changed from anger to surprise and regret, as she too began to tear up, shame washing over her like a cold splash from an ocean wave.

This wasn't her. This wasn't what she wanted when she thought of seeing Ciel again. She wanted to run up to her and embrace her like they did so many times before but…

Something had changed her. It twisted and distorted her love for Ciel into a dark hatred that was never her own, a hatred that Luna never harbored in her heart, no matter the circumstances of the past.

And realizing how she had must harmed Ciel… made her heart ache greatly.

In spite of Ciel resting her head against her, Luna sat up and quickly embraced Ciel, wrapping her up tightly as she too began sobbing.

"My little devil… Just what have I been doing..? You've nothing to be sorry for… Don't apologize… Don't…"

No other words could be spoken between the two of them. Words wouldn't be enough for either of them for the moment. But one thing was certain.

Things were as they were now. They were as they should be.

* * *

 **(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning part 4, by Xera Stark)**

Two hands. Two legs. Four ears. One tail.

Skyla tickled all of them.

And now Irene was all tuckered out.

One sleeping wolf girl sat nestled in Skyla's arms like an adorably dangerous baby, breathing softly in that lethal, oh so cute way.

The small girl exuded positive emotions through her powers of cuteness, an ability Skyla wished she had.

Never underestimate the power of the cute. It is too much.

Too much for one soul to ever face.

"You are too munchkin," Skyla muttered, making a face of adoration as she peered down at the wolf girl. Cute black ears twitched in her sleep as they sat around a campfire, two tents set up and four chairs on their feet.

"I thought a munchkin was food?" Musashi sat down in the chair to Skyla's right, resting her weapon down on the ground just at her side.

"Nah, you're thinking of a cinnamon roll," Ciel commented from Sky's other side.

The white-haired fighter made her way around Skyla's left, the brunette watching her move around her chair to scratch between Irene's ears.

Her lil foot thumped in response to it and her tail wagged in her sleep, Skyla cooing at the sight.

"I contacted big bro and his floofy partner. Turns out they have no idea what's going on either, but are working on finding a way to get you home." Ciel pinched playfully at the tips of Irene's ears before moving to Musashi's other side, taking the chair there and moving it right next to where Musashi'schair was positioned.

Skyla watched the way Musashi's eyes watched the action with careful regard, almost happy to see it taken in the light of the campfire.

They are so a thing…

Sky used her advanced mindreading tactics and stared intently at the side of the girl's face, Musashistill watching Ciel as the girl situated herself comfortably in her white camp chair.

And then Skyla used her ultimate move.

The 'blunt as a sharpened drum' move.

"Are you two a thing?"

"W-Whoa, hey, Skyla-?!" Ciel's exclamation cut short as the girl's chair toppled back, hitting the ground hard as the girl in a heap on the ground glowered embarrassedly at Skyla's smirk.

Musashi just looked confused. "A… thing?"

"Don't explain what that mea-!"

"It means that you two are dating," Skyla explained, watching as Ciel scurried up out of her entangling, folded up chair to get to her feet. "You know, lovey dovey, smoothy groovy, corny horn-"

The duelist's voice grew muffled behind a clasping hand as Ciel planted herself next to Skyla's chair.

"Enough out of you!"

Skyla's smile beamed through her eyes as she met Ciel's gaze, peering past it to see Musashi trying to connect the dots just behind the girl.

Unfortunately…

She was denser than a metal brick glued to a Jaune Arc.

"I'm sorry, Skyla. I still don't follow. What does it mean to be… smoothy groovy?" Musashi asked softly, watching Sky's eyes go wide in disbelief for a moment before rolling in exasperation.

Then more muffled words crashed against Ciel's sealed hand, still placed securely over the girl's mouth.

"J-Just that we're partners who get along. That's all it is," Ciel explained instead, casting a casual smile back to Musashi before dropping a death glare onto the girl holding the wolf child.

If Skyla hadn't been holding that little girl, Ciel probably would've tackled her to the ground.

"Why don't we make s'mores? Do s'mores sound good?" the white-haired girl asked instead, looking back at Musashi now as Skyla started licking her hand.

"I can go for one of those treats." Musashi smiled slightly at the way the two girls in front of her were interacting, standing herself up before delicately picking up her weapon from the ground. "Shall I go find a couple sticks for us to use?"

"Please. If you wouldn't mind," Ciel spoke back lightly, giving Musashi another casual smile.

The dragon clan member smiled in return and turned on her heel, disappearing out of the light of the campfire.

After a few seconds ticked by, Ciel let out a heavy sigh and turned her gaze back to Skyla.

"Can you stop licking my hand?"

A muffled no came as Skyla's muffled response.

"Okay… how many s'mores will it take you to not ask any more questions like that?" Ciel bargainedinstead.

Sky's eyes looked like she took a moment to think about that, casting her gaze to the side as she scratched softly at Irene's ears.

After a moment, the girl pointed to Ciel's hand still clasped over her mouth, wanting it removed.

Ciel's own face turned into a warning look before slowly, ever so slowly, releasing the girl's ability to crash trains with the sound of her voice.

"Just a question I want an honest answer to," Skyla said, her usual playfulness going away for the time being as she gave Ciel a serious look.

Ciel knew that look meant business, so she didn't question it. "Within reason."

Sky nodded to that, keeping her gaze on Ciel as she adjusted Irene in her lap, moving her head to nestle up against her chest and shoulder.

Then she asked her question.

"Do you like her?"

* * *

 **Semblance Encyclopedia 14**

"LLLLLLLLLLLLadies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome... to another episode offfffff... Semblance Encyclopedia!" Ciel yells as she stepped out onto the stage with multicolored fireworks popping off behind her, "Last week big brother talked to you about the lovely lady of bronze, Musashi Ryūjinhonō!"

Silence fell on Ciel as Leo sighed behind her.

"Okay, so he didn't talk about our lovely dragon lady, but he did talk about her weapon pair. And I'm not talking about the 'weapons' just a little ways below her neck if you know what I mean." Ciel said quirking her eyebrows.

"Ciel-"

"Yeah yeah, I'm done I'm done." Ciel said as she cut off Leo, "Alright. So this week, we'll be talking about Musashi's Semblance, Black Dragon's Royal Roar. A freaking cool name for a freaking cool Semblance."

The monitor display emerged from the ceiling, coming to life with a display of a small, cartoonish Musashi facing an equally small and cartoonish humanoid with six arms.

"It's a pretty simple mechanic to understand really, but by the time an enemy realizes what's going on, it'd be too late. From what Musashi's told me, her Semblance works five different ways, but today, we'll only be focusing on the one, Royal Roar."

The screen showed the six armed humanoid and Musashi engaging in combat, each exchanging blows with the other.

"In combat, Musashi basically just absorbs damage from her enemies and stores it up. When she stores up enough energy, she releases it all in a single devastating blast, like how a dragon's roar unleashes all sorts of devastation in the area."

"I see..." Leo commented looking at the monitor, "When she releases the blast, does she release it as a blast of her own Aura?"

"Good question Leo! Yes and no."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Yup. So, when Musashi reaches the threshold of storable energy, she basically converts it into a large burst of Aura. But upon release, that huge burst of Aura gets converted into fire so hot it can melt steel!"

"Impressive..." Leo commented in both awe and terror.

"This Semblance works well with her given she's a dragon Faunus. And because she's a dragon Faunus, that beautiful tan skin of hers is not only super smooth, but super durable and highly resistant to the elements. She's also pretty warm too, so it's nice to cuddle up with her."

"Ciel..."

"Get off my case Leo." the sister commented slapping the backside of her brother's head, "Musashi's durable skin works well with her Semblance because she doesn't really have to expend Aura to create shielding for her body, so she doesn't end up wasting a lot of Aura to defend herself from bodily injuries."

"She truly is a terrifying combatant..."

"Yup. Word to the wise, don't piss her off." Ciel cautioned.

"Noted..."

"Right, so that's it for this week folks. We'll see you next time. Bye bye now!"

* * *

 **Goodness me... I don't know why, but this chapter took freaking forever to write. Even when I had time, there were moments were I just had... blocks, I guess? I don't know.**

 **But yeah, Luna folks. One of Ciel's "old friends". You'll understand more when we come back to her and our little devil Ciel. Next week, Leo's back in the spotlight with Bailey to give chase to Alice, hopefully to find much needed answers to the mystery behind the towers.**

 **That's all I have to say. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	35. Chapter 35: Plastic Memories

**Hey guys. I know I know, I've been inconsistent with my updating of the stories. I messed up with a previous announcement in KoWaB, so I'll correct the error now. Right now, I'm in the middle of taking summer courses in order to get out of college earlier. It's expensive as hell, even with scholarships. That, and I'm in the process of job searching and esssentially working on a job thereafter. Plus, it doesn't help that one of those courses is capstone, which is very very tough.**

 **So, here's the actual importance of this announcement. Volume 6 is around the corner with its release in the fall. And as many of you have noticed, I'm still far behind but for good reason. Essentially, I've been waiting to write this arc for what's been 2 years now since it's damn important for how the story will continue from now on. It involves important decisions and important happenings, so this arc needs to happen. Trust me on that.**

 **In short, this is what I'll happen from now on until I catch up. Concerning** **VotA and KoWaB, instead of waiting every two weeks, or even a week for an update for one chapter for one story, I'll update both stories as soon as I finish writing the chapters. Seeing as I have nothing to do until September really in terms of free time, I'll spend most of my time writing and getting these out fairly quickly as soon as possible. So start expecting them every few days if I can manage it without the burden of capstone or my eventual job.**

 **With that, announcement done. The chapter begins.**

* * *

 **Chapter 35: Plastic Memories**

«»

Leo and Bailey stood together in the elevator, checking their weapons as they waited. Bailey looked over her sword to see if there was anything she needed to fix before they went in, but found no chips in her blade. Leonard opened up the chambers of his handcannons and removed the cylinders, examining them briefly before reaching behind his coat and pulling out two new cylinders. The ones he took out he slid into a sort of small receptacle pack attached to the belt on his waist.

"How are your ammunition reserves?" Bailey asked glancing over at him.

"Oh yes… I never did quite tell you how my weapons work exactly…"

"I don't believe so. Would you… share with me?"

"Of course. To put it simply, reloading my guns in combat isn't necessary really. You've seen how I twirl my guns around after a few shots, yes?"

"I always thought that was some sort of trick you performed. So there is more meaning behind it?" Bailey asked.

"That's how I reload the clip without emptying the cylinder. Essentially, I'm 'refreshing' the clip with duplicates of the bullets. Cloning in a sense. The cylinders have built in cloning magic that are pre-charged through my Aura. Hence why I have the receptacle for depleted cylinders on my belt. After about thirty minutes or so, the cylinders will have a full charge and will be ready to use again. Ammunition isn't a concern unless I run out of charges for the cylinders."

"Impressive… Truly. Did you create them yourself?"

"In a way. Someone gave me an idea for them when I was younger, and when I was able to, I found entry into an abandoned Atlas weapons facility that had been overrun by Grimm a few years prior. I spent somewhere around a month developing and creating my weapons. And then a week or so actually making them function as intended."

Leonard glanced over at Bailey, staring at her pristine, white katana before his eyes slowly drifted up to her face, just as she turned it.

Needless to say, he looked in the opposite direction immediately.

"W-What of your weapon Bailey? How did you come by it?"

"My mother designed it, after which I field tested it to a more perfected state as is. I'm afraid I've nothing impressive to report about my creative ability concerning weaponry."

"T-That's alright! You had resources that were able to make it, that's all that matters really."

"Still, it's not often you find a capable warrior who's constructed their own weapon to use in the field."

"It is uncommon. My brother's… companion, for lack of a better term, also made her weapon."

"I see…"

A few seconds of awkward silence befell them, Bailey fiddling with her fingers while Leonard looked off to the side.

"Would you… like to understand how my weapon works?" She asked him, bringing Leo's attention back to her, "I-It would help us synergize much more effectively in combat if we understood how the other works."

She seemed… bashful almost? Leonard couldn't exactly tell with her.

If only she didn't wear that blindfold of hers all the time…

"Of course."

"Both weapons, my katana and nagamaki, work specifically to channel my Semblance effectively."

Speaking of, he had never seen her Semblance or caught a glimpse of it. What was it exactly?

"My Semblance allows me to generate wind using my Aura. I can use this wind to attack, defend, or speed up my movements. If I can oscillate my wind quickly enough, it can then transition into lightning."

Wind and lightning… An interesting combination…

"I think I understand then. You can channel your wind and lightning through your swords."

"Correct. Lifting the restriction on my Semblance will allow me to use it. Since my blades are meant to channel my Aura, if I decide to use my weapon in tandem with it, I can essentially create quick and powerful slicing waves of air or lightning."

"That's quite incredible by comparison." Leonard stated.

"Your Semblance isn't something to scoff at either, Simply Leonard."

"Yes, well, mine is more simplistic I'm afraid."

There was something else that entered his mind soon after.

"Speaking of Semblances… This may be a sensitive topic to cover, but…"

"It's alright. I already know what it is you were going to ask…"

Bailey finished tending to her blade and moved it behind her, letting it float behind her right shoulder along with her pristine, white nagamaki with black detailing.

"My sister… Alice… Her Semblance allows her to convert her Aura into shadow. She make smokescreens, unleash weaving waves of shadow, piercing attacks, and form thin barriers to negate damage. If she needs it, the shadows will provide a quick burst in momentum to either get behind her target, or make a tactical retreat. It'll even let her hide within her shadow and retreat if need be."

"Hmmm… A somewhat difficult opponent then… If we're quick enough this time, I may be able to use my Semblance to tether her in place to prevent her from escaping."

Only…

"Should we manage to capture her… What exactly will we do with her?"

Bailey fell silent a moment, but it seemed as though she already had an answer. Only, she didn't want to say. Which meant probably…

"What do you think we should do?"

"Just capture her of course." Leo stated, "Afterwards, we make contact with your people and have her transported. After we figure out a method of destroying the tower."

Leo didn't notice it, but Bailey's hand silently clenched into a fist, her lips twitching as if she had something to say, but…

"Simply Leonard…" Bailey, gaining his attention.

She made to say something, but she couldn't. She held herself back.

She couldn't say it.

"B-Be on your guard…" she said softer than usual.

He flashed a smile as he used the momentum of his hand motions to close the gun cylinders, raising his handcannons up as he stared at the door.

"Have no fear."

The elevator came to a gentle stop, followed with a brief chime before the white doors slid open, at which point the duo quickly exited with their arms readied, scanning their surroundings for any enemies.

There was… no one in sight…

But their immediate setting was… baffling to say the least.

The area took on the appearance of the towers outside; pure white with black, circuit-like patterns running through the floors and walls. Chunks stood out in certain sections in the walls and structure, cube-like in shape. Some cubes stuck out from other cubes. To Leonard, it almost represented the idea of perfect imperfection. Everything around him was an oddity, something he had never witnessed before.

But what weight heavily on him was the resemblance of the area. It… resembled something of an underground hybrid of a town and a facility. Some housing structures were present, but there seemed to be warehouses, and other structures resembling research facilities.

Why did it look so familiar?!

There was something scratching at the back of his mind, telling him to remember this place, or at least what it represented. This… fake hybrid of a facility and town… What was this place?

Bailey looked to Leonard, and seeing his mental struggle made her want to speak up all the more. But she bit her lip and looked away from Leonard, choosing to remain silent once more.

"Welcome, young warriors."

The duo went back to back and scanned for the voice that boomed throughout the area from a sort of intercom system. It didn't come from one area, however.

It came from everywhere around them.

Numerous projected screens blinked to life on numerous walls, towers and "windows", revealing the image of a man.

He had chin length ash colored hair that was slightly messy, but still fairly neat; a few strands hung loosely over the bridge of his nose. His attire consisted of black dress pants with a white sleeved dress shirt with faded black stripes that was tucked in, and a black dress vest, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He also adorned black leather gloves, and sported a pair of black glasses with perfectly rectangular rims that seemed to magnify the slight shimmer in his silver-grey eyes. There was a sort of thick black band around his hips where one would put a belt on that hung diagonally, and had silvery colored edges. One the band itself was a white crest shield with a very formally written black "A" in the center.

Something else stuck out… There seemed to be cracks near the sides of his face near the eyes.

"Welcome… to my domain." He said with a bow.

Leonard took a few steps forward, asking "Are you the one responsible for raising the towers?"

"Indeed, I am."

"What was your purpose in doing so?!" The boy asked more forcefully.

The man let out a small chuckle, "Why indeed?"

"I'm in no mood for games. I wish to be done with this nonsense and leave. Come out and surrender, so that we may dismantle this tower."

"So confident in your abilities… I'm afraid I won't be accepting your proposal. I suppose that means you'll have to come find me instead and drag me out. IF you can, that is."

A challenge then…

Leonard already hated the man. He was making more work than necessary.

"If you're able to, make your way to the center of the town. If you manage, well… You'll certainly have garnered my attention."

"Very well then. Expect us soon."

"Heh… I'm looking forward to your arrival. My name is Valâr… And I welcome you to the place that was left behind." He spoke as the screens flickered off.

Valâr was his name…

It didn't matter. They now had a destination.

"Alert: Multiple enemy Units moving through the streets." SOL notified Bailey and Leonard.

"Are they coming towards us?" Asked Leonard as he raised up his guns again.

"Negative. Hostile Units lying in wait for Simply Leonard and Combatant Lianna."

"What about Alice?" Bailey asked.

"Unknown."

That didn't bode well…

Both knew it was fact Alice had entered inside the tower, but at this moment, she still remained undetected, even with SOL's sensory equipment.

Given her abilities, she could possibly attack from anywhere. If she were to do so during combat with other forces…

Leonard knew he would survive, easily. But Bailey…

…

As it was, there was no merit or value to protecting himself given his… nature. Prioritizing Bailey's safety was his main concern far from ensuring his own.

Speaking of, gunfire came their way, and Leonard, without second thought, returned fire as he and Bailey rushed to a building they could hide behind for a few moments until they had a quick, but impressionable idea of where they enemy was coming from. Peeking his head out, Leonard picked out two main groups; bladed enemies charging in front with some ranged units slowly following behind. Four Paladins modified to take on a more humanoid shape were visible so far. Those took priority.

"I'll go first and circle around them while focusing on the Paladin's."

"Then I shall cut through the middle." Bailey replied.

Leonard nodded and made to move, but found himself held back by Bailey's arm, staring at her in confusion.

"Whatever happens… Don't be too reckless. Please."

…

He didn't know what to say… or feel really.

Happiness maybe since she displayed concern for his well being?

"Understood!" He stated strongly as he rushed out first.

The small battalion of modified AK 200 Units took note of Leonard, but he fired upon them first before they could retaliate. Beams of white and black Aura pierced and tore through numerous androids and ripped through the ones behind them as Leo fired off shot after shot.

With their focus solely on him, Bailey rushed out from cover with her white nagamaki in hand, and spun around while lashing out her greatsword and letting it go, sending it spiraling into the crowd of mechs. Some hand turned around only to find the sword cutting through their bodies as the large blade continued spinning rapidly, making arcing turns to quickly clear out more and more crowds, making the rest easy pickings for the girl as she cut through whatever was left with her katana.

Since Bailey was conquering the main forces, Leonard was left to focus on the Paladins, one of which had arm mounted mini guns. Before the machine fully spun up, Leonard lowered himself into a quick and powerful slide, shooting at the legs numerous as he passed through the legs, and back onto his feet. Immediately after, he pointed his gun at the machine and fired off a large beam shot where the determined control unit was, shutting down the large machine for good.

Leonard kept up his sprint, shooting any smaller mech that decided to get in his way, and eventually spotted Baikey's nagamaki zooming by from the side until it planted itself into one of the next Paladin's head. The immortal leapt up onto the machine's chest and stomp kicked the blade outward until it planted itself into ground.

The next Paladin was already on its way, prompting Leonard to go into another slide on the ground, grabbed the large blade and spin-tossed it upwards to cut the mech in half as the blade traveled upwards diagonally towards the last Paladin.

Leonard twirled his right hand cannon and placed it back into the holster at the back of his waist, twirled his left gun around once as it transformed into its segmented, razor tipped sword form. With a solid thrust as he kept sprinting the blade uncoupled itself, the segmented attached to black strands that resembled muscle fibers that glowed white as the tip traveled further and further, planting itself into the under arm of the machine.

The segments of the blade locked together the closer Leonard got until he started running around the machine in circles, wrapping his segmented blade around across different sections of its body until it was tight. When he leapt into the air, he gave a powerful tug on his weapon as the blades sunk into the metallic body like butter, cutting it to pieces as the blade returned to its normal form. As soon as Leonard landed, he grabbed hold of Bailey's nagamaki, spun it around twice, and tossed it back to her as she cointied sprinting through the crowds of machines, cutting them to ribbons.

The nagamaki found its way back into the girl's hand, and with a deft and powerful twirl, she let go of both swords as they spun around her and expanded outwards, eviscerating anything within the expanding radius of her blades. When the last of the machines had been cut down, both of Bailey's swords slowed to a halt, suspended in the air for brief moments before they dematerialized in a faint glow of white, materializing behind her a moment later and floating in place at her back.

"Impressive work as always, Simply Leonard."

He gave her a brief chuckled as he approached her side, "I'm afraid you're far more impressive than I."

"Nonsense. Your ability to make quick decisions and neutralize targets is rather splendid. It shows how skilled you are."

"Well… Thank you, I suppose."

Both began walking past the fresh graveyard of machines, kicking aside a few of the metallic bodies in their path to clear it.

"How did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, I taught myself, somewhat." Leonard answered.

"Somewhat?"

He rubbed the back of his head, averting his gaze from Bailey, "It's… somewhat embarrassing… My method of learning I mean."

"Share it with me. I'd like to know."

He let out a sigh as they continued walking through the "fake" facility-town.

"I… learned mostly from watching television and reading books… Then I replicated what I've seen or develop something else. Most of my combat however is simply reaction movements. By that, I mean I react accordingly to whatever comes my way with the best movement possible, that being either dodging, blocking, or counter attacking. Almost the same way my brother fights."

"Your brother… You always speak so highly of him…"

"How could I not?" Leonard said with a smile, "He's a person of greatness. My number one role model of sorts. He just… always seems to know what to do. He knows what choice to make in a difficult situation, or follows a choice of his own making. Though, whenever I say such things in his presence, he always shys away, or tells me to be different."

"You mentioned a sister… How is she like?"

"Heh… My sister is nothing short of a dunce really. But… she has her moments of brilliance from time to time." Leonard said with a chuckle.

"I… I look forward to meeting them. W-When we travel back I mean…"

"Y-Yes… I hope you find them pleasant as well…"

Both couldn't help but smile foolishly as they looked away from one another, continuing down their path.

Both, unaware of the shadow watching them from high above.

* * *

They continued walking through the town, clearing out whatever came their way. With SOL's help, none had managed to sneak up on them, and thus, any enemy units that lied in wait for Leonard and Bailey met their demise once ambushed by the duo. The way they worked together was near flawless now that they knew of each other's abilities and their styles of combat.

Leo was more or less ranged, but he wasn't afraid to get up close and personal and get his hands dirty. Bailey was something of a mix, mostly up close. With the way she could discard her weapons and return them to her person within an instant, she could easy do both simultaneously. And with her graceful motions that were as fast if not faster than bolts of lighting… It was as if she were a goddess of the battlefield…

As captivating as she was, it wasn't the time to lose focus. Things were… almost nearing their end. And yet… the closer Leonard got, the worse that feeling of dread spread throughout his body, making it feel heavier with each step. It was like trying to walk on the floor of an ocean; all that pressure bearing down on you, threatening to crush you at any moment.

They made it this far, not without its own share of difficulties and troubles, but they still made it.

So why did the end feel so terrible?

"Simply Leonard!"

Leo's head jolted up and turned in the direction Bailey's as they came to a stop, the girl herself stepping in front of Leonard and looking him over, before placing a hand to his forehead.

"Are you unwell?"

"What..?"

"Where you inured perhaps and didn't speak up?!"

"N-No, that isn't it!" He said stepping away.

Was he going to tell her?

"I'm…" He started, looking off into the distance, "For the first time… I'm scared. And I don't know why I am. I've had brief moments of terror before but…" he raised his hands up, staring at them as they trembled slightly, "Never anything like this…"

"Leonard…" she said grabbing both of his hands, "There is nothing to fear. We're finally here. And… I'm here. With you." Her grasp on his hands tightened the more she thought to herself, "All this time… I never quite really appreciated the company of others. Or anyone for that matter. But these weeks that we've been together, I… I changed that limited point of view. Leonard, I… I..!"

The ground trembled briefly, stopping Bailey from delivering her words as the duo looked on towards the direction of the tremors.

Bailey let go and drew her sword, and Leonard his guns as they looked on, waiting for whatever came their way.

"Alert: Enemy unit approaching."

"So we've noticed!" Bailey pointed out.

"Enemy unit identified as Alice Lianna…" SOL spoke rather softly.

Bailey and Leo exchanged glances momentarily before soon returning their gazes to the field.

Shadows rose from the ground like tendrils, and soon after, the figure of a woman. Alice strode out from the pit of shadow as if she were ascending stairs, her waist long locks of ash colored hair drifting in the subtle breeze her shadows created. When she fully emerged, she stopped momentarily, resting her right hand on the butt of the handle of her jet black katana that had a white handle and guard, floating near her hip. Her other katana, a pristine white blade with a black handle and guard floated on the left side of her hip, seemingly quivering, eager to be drawn.

Unless she kept that other sword as a spare, he presumed Alice to be a dual wielder, like Leonard himself. Thus, if both he and Bailey attacked her at once, she'd likely draw the other sword. But there remained the question.

Should he even partake in this fight? The two of them were sisters. This had to be a matter between them. Even so, he still-

"Simply Leonard…"

"Yes..?" He answered Bailey.

"Support me in this fight."

Her answer surprised him, but, that soon turned into a small sense of joy. The feeling of dread was still present within him. But it was lesser now.

"Understood!"

The duo charged forward first, and like Leo predicted, Alice had drawn her other to meet them head on, blocking Bailey first before sidestepping Leonard and delivering a swift kick to his back. Staggered but not defenseless, Leo immediately spun around an attempted to shoot back at Alice while Bailey continued with her constant stream of attacks. Leo weaved in as much as he could, attacking when least convenient for Alice, but he focused on disrupting her attacks in order to give Bailey much more opportunities.

And for a time, he succeeded.

Alice and Bailey entered a brief clash momentarily before the rogue sister kicked away Bailey and dashed for Leonard. Unperturbed, Leonard twirled his guns once to transition them into their segmented shortsword forms and met her head on without reservation. They lashed and hacked at one another fiercely and rapidly, each throwing in a stab or two on occasion to see if one could distance the other.

But it was all so odd…

Her style of dual combat concerning dual swords was… unnerving.

It was like Leonard had been fighting himself. Rather, it felt like he was the amateur in using the style and Alice was the master of it.

It was all too strange…

They were on an even playing field for a time, but Alice was becoming more aggressive ever few attacks; the force of her blows were stronger, her attacks viciously aiming for what would be anyone else's weakpoints to permanently disable them.

Bailey soon returned to the fray, dashing forward at full speed before spinning and throwing her sword, making it like a spiraling saw that ate away at Alice's swords when she pushed away Leo moments before.

Recalling her blade, Bailey and Alice were at each other's throats once more, Leonard off to side to rethink his approach momentarily. He had already fired off a few shots, and Alice was well within acceptable parameters concerning "the zone".

If anything, now was the time to use it.

Leo raised up his right gun, and aimed it carefully at Alice.

Once he was sure she was locked on, he then spoke the words "Boundary of Restraint." and pulled the trigger.

Bailey leapt away from Alice shortly after, and from the nothingness, thin, stream-like tethers of white and black Aura emerged, attaching themselves to the girl's arms, legs, body and neck to keep her in place.

Leo aimed his guns at Alice, and intended to shoot her lower legs to completely prevent her from moving. But as if she had figured that was his intention, a pit of shadow quickly formed underneath her feet and just as immediately swallowed her up, allowing her to escape the clutches of Leonard's tethers.

Leonard looked everywhere; above him, around him… It was only until he looked at his feet that two blades emerged from the ground, one piercing his chest where his right lung was, another into his right arm to stop it as he was forced back. Alice lowered herself to the ground on her back, keeping Leonard raised up in the air as she reared back both legs and then kicked up, burying her feet into Leonard's face and launching him a considerable distance away into buildings nearby.

For added effect, Alice lashed out with her black blade and sent out a small wave of shadowy black Aura that crashed into the building where Leonard had flown into, completely collapsing the structure on top of him.

The girl leaned back a bit, letting a clear, slicing wave pass by her face, steel colored irises that subtly shimmered with clear colored energy, swallowed by the black darkness of her sclerae focusing on Bailey as she stood in a pose from her previous strike.

"Semblance restrictions lifted. Unit Bailey Lianna is cleared for Semblance usage." SOL stated as he floated behind her.

Bailey only continued glaring at her sister as she kept herself in a defensive pose, ready to defend or attack for whatever the situation called for. Alice herself twirled both of her blades once and raised them up into an x-formation in front of her chest, all while the two circled each other.

"Why did you betray us?" Bailey questioned.

No answer.

"After everything so far… Every step we've taken… Why?!"

It was brief, but Bailey spotted something odd in the next moment. Alice's black sclerae… flickered a moment… Not only that, but her right eye twitched slightly and her face scrunched up for a brief moment as well.

"SOL, what's wrong with her?"

"Analyzing… Unknown…" he said with a unusually troubled tone, "Records compared from previous encounters to now suggest an odd irregularity in behavior and motivation."

"Meaning?"

"Data suggests unit Alice Lianna may not be acting of her own accord."

How..? There's no one that was…

…

It had to be him… Without question. But when? When did he do it?

"He's absolutely right you know. Of course, by now, surely you've understood it was me who did it as well."

Bailey went to move, but with a slight poke to her shoulder from a black gloved finger, she went completely stiff. No matter how much she willed her body to move, it would not budge at all. It was then, he stepped right in front of her.

It was the man from earlier on the screens, Valâr.

SOL made to move away, but Valâr had caught the small support unit from the air as it crackled with flashes of grey Aura, it's the white glow from its visor vanishing a moment after before he was discarded.

"Bailey Lianna… How long has it been since we last met I wonder..?" he spoke in that cool, calm voice of his, "A year or so if I can recall. How time just… flies on by."

"You damn..!"

Her body managed some small movements now that she was giving it her absolute all to move, but they soon ceased once more when Valâr raised up his hand.

"Heh… If I'm not careful, you might just manage to break free. You were always a tough one… You and your sister that is. Unfortunately for her, she was caught off by surprise. It's why manipulating her was so easy, the same of which I'm currently attempting to do with you. Or rather, have already done."

Bailey's body moved on her own, turning and facing Alice as both had simultaneously turned to face the other, readying their weapons.

"S-Stop!"

"And end our joyful reunion without a bit of fun? We can't have that now, can we?"

He clapped his hands twice, and both Bailey and Alice charged at each other instantly. Not because they wanted to, but he commanded them to. By some outrageous factor present, both were fighting with a more vicious nature than before, targeting each other's vitals, or areas of their body that would have something cut off if one or the other didn't block.

Bailey, like her sister, was helpless to fight back at the compulsion to kill Alice. Her mind told her no, but her body moved on its own as if it were possessed by some chaotic nature, all while Valâr sat back and watched with a smile on his face.

He already knew the outcome of this fight. But it was still best to watch just in case. There might have been some sort of unknown variable that would come in at the last moment, which made it all the more interesting to watch.

Sparks flew around the sisters as their blades collided, Bailey struggling to keep up with Alice's relentless fury of strikes. She could have used her nagamaki in her left hand to wield two blades as well, but that would slow down her swing speed by a decent enough margin that Alice would more than likely capitalize on it.

And at that point, it would spell death for Bailey Lianna.

She had to stick it out and get lucky.

Although her Semblance helped generate a strong enough wind barrier to lessen the strength of Alice's direct attacks, there was also the issue of her sister's Semblance. At times, Alice would project shadowy slices towards Bailey's general direction, and what made this worse was that some of those slices would wrap around Bailey near her blind spots, hence why she had her Semblance constantly active and projecting the wind barrier.

At the very least, it was able to counteract the shadow slices.

But it wasn't very helpful that her limbs were moving own their without her wanting to.

A few cuts covered her entire body and limbs, some deeper than others that only managed to slow her down by a small margin. Alice wasn't without injury herself, she had taken significant damage as well by this point. But she was already in the works of overwhelming her sister, who had been brought to her knees moments later. Regardless of her position, she still kept her katana raised, blocking the constant flurry of downward slashes, each one weakening the strength of her arms by the second.

Leonard's hand burst through the chunks of ruble, allowing him to slowly pull himself out of the collapsed building. His coat had been destroyed to the point it no longer existed, leaving him only with his black long sleeved shirt that was underneath. Even that had a few tears in it, his face covered in smudges of dirt and blood and his clothes caked with dust.

The young immortal shook his head to shake off the temporary concussion he suffered, hearing the repetitive striking of metal against metal, and a few cries of pain. A final strike was heard, and Leonard lifted his head up, regretting it the moment he did so.

His eyes widened as further ahead, he saw Alice standing above Bailey, a white blade piercing through her. And when he looked to Bailey, he saw a black blade had been run through her as well, both girls trembling for a few moments before Alice staggered backwards, collapsing to her knees moments later.

Bailey had coughed up some blood and quickly lowered her back to ground, turning her in Leonard's direction to see the stunned boy.

A smile. That was what he saw.

Her mouth moved, but he couldn't hear her from all the way over where she was. He knew though after reading her lips, she spoke his name a final time before she closed her eyes.

The boy's breath was shallow, almost non-existent, like he was stuck in a vacuum in space, or drowning deep underwater. His trembling body loosened some of the rubble and dirt on his person as he managed to look up at the stranger further away.

The bastard was smiling. It was a wicked, sadistic smile, a smile that resembled some of the more vile foes his older brother had faced throughout his years.

It was one of evil.

The sheer audacity of Valâr smiling as wide as he did almost made him forget what had happened. His blood was boiling to the point where his skin felt like it was blazing like a raging fire.

And then like Bailey, his body moved on its own. Not because it was manipulated to do so like Bailey was, but because Leonard didn't give it another. He just ran at the man. He ran, forgetting everything around him.

The only thing he wanted now was to kill the man.

Valâr's smile grew even wider than it did before as he stood up from his seat and stared Leonard, roaring in anger as he approached quickly.

"We'll have time to play soon enough, boy."

A snap of his gloved fingers and everything began to shake and shift violently.

The floor was quickly collapsing behind Leonard, but like the tremors, he paid it no mind and kept running.

Nothing mattered more now than killing that bastard.

Alas, the collapsing floor had caught up to the boy, causing him to fall only a few yards away from Valâr as he looked down upon Leonard. He was going to lash out with his segmented shortsword to try and latch onto Valâr, but he spotted Bailey's falling body a moment later and froze up.

Again, his body moved of its own accord, reaching for the falling body of Bailey Lianna and successfully cradling her in his arms as he looked back up.

That smiling bastard still stood there…

He raised up his arm as his sword shifted into its handcannon form. As Leonard continued falling into the depths below, he kept firing and firing and firing his weapon until he was empty. Even when empty, he still kept pulling the trigger until he fell far enough where he couldn't see the man anymore.

* * *

Leonard's eyes opened slowly, taking in the vibrant white of the space around him.

Part of him now felt as though he had a terrible dream just now, that none of it happened. But he knew it wasn't anything as generous, especially once he saw the black, circuits of energy coursing through the walls.

None of it was a dream. It was all harsh reality.

Leonard looked off to the side, noticing his arm was trapped under some ruble, and pulled it out almost immediately. His flesh had been horribly scrapped up since he forcefully removed it from the broken chunks of debris, and his hand was drenched in blood.

At least, for the moment it was. Skin had immediately appeared over his exposed hand in the next second, as if the injury never occurred. A brief glance over his hand and he dropped it to his side, looking in the direction opposite of him.

His heart never sank so low before…

Bailey lay near him, just a short distance away. He reached out with his other hand, but it fell short of the girl, so he propped himself up and dragged his body closer. It was then he only noticed her that blindfold she wore was gone.

She was… breathtakingly beautiful… He only wished she didn't wear it all the time.

Her skin was ice cold. Blood had pooled beneath her where she lay. Leo didn't know what killed her first; whether it was when she was run through, or the eventual bloodloss she suffered with a wound that deep.

What made it worse is that he failed in supporting her, watching her back. He was pushed back so easily…

It sickened him thinking about it, replaying the moment over and over in his head to the point he couldn't hold back his frustration.

Tears. They were the first tears he ever shed. At least, they were the first in what was a very long time.

It was all coming back to him now. This place, the reason it looked familiar was that it was a recreation of where he lived long ago before meeting Ciel. That, and…

Leonard took Bailey into his arms once again as droplets of blood fell from her person, some of it falling onto the boy as he brought her in close and held onto her tightly.

He failed her…

The young immortal heard a small humming noise and looked up briefly to see a slightly damaged SOL float up to him, glancing over Bailey first before it looked to Leonard.

"Unit Bailey Lianna has… ceased functionality…"

"I know…" Leonard replied softly, "And I didn't have her back like I was supposed to… If it were brother instead of me…"

"Combatant Leonard, as Unit Lianna once stated, you are not your sibling. You are you."

"I know that! But..!"

Leonard fell silent as SOL glanced at the floor briefly before looking back at the boy.

"Query: Why does Combatant Leonard seem to always suggest his older sibling as a solution?"

That comment was laughable at best, though, not because it wasn't true. It was laughable because it was true.

"My brother… is strength itself. No matter the situation, no matter the person he's facing… He always manages to beat them and achieve his goals, whatever they may be at the time."

People often confused Dante for being perfect because of this. But they didn't know the half of it. He was the way he was because he works hard for what he gains, and his past experiences built him to be what he is today.

"Impossible doesn't exist for him. In fact, he told my sister and I once that the word 'impossible' was a silly term people invented to limit other people, to stop them from rising up to their potential."

"Query: Your brother is an unbeatable combatant?"

"Unbeatable?" Leo scoffed, "Some would think so… No, he's just very difficult to defeat. He fights with everything he has, it's that simple. That, and there's no consequence to him really."

"Query: Wouldn't one be more enticed to do their best with consequence involved to their person?"

"Well, yes, but… For my brother, it's the consequence to others he concerns himself with more rather than himself. It's why he fights with no reservation. The same should be with me, and yet… I failed so miserably…"

Leo knew SOL was trying to be sympathetic, but it wasn't helping him at all.

One wouldn't expect it, but Leo hated hearing about how amazing his older brother was at first. But as time went on, and he heard more of his accomplishments, and what he had been through, he couldn't help but admire him. He wanted to be a person of great accomplishments, just like his brother.

"Idiot… You didn't fail because you're not as good as your brother…"

Leo looked up again, and along with SOL, both turned their heads in the direction of the voice, feminine and only slightly deep.

It was… almost unbelievable seeing her there.

"You failed because I kicked you so damn hard I scrambled your brains."

Leo quickly snapped his guns sights onto Alice, who stopped in her tracks and glared at Leo, just as he did.

"I hope you're still smart enough to realize I'm talking now… Otherwise I seriously overestimated you."

…

So she was being manipulated… Just like SOL hypothesized…

"That bastard touched Bailey… Am I right?"

Leonard wouldn't have known. He was…

"Visual data taken from Unit Lianna suggests physical contact was made during the confrontation."

"That explains it then."

"That explains nothing." Leonard said harshly, keeping his gun trained on Alice's head, "Why are you here? And why aren't you dead like she is?"

"She missed a vital point." Alice told him with a sigh as she slid down a column of seat herself on the ground, "I didn't. As for why I'm here… You're smart enough to figure that out. I hope."

"What made his touch so dangerous?" Leo asked.

"Are you an idiot?"

"You're not helping your case in me not shooting you."

Alice let out another sigh as she rolled her eyes.

"You know what it's like? Being locked inside your own damn body? It's torture. It's… insanity." Alice told him as she rested her hands on her knees, "That bastard Valâr controls you by touch."

By touch? Brainwashing?

"His… Semblance is a pain in the ass to deal with. Whatever he touches, he spreads out control nerves to manipulate that something. If he touched the ground, he could make it become a giant hand that's flexible and moves naturally like any other hand. If he touches a person…"

"Then he manipulates their nerves, and therein controls the person entirely."

"Query: Why was there a difference in control between Unit Alice and Unit Lianna?"

"Because, you floating chunk of metal, he had more time to spread his control out to me. With Bailey, it was just a quick touch and go, he didn't have full control over her. That, and… We're a special case. He's able to manipulate us a lot more easily"

"He essentially made you kill one another."

"You're finally getting it. Guess you aren't as dumb as I thought." Alice said with a shrug.

Leonard at last lowered his handcannon and let it rest on the floor, taking a deep breath before glancing back at Alice, and she stared right back at him.

"This might be stupid of me to ask, but… I'll ask it anyway. What do remember?"

What did he remember? Ah… That's right… He…

"Quite a bit. Not… Not everything's come back to me, but… This place... The reason it looked familiar… It resembles the facility I grew up in. They, used me to conduct trials and experiments. Nothing terrible or torturous, but… But they used the data analytics from the experiments on my body to produce whatever it is they made. Medicine, advanced technology to assist the human body, etc. I apparently saved lives with what they learned from my body."

Alice scoffed at that, not because it was untrue, but the because of the irony to it all. He did save lives in more than few ways. After all, he…

"And… I remember the two of you."

Her head jolted up, looking in surprise at the young immortal.

"The two of you were sick, weren't you? I don't remember how studying me helped, but… It did save the two of you from whatever illness you were suffering from."

"Saved isn't exactly the word I would use…" Alice responded, staring at her hand briefly, "You remember what was before, and you remember us. Then… do you remember what I am? What she was?" She said nodding to Bailey.

"Androids… But… with how you have your memories of your previous life and all, you could also arguably be cyborgs."

"Android, cyborg, I don't give a damn really… As long as I'm 'alive', it doesn't matter what I am. I'm still me, so I don't have any complaints." Alice stated, "Did you know? Before you got here I mean."

Leo nodded softly as he looked to Bailey, "I knew. I think I knew for the longest time but… I wasn't sure. Her mannerisms were a bit outside of the ordinary, and it didn't help that SOL added the 'Unit' bit to her name."

"Dumb robot…" Alice said.

"It's ironic really…"

"What is?" Asked Alice.

"Simply Leonard was expecting happiness at the end of this road." He said chuckling slightly.

Alice purses her lips together and clenched her hands together tightly, looking away from Leonard.

"Even better… How stupid of him to fall in love with an Android…"

"Tch… You damn idiot..!"

A few quick steps were heard, and before Leonard could look up fully, he was kicked in the side by Alice as she stood above him.

Oddly enough, he felt it. It… actually hurt him…

"Android or not she was still herself damn it! Why should any if that garbage matter?! Afraid that someone's gonna make fun of you?! Huh?! Get real!" She said kicking him again.

It was annoying him that it was hurting, but… it was enlightening to a degree.

"If she told you of how she thought the world of you, which she didn't get the chance to, would that have changed anything?"

"Of course not!"

"So why does it matter now you idiot when it didn't before?"

"It's just… How..?"

"Who cares how? All that matters is making it work without a hitch, right?"

Perhaps, but…

"God, you're still an idiot after all this time…"

"I know…"

Alice let out another sigh and walked over to a pile of ruble nearby. He didn't notice it until now, but Bailey's katana had landed with them, and remained planted in the ruble.

Alice effortlessly drew the blade from its place of rest, and twirled it a few times to look it over, soon giving an audible "tsk" as she walked over to Leonard.

"Even at the end all she did was think of you."

Leonard looked up and saw the girl flip the blade up into the air briefly, catching it by the blade with the handle facing Leonard.

A small red holographic display appeared on near the end of the handle, reading "Administrative rights transferred". When Leonard grabbed hold of the handle, the screen turned white, and vanished out of sight, the white blade itself crackling to life with energy for a few brief moments.

"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty damn pissed off with that glasses wearing bastard. So in the regard, I'm heading back up to kick his ass." Alice stated walking towards the open street, "How about it? It'll go smoother with the two of us. All we have to do is make sure that bastard doesn't touch us and we'll be fine."

Kill Valâr… Was something like that going to be possible?

"Staying here isn't going to help with anything you know. Might as well make yourself useful and… get some payback. Yeah?"

"What about-"

"We'll…" Alice let out another sigh and turned away from Leo, crossing her arms, "We'll be back for her later. There's nothing much we can do for her now. Right now, it's all or nothing. And if you're going to be up there with me, you've got to be there with me completely. Understand?"

Leo looked at her briefly, then looked to Bailey a final time as he stood up, and carried her to a raised slab, laying her on it. It wasn't until he was moving away that he realized he had stopped, not wanting to let her go. Not after the weeks they spent together.

Another hand fell over his, Alice helping guide his hands so that they could fold Bailey's hands together, in which they both allowed their hands to remain for a few more moments.

"Ready?" She asked Leonard as they shared glances with one another.

"Ready."

"Then lets go kick four eyes' ass."

* * *

The group of six continued onwards down the road. There was some light forest around them, a bit of rocky terrain, and a dirt road the lead them onwards.

They were getting closer to Mistral.

Jaune and Ren were currently carrying Qrow in the makeshift stretcher while Nora guarded the rear, leaving Ruby and Dante at the front. Occasionally the young immortal would take a glance back, making sure everyone was alright while ascertain if they were still safe.

But… something was off.

An hour ago, Dante… felt something strange. It was an uncomfortable feeling in his chest that was… hard to describe. And just now, he felt it again, only this time it felt worse.

It was as if his heart completely stopped for a few moments...

He stopped in his tracks, gaze on the ground before it lifted up as he turned around, glancing in the distance from where they came. He was looking at the towers, or at least, where they would be if he could see them anymore.

"Hey…"

He felt someone touching his arm, and turned to see Ruby holding onto it. The others had stopped as well, sharing cautious glances between each other, wondering if they were coming under attack again.

"Everything alright?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah.. Uh… We're cool guys! Nothing to worry about!"

Nora gave him a thumbs up and "urged" Ren and Jaune to keep moving ahead. Dante looked back once again and took a deep breath, looking towards the trio ahead.

"We're not that far from Mistral now. Qrow's Aura is fighting the poison as best it can, and the medicine I gave him is healing as much of the damage as it can. From what I can tell, the poison's been contained, but the medicine will only do so much. He needs proper treatment."

"We'll be okay. Once we get to Mistral, things will start looking up."

How many times has he heard that line before? Rather, how many times has he said it himself, and the exact opposite happened?

He stopped keeping track by this point in time.

Though, hearing Ruby say it… It made it feel like it would actually be like. Like reality would rewrite itself because she said "This is how it'll be".

Imagine the irony if that was true.

"Does your arm still hurt?" Ruby asked interlocking her fingers with his.

"No, not really. Just a minor burning pain now and then, but… Nothing as serious as it used to be."

"That's good news! Every time I've been changing your bandages I see it getting better! Won't be long before you're all healed up!"

"True enough I suppose."

…

Her optimism was always inspiring and incredible to see.

Ruby was something rare indeed.

But she was right. It wouldn't be long now. And for once, he was inclined to believe things would be looking up for once.

* * *

 **(Omake: Simply Leonard, by Xera Stark)**

 **«»**

"You able to walk straight, little lady?" Two buff arms crossed as the bouncer stared down at the girl in front of him.

Donned in a silk black dress, the girl's hem fanned slightly in the breeze to reveal one of her pale legs just beneath her slit skirt.

Paired with heels, a black bag, and a partially revealing back, Bailey looked up at the burly man with a small smile and nodded.

"I can probably fair better than most of the guests you've already let inside," she replied.

"With that blindfold on?" His voice grew more abrasive, flickering with just the tiniest hint of concern. The comment he made was only enforced by the line of gazes taking in Bailey's stunning appearance behind her.

From the line of others trying to get into the same club.

"I can't let a pretty lady like you into an expensive joint like this. Not blind with those heels on." The bouncer's own eyes lowered, tracing Bailey's figure with a disregarding grin before moving his hand forward to usher her aside.

But a swift hand rose to tap his away, the girl's blindfolded eyes staying on his face.

"My eyes are up here. Though, perhaps my reason for being here should be addressed," she explained, giving him a mildly coy, but simple smile. "I was invited. Informally, of course."

"By who?"

"Your boss, I presume? She and I met just the other day. Fun, yet, has an air of excellence about her," Bailey explained, tilting her head to the side in thought as the man in front of her leered. "Iria. I believe that was the name she gave me."

A quiet grumble slipped by her ears as she smiled, the bouncer reaching his hand up to his ear out of obligation to at least check the girl's facts.

"Miss Iria, I have a…" his eyes glanced down to Bailey for a moment before grumbling again, "blindfolded video game character standing in front of me-"

He went quiet for a second, words cutting short before his face grimaced, then grew shocked.

"Are you sure it's her-"

Bailey smiled a little more as the man got cut off again.

"Very well…" And there was his grumble again, the burly man stepping aside for the white-haired girl to step forward.

A simple, grateful smile rested over her lips as she gently touched his arm, black blindfold pointing forward and level ahead of her.

"Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't trip," he replied.

Bailey made her way inside, the man opening the door for her before letting it close shut. A dimly lit hallway led her to a quietly bustling room, the sounds of several guests sitting about in booths and tables making their way to her senses.

A delicate hand lifted, moving up to brush some of her white hair behind her ear, but the action was simply hiding a more purposeful listen for a familiar click of heels.

"Bailey! You made it!" a feminine voice called out, sounding distant at first, but the approaching clickof heels brought the figure closer. "I was beginning to think you didn't have a dress for the occasion. This place can be a little too fancy at times, but still comfortable."

Slender hands came to rest on Bailey's lithe shoulders, another little smile forming on the blind girl's face, unsure whether to chuckle or nod. "I may not have made it in the end, if your bouncer had his way."

"Oh, Jamie? He can get a little protective of me is all," Iria dismissed, the smile in her voice prevalent enough to notice from sound alone. "I should have said something to him. I'm glad you're here,because I know someone sad and lonely who's begging for attention."

Bailey's head tilted for a moment again, wondering if that was the only reason why she was invited here. "I wasn't aware I'd be meeting anyone else."

"I figured there wasn't a better time than now. And he only works night shifts, so I couldn't keep him in one place for long with how active he is," Iria replied, warm smile getting just a little wider. "The boy just doesn't know how to turn down a job! I hired him here, but what free time I do give him, he's off working for someone else!"

Bailey felt the urge to nod there, a look of concern starting to cross her lips at the way Iria spoke of this boy. "Shouldn't one take breaks with that much work on their shoulders?"

"You would think," Iria sighed, moving her hands down Bailey's arms to gently squeeze below her shoulders, then finally let go with a sigh. "Part of me wonders if he sleeps at night… Or has a reason for keeping his mind so preoccupied."

It was a wonder, wasn't it…? Bailey's smile came back, her hands staying politely clasped in front of herself around her bag as she blindly looked around the room. "Perhaps I'll enjoy speaking with him, then. Where does he work?"

Iria smiled, unbeknownst to the girl in front of her before moving into Bailey's side and looping her arm into the blind one's own.

"Just on the other side of the bar. I'll take you to him."

With Iria leading the way, Bailey kept her steps paced and even, matching Iria's own as she felt them cross the room and stop just after a little while.

A gentle hand slipped down Bailey's arm to adjust her own hand forward, placing it on the padded seat of a high-backed stool just in front of her.

"Take a seat. I'll take care of the rest," Iria whispered, helping Bailey into her barstool before flagging over the white-haired bartender. "All of this lovely lady's drinks are on the house. Now, why don't you two get to know one another while I take care of business?"

"Understood."

By the time Bailey set her bag on the bar counter and rested her hands on it to get a feel of where its edge was, she heard the click of Iria's heels tap away into the drowning ambiance of the rest of the room.

Then, silence.

At least, for a little while.

"Whenever you're ready, the menu is just above me," a young, male voice spoke. It sounded calm, collected even, and Bailey was fairly sure it came from someone with a slimmer build. Sleek, kind of like her, but maybe even leaner.

"I'm not so sure I can read such a menu. I'm a little-"

"Blind?" he asked simply, the quiet tap of a glass being set down on another part of the bar filtering into her ears. "Perhaps a question may help. How many people do you suppose are currently in this bar?"

Bailey's head tilted again, the tied ends of her blindfold swaying with her hair just past her shoulder as she was asked the strange question.

Why would one ask a blind girl something like that?

"I… can wager a guess."

"Not a guess," the boy replied, almost sounding confident and forward with his phrasing. "Just give me a number off the top of your head. Any number."

"Seventy-three, if I were to still make my guess," Bailey replied, reaffirming her little tilt with a soft look of innocence and ignorance.

"Forgive me for saying," the young bartender returned, his voice sounding closer to her now as he moved to the area ahead of her. "But if you were really blind, you wouldn't have counted the exact amount of people in the room upon first entering."

The small, little smile on Bailey's face faltered for a second, feeling his gaze rest firmly on her blinded one for a few long, elapsing seconds before that smile came back.

Wider, this time. More than it had been over the course of the night.

"What's your name, bartender?" Bailey asked, taking some delicate fingers away from her bag to rest their intrigued touch softly against her cheek.

"Leonard," the bartender replied, moving again to place another drink down further away.

"Just Leonard?" Bailey asked. "Or is there more to your name…?"

"Simply Leonard," he clarified, making his way back to her.

"Simply Leonard…" the blind girl echoed, her smile widening. "My name is Bailey Lianna. It is nice to meet you, Simply Leonard."

A long few seconds passed, her blind gaze staring at where he stood in silence before finally sensing the tiniest of movements in his figure.

"Likewise."

* * *

 **Weapons Illustrated 15**

"Heya folks, been a while huh? Apologies, our idiot author has been exhausting himself too much lately, so it's been leaving himself with nothing to do really besides wanting to sleep. Huh?"

Danted touched the side of his head, apparently listening to someone.

"Don't talk about the authors perosnal but minor issues? They're not important? Ah, well if you say so."

He tapped the side of his head and looked to the audience.

"Well, alright then. Let's get this started then, Ruby."

"Is the author okay? Sounds like he's having a rough time of it lately..."

"Meh, he's just working hard like anyone else would. Anyway, let's get started."

A screen came down front he ceiling, displaying a white katana with black detailing around the oval shaped guard and the handle. Another sword of similar design was on screen, but it had a longer handle and blade.

"So, today we'll be talking about Bailey's weapons, Virtuous Engagement and Virtuous Bond. Both swords share similar effects, but are used for different attack methods. Virtuous Engagement is the katana Bailey mainly uses. It allows her for light and rapid attacks to quickly cut down her enemies in no time. Virtuous Bond, the large nagamaki sword, is a bit slower in terms of attack speed, but it definitely hits harder. Though, Bailey uses that mainly for heavily armored targets."

"Even with that in mind, she can wield the two of them simultaneously for devastating effect! But the coolest part of her weapons... IS THAT SHE CAN THROW THEM AND CALL THEM BACK LIKE INSTANTLY! AND THEY FLOAT!" Ruby stated excitedly, jumping up and down.

"That's right, using tech that involves gravity dust, her swords can float behind her as a means of rest. As for the recall effect, that's all done through short range teleportation tech that feeds off her Aura Reserves by only a miniscule amount, that way it doesn't sap her Aura too much." Dante mentioned as he placed a hand atop Ruby's head to stop her from bouncing up and down.

Even so, his hand still vibrated up and down violently amongst excited giggles.

"What's better is that her weapon was made specifically to work in tandem her Semblance! So if she lashes out while using her Semblance, she sends out waves of slicing air that can cut into metal even!"

"Take that into account with Virtuous Bond, and you've got one hell of an armor breaking weapon." Dante added, looking up at the sky for a moment, "Oh, right, I almost forgot. Her weapon pair has another nasty effect to it. In fact, it's soemthing I previously used in Anvil's previous stages before I turned my weapon into what it is now. And that effect was for the blade to oscillate at high frequencies."

Ruby's joyous squeals intensified, and she may have been drooling a bit now after hearing that.

"As you know, giving a weapon high frequency oscillation capabilities makes it much deadlier by increasing its cutting capabilities by a large margin. Well, to be more accurate, high frequency oscillation actually weakens the molecular bonds of whatever it comes into contact with, which is why it works best with bladed weaponry."

Dante clicked the remote, and the screen went back up into the ceiling shortly after as he picked up the frozen Ruby like a cardboard cutout and began walking away, stopping for a moment.

"Right, well, that concludes Weapons Illustrated for this week. Come back next week and Ciel and Leo will give you the details on Bailey's Semblance. Later."

 **Well folks, I already gave you the run down of events, so there's not much for me to say now. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	36. Chapter 36: Obsidian Fury

**Alright... The time has come! The conclusion to Leo's segment of the arc! Hope you're excited for it everyone! I know I was when writing it! With this part, we'll get to the conclusion of Ciel's segement next chapter before we get back to Dante and company. And then... the true battle begins. And it'll be a grueling one for our favorite immortal.**

 **But for now, let us see the conclusion to Leo's side! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 36: Obsidian Fury**

«»

Another damned elevator…

Leo stood inside the transport with Alice next to him, tapping the handcannon in his left hand against his thigh while he grasped Bailey's katana tightly in his right.

He was a lot more rigid than usual, almost as still as a stone if his hand wasn't moving.

The boy simply glared at the crevice in front of him, waiting for the chamber to cease movement so he could step out and kill the bastard from earlier, Valâr.

Anger was all that remained within him currently, his thoughts solely focused on how he would kill that man.

Alice took notice since she could feel his murderous intent radiating from him. But she want going to let things stand as such.

And so she slapped him upside the back of his head.

"What?" He said not even glancing at her.

"What do you mean what? And what's with the attitude?" She asked him.

"I'm readying myself. I don't have time to get distracted."

Alice crossed her arms and let out a sigh, her gaze turning to the floor before she looked back to the immortal.

"Look, don't shove your head so far up your own ass you can't see straight anymore. I get that you're angry. I'm pissed at that four eyed bastard too. But if either of us go in there pissed off and blind, he's gonna tear us up before we even get a chance to get payback."

He knew that. He wasn't blind. He was… focused. Moreso than he normally was. Generally, Leo was lax, not all too motivated towards anything. But now… Now he felt empowered by the driving force within him, a force that felt as though it were slowly burning up within him, and just about ready to melt away the layers of his flesh at any moment to reveal that burning anger that lay beneath.

"You paying attention?" She said bumping the side of her hip against his to forcibly move him from his stillness.

"I am, shorty, I'm just thinking of other things too."

Her head quickly turned to him, surprise her expression before she smiled.

"I guess you weren't bullshitting…"

"About?"

"Remembering. You used to call me that all the time." Her smile soon vanished as she scowled slightly, then raised up her left leg and delivered a swift round kick to his rear, "But I still hate that name!"

Leo rubbed his rear after feeling the pain from her kick, and looked to Alice momentarily, noting she was about as tall as he was, close to 5'8. But then he looked to her luscious legs and lower, noting the heels of the skin tight, opened toed boot she wore.

They added 3 inches to her height…

"You're not fooling anyone with those heels."

"You little bastard!" She said pulling at his checks.

"Are you sure you should be calling me little?" He replied in a muffled voice, ignoring the small pain in his cheeks.

She pushed him away and crossed her arms once more, keeping her eyes glued on the door in front of her.

"Hey… I meant what I said earlier. Don't go and do something stupid because you're pissed off."

"I told you I understand already. Just worry about yourself."

"Well… As long as you understand then. Remember, don't let him touch you. Otherwise, he'll get control of your body through your nerves." Alice stated.

The same thing he did with Bailey… and Alice for that matter. Though, it seemed Alice's movements were more automated than anything. Even so, she was still very powerful. Now that she was more or less herself free from manipulation… Would it be accurate to say she'd be even more dangerous on the battlefield?

"Analysis: Reestablished camaraderie between Unit Alice and Simply Leonard has heightened the emotional status of Unit Alice." SOL spoke out.

Alice jolted at the comment, and made to reach for the small, floating machine, but it went out of reach, hovering above Leonard on the other side of the elevator.

"Damn machine..!"

The elevator began to slow, prompting the duo to ready themselves for whatever would be outside.

"You'd think he'd shut down the elevators to stop us from chasing him…" Leo stated.

"That bastard doesn't care about things like having the upper hand. Even if he had an advantage, he'd likely throw it away for his own entertainment, just to see how things play out."

Arrogance? No, it was confidence in his abilities; they're just that strong. Was his touch ability done by means of his Semblance? Or was it an alternate innate ability? There had to be more to that man.

"Your sword skills any good?" Alice asked Leo.

"Of course. I had my brother teaching me after all."

"Well, I guess we'll see just how good your skills are. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

The doors opened, but for Leo, they drew back slowly, allowing him to peek through to see what Lay outside. A small battalion of the superiorly modified AK 200's guarded the elevator entrance, assault rifles armed and prepped to fire as soon as the doors opened. But with how they were programmed, they wouldn't fire until the doors opened entirely, at least, that's what he assumed.

But the assumption paid of, for not halfway through opening, Leo pulled the trigger and kept firing beam after beam of his white and black Aura until it was time to cast the reload function. By that point, when the few machines remaining had time to reorient themselves, it was already too late.

Leo, with Bailey's blade in hand had already begun cutting into their numbers deftly, twirling the handcannon in his other hand into its segmented shortsword form. With a spin of his body, he lashed out with his sword as it expanded from the segments and elongated itself to slice into the crowds with fluid ease. The segments melted through the armor of the machines like they were mere scraps of paper.

Alice performed clean up any of the masses missed, popping in and out of locations around the field through the usage of the shadows on the floor. She was virtually untouchable, even when the machines tried to fire upon her in the pits of shadows, only to have blades emerge and chop them to bits. Sticking to the shadows wasn't all she did; she rocketed in and out of them from various angles, chopping up anything in her path in conjunction to Leonard's onslaught with both his blades.

Stopping them seemed virtually impossible with how fluidly they moved about the field, working together near flawlessly. It was as if they'd been working together for the longest of times, like their separation was non-existent.

Once again, Leo found himself in familiar territory, although, some of the landscape had changed. Some of the structures had been raised, a large tower in the center that lead to another floor high above.

That's where Valâr had to be…

"We have to get to that tower! I'm sure it leads to another floor above us where he's hiding!" Leo stated as he cut down the next flock of machines.

"Easier said than done!" Alice said chopping a few of them to pieces before kicking one away, "They just keep coming! It's like he's upped the ante all of a sudden!"

He was throwing the remainder of his forces at them… Perhaps it was to stall the two of them while he prepared?

This was the central tower, that much he was certain of. But why were these towers raised? What was the purpose behind it all?

The duo kept moving as they hacked away at any machines in their path, but they seemed more aggressive than usual, attacking the duo much more violently. Not only that, but their coordination kept improving with each new flock that came by, making it harder to eliminate them. If Leo and Alice didn't keep their guard up…

One of the machines, an irregular of the bunch, managed to slip through their defenses from the rear, and was about to attack Alice. However, last second intervention from Leo stopped it in its tracks, but had exposed him as well. Alice made sure to repay the measure by taking out the machine that was ready to stab Leo with its hand.

After making their respective recoveries, both continued onward through the masses, chopping the androids to bits, moving ever closer to the transport tower.

"Heh, alright!" Alice said slicing through another machine, "We're almost there!"

By this point, both had been ahead of the machines, running towards the entrance of the tower in front of them with Leo taking the lead.

The doors ahead of them were closing to block the elevator, speed was of the essence than caution at this point.

Alice caught wind of something on fast approach, something resembling a javelin of sorts but…

It didn't come from the machines. It's make resembled the white material of the structures around them, along with the black circuit-like patterns.

And it was moving straight for Leonard.

…

There wasn't much choice…

"Damn it..!"

"What is it?!" Leonard asked from further ahead.

…

It had to be now. And he had to be the one to make it if there was even a chance of besting Valâr.

Without warning, Alice had reached out and grabbed hold of Leonard by the collar of his shirt and raised him up easily, much to his surprise.

"And away..! You! Go!"

With a spin of her body, Alice had thrown Leo forward with intense force, sending him flying past the closing doors and straight into the open elevator entrance. The lance followed after, but Alice's arm intervened with its target, allowing it to pierce her arm instead.

As she thought, it wasn't only sapping her of her strength, but it was negating her Aura as well. It was a good thing it her instead, or so she thought.

Quickly darting to the doors to cover them, Alice allowed SOL to float inside the chamber with Leo, turning around shortly after to deal with the current flock of machines, cutting them to ribbons with a slash of her sword as it unleashed a net of shadow to dice through them.

But it wouldn't be long before the others showed up.

"You make sure he gets there SOL, understand?"

The small machine seemed conflicted, looking to Leo first before looking back at Alice.

"Just do as I say!"

"What are you doing?!" Leo shouted as he tried standing, only to be pushed down by Alice.

"Listen, you may not understand it now, but you're the only one who stands a chance against him currently! So..!" She spoke as she tried forcing the elevator doors shut, "As it stands, your life's more important than mine right now. Which means you need to get to the top. For all of us."

"But what about-?!"

"Gah, would you shut it already?! Can't I have my moment to look cool in front of you..?"

"What are you-?!"

Without warning, Leonard found himself forcefully pulled in, and was then bewildered beyond belief when he processed that he was currently locking lips with as she gave him a rather passionate kiss.

"That's from the both of us since she was too shy to give you one. And Leo… Don't just stick in your brother's shadow for the rest of your life. This time… it's your turn to be the hero."

With those final words, Alice let him go and shut the elevator doors, resting a hand on it briefly before smashing the button to send Leo up.

Before the doors closed all the way, she slipped through the crack and let out a sigh, moving her arm around that had already healed itself through the mixture of her Aura and the power her "body" provided for her. Although it was quick, it wasn't all powerful. She didn't have all too many chances left to heal up. Which meant… she needed to take as little damage as possible to make sure they didn't go up after Leo.

Even if Valâr was an underhanded bastard, surely he wasn't going to be that underhanded.

Maybe.

Alice ran the variables one more time in her head, the same ones she, her sister, and her mother created, just to defeat Valâr. She was at peace, knowing Leo was going to have a chance at victory. He'd have better chances if both she and Bailey were with him but… fate wasn't so kind as to provide him with such an advantage.

Regardless, it was up to him to finish the fight now. And she would protect him for as long as she could.

* * *

Again… Why again…

Why did they both throw their lives away just so he could make it?

"Analysis: Simply Leonard has entered a high emotional state-"

"I know that damn it! I know…" he spoke a little more softly, "Why did things have to happen like they did? For the first time in forever I get to see the two of them again, but… Not like this… Not like this..!" Leo shouted slamming his hand into the elevator wall, leaving a large dent in it.

SOL's tiny body turned to face the elevator door, seemingly reminiscing something until he looked back to Leonard.

"Statement: Unit Bailey Lianna once commented that there is no use in crying about events that have already passed."

A wry chuckle came from the young immortal.

"Ironic of her since she used to be the crybaby of the three of us when we were younger…"

"Simply Leonard… Both Lianna Units did not give up their lives in vain. They have both passed their hopes on to you, so you may succeed in the battle to come."

"But why me? Why me of all people? I can't… I can't do these sorts of things on my own… I can't do the things my brother can! I'm not him!"

"Correct. You are not your brother, Simply Leonard. That is why you are unique by comparison."

Leo wanted to say something after that but… He couldn't find the words.

"Analysis of your words suggests your elder sibling possesses an innate combat prowess that far exceeds any and all that would face him. You posses talents of your own and are just as capable. If Unit Bailey Lianna were present, she would tell you not to chase after your elder sibling. But to strive to surpass him."

"Something like that…"

"Is not entirely impossible. The road may be long and arduous, but it is still within the realm of possibility. It may not be today, tomorrow, the next week, the next month, or even the next year, but the day may come that you will possibly surpass your own brother. All that is required is that you make the effort to strive for success."

…

…

Why did hearing that make him think of that conversation..?

* * *

 _"How did you become the strongest?"  
_

 _"Huh?"_

 _Dante had been caught off guard by Leo's question. Surely he expected it from Ciel, but…_

 _"W-What exactly do you mean by that?" Asked Dante._

 _"It's exactly what it means. How did you become the strongest person to ever exist?"_

 _Dante let out a sigh, "Look Leo, I'm not all that strong. Really."_

 _"Your exploits suggest otherwise."_

 _"Well, yeah, but I didn't always do it alone you know? Even I had help sometimes in spite of how stubborn I was about it."_

 _"That still doesn't change the fact you've bested hundreds if not thousands when it came to single or multi combat. The skills you possess, the power you wielded and currently wield… You're virtually unstoppable."_

 _"Look, I'm not all that great, honest. Even I lose a fight on occasion."_

 _"Rarely you mean."_

 _Another sigh escaped the elder brothers lips._

 _"Listen Leo, power isn't everything. A person can have amazing and strong powers, but that doesn't make them truly strong. There's a whole slew of factors that determines a person's true measure of strength, especially in the different situations you face. For instance, say your powers might easily blow someone out of the water if they confronted you directly. But what if the opponent was smarter than you? What if the area around you isn't suitable to fight with your powers?"_

 _Leo pondered the idea before he spoke, "So the force behind one's power doesn't determine all of their strength?"_

 _"Nope. You can be as big as you want, you can be as powerful as you want, but if you don't know how to truly use your power, or understand your reasons for fighting, you can't possibly be the strongest there is. Me? I got stupidly lucky because I'm not only smart, but my powers are versatile for various scenarios and situations. Though… combat ability isn't the only thing that determines one's strength…"_

 _Leo didn't quite understand what exactly he meant, but…_

 _"If you aren't the strongest, despite claims and factual evidence that refute your opinion, then who could possibly be stronger than you?"_

 _Dante smiled as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder. When he saw who he was pointing at it… Leo was fairly confused._

 _"I understand Ms. Kitsukami is powerful brother, but… she doesn't give me the impression of being the strongest person there is, let alone stronger than you."_

 _"You think so, huh?" Dante said with a smile, "You'd be surprised then if you knew just how strong she is. I don't just say it just because I'm proud of Inuba or because I'm strongly biased in favor of her, but she's genuinely the strongest person I know. And, the only person stronger than me."_

 _"You aren't really convincing me otherwise…"_

 _"Well, your loss then." Dante said with a shrug._

 _"How does one become strong then? Like you, or Ms. Kitsukami?"_

 _"Hmmm… Alright, listen here Leo." Dante said as he stood, "True strength doesn't come from the power you wield. Any idiot can have ridiculous power and succeed a lot, or get renown for their abilities. But true, genuine strength… comes from here." He said pointing to his younger brother's chest._

 _"From here…"_

 _"That's right. Even in the toughest of times, this right here will be your guiding star through the darkest of nights. So long as you remember that and everything else I just told you … then you'll genuinely become someone who's actually strong. Just believe in your own abilities, and follow your desires to the end."_

* * *

Leo clutched his chest, feeling the now seemingly heavy weight of that tap to his chest from months ago. His brother's words always worth their weight, but this time…

Those words felt especially heavily… and he didn't know why.

Perhaps he felt the truth of them at last? He had always written off that conversation as just his brother being silly, but…

Was he actually right?

"Simply Leonard?" SOL called out.

…

…

If his brother could do it, then Leo could as well.

"SOL…" He calmly started as he looked to the machine, "Alice mentioned I may be the only one capable of beating him right. When they said that, does that mean she and Bailey had data on him prior to today?"

"Affirmative."

"Then run it by me as quickly as you can before we reach the top. If I'm going to beat him, I'm going to need to have at least something of an idea of what to expect before I go in there. Can you do all that?"

"Affirmative."

"Good." Leo said as he stood up straight, glancing at Bailey's blade a brief moment before turning his gaze to the door, "No matter what happens… I'm taking him down for good."

* * *

Everything was white. From the streets, to the buildings, to the commonplace objects you found in a city… All had been colored white with some blocks sticking out from different sections, all with those black circuit patterns running through them.

The city center was the same, but it was more spacious than what would have been seen in any of the other towers, cleared of anything useless. In truth, nothing was useless to him here. Not in the slightest.

Still, out of courtesy for his guest that was soon to arrive, he'd thought it best to tidy up a bit and have less clutter lying around. Afterall, a performance such as this was going to require the best of conditions.

Anything less than perfect would be a disgrace.

Was it good to focus more on the stage rather than the fight itself? Valâr thought so, but other would likely disagree with him.

Setting was important after all.

Valâr sat at the foot of a long white table, a few articles of food laid out and untouched, save for the few treats he delighted himself to moments before. Eventually, he set down the apple he took a bite or two of to turn the page of the book he was reading, soon fixing his black, rectangular glasses by pushing them up a bit.

Reading was his favorite pastime outside of his… other activities.

He had found a rather interesting book a few days ago, but because he needed time to prepare for today, he couldn't read it until now, which he had time for since Valâr was waiting for the other performer to enter stage right. But the book he was reading had caught his interest greatly, making him not wanting to put it down, even if the boy showed up.

"The Man with Two Souls… Such a fascinating tale…"

It reminded him so much of a certain individual…

A loud, single tune beep sounded through the area, causing Valâr to look up from his book a brief moment to smile before he returned to it.

A minute. Two minutes. Five minutes. And soon, Leonard rounded the corner of a street, glancing around quickly before his eyes focused on the city center, spotting his target of interest.

The boy's movement was slow, carefully glancing around to ensure nothing would attack him from his blind spots. Both of his guns rested in the holsters at the back of his waist, his only weapon being Bailey's katana.

Leo was going to damn well make sure it would be driven through Valâr's heart.

"So… you've come. I was half expecting you to remain in the elevator, but it seems I gave you too little credit. My apologies."

The boy stopped at the foot of the other end of the table, glaring daggers at Valâr, who simply continued on, reading his book.

"Please, take a seat. I'll only be a moment longer."

Leo reached for the chair next to him and drew it out, seating himself in it as he rested his hands on the table, keeping Bailey's sword close.

Moments later, Valâr closed his book and placed it on the table, folding his hands together as he rested them on the long table, staring back at the boy on the other end.

"So… Here you are at last."

"Here I am." Leo replied.

"You look to have had quite the journey thus far. Won't you partake?" The man said as he waved to the food on the table.

"I refuse." Leonard told him bluntly.

"Oh? And after the trouble I went to prepare all of this for the two of us? You wound me."

"We haven't even come close to that yet." The boy spoke with an unprecedented coldness to his tone.

Valâr chuckled at that statement as he leaned himself in closer, resting his elbows on the table.

"You look as though you want to ask me something… Go ahead. I'll allow it."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do all this? Why make the towers? Why kill the two of them?"

"The towers serve two purposes. One, creating the machine army you've seen so far. Two… Well… that's only for me to know. As to why I had Bailey Lianna and Alice attempt to kill each other, with Alice Lianna following suit just moments ago… They were in the way essentially."

Leo's fists tightened when he heard that, and tried to stop from scrunching up his face.

He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. He was going to instead give him Bailey's blade. More specifically, he was going to gift Valâr's heart with it.

"Plastic dolls who can't obey orders have no use to me. It's as simple as that." Valâr said, "I bet you're wondering what exactly their purpose was, right? The answer is simple really. Bailey and Alice Lianna weren't simply given Android bodies after their illness almost claimed them just to save their lives. I didn't assist their mother in creating their new bodies just out of the gratitude of my heart."

"Get to the point, you're starting to piss me off."

Valâr chuckled to himself.

"As planned, I gave Eliza Lianna my assistance in creating state of the art Android bodies, and aided her to be the first scientist on Remnant to invent consciousness transfer. By doing so, she successfully transferred the consciousness and soul of her two daughters into new, better bodies. Thus, they survived. Years go by and their bodies become more refined and combat suitable. Living weapons of sorts. But not just any kind of weapons either."

Living weapons…

Was that the only reason they were saved? Just to be turned into weapons?

"The true purpose of Alice and Bailey Lianna was to turn them into Androids and have them become living weapons. All for the purpose… of executing you."

Leo's eyes widened in shock, his hands shaking a great deal.

"It was from the studies on you we were able to perform what was quintessentially a miracle for those two. As such, you would potentially become a problem in the future, hence why I built them around being able to kill you when the time came. Unfortunately you escaped, and even more unfortunate, their feelings for you intervened with their designated tasks."

This was all planned out since way back then..?

"Eliza managed to remove both of the Lianna sisters from my grasp before I could act considering you were my concern at the time. Since then, they've been preparing to combat me instead, all while keeping close watch of you and protecting you while maintaining their distance all this time. Sad to say their expectations didn't come to fruition given how things turned out."

Valâr picked up his apple, ignoring the shocked Leonard and took a bite from it, glancing at the boy once more.

"When their guard was at their most vulnerable, I was able to take control of Alice Lianna, and used her as the weapon she was intended to be, and a hunting dog specifically to find you. Of course, Eliza and Bailey did their best to hide you as best they could from me. But now, both sisters have fallen, and the mother unable to do a thing. And you're here. Right where I want you to be."

Leo was absolutely speechless. He didn't know what to say, much less think at this point. All he could feel was shame with how he could do nothing all this time, and they did everything they could for him. There wasn't enough he could do in any lifetime to repay them.

Except…

"Won't you reconsider having something to eat? It will be the last time before I kill you today, you know. I was at the very least considerate enough to provide a last supper for you." The man spoke with a smile most twisted.

"That won't be necessary. Rather, you should be the one to eat the meal."

"Oh? Now why is that?"

"Because you'll be the one dying today. Not me."

Valâr's smile grew wider, unable to contain his laughter any longer in spite of moving a hand to his mouth.

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful Leonard!" Valâr exclaimed in joy as he stood and slammed both hands on the table, "I'd expect nothing less from you after so long! Now! Show me the culmination of your life's efforts so far! Show me what Leonard is capable of!"

He was going to show him alright.

The boy leaned back and raised up his leg to kick the table forward towards Valâr, who planted his own feet on the table as it flipped. A quick quick off the table with his feet, and Valâr flipped backwards, landing on his feet and thrusting his hand forward through the table, expecting to find Leonard. With the table split apart, the boy was nowhere to be found.

Valâr couldn't help but smile.

His leather gloved hand reached out behind him, raising up two fingers and catching a blade between his index and middle finger, stopping the white blade with a loud clang.

Leo's eyes widened briefly, the blade stuck between Valâr's and seeming unmoving until he let go of the blade, allowing the young immortal to leap back and put distance between them.

The man placed his arms behind his back and let out a chuckle, "Unexpected, no? Perhaps a part of you thought I would be defenseless, that I'd let my constructs do all the work. But I assure you, I am very much capable of defending myself."

That much was within expected parameters. But to block Bailey's blade with just his fingers…

"No doubt you plan on driving that blade in my heart. You're welcome try as many times as you like."

 _He's starting to piss me off..!_

Leo charged in and swung quickly as he could at Valâr. His sword techniques weren't anywhere near as good as Dante's, but they were still passable at best. All Valâr did was dodge and block the blade with his hands and feet, toying with Leonard all the while. The boy came close, but his strikes weren't close enough.

Leo was built more for speed if anything, hence why his strength was lacking compared to his brother or sister. This fight wasn't all about raw power however. There was a trick to Valâr's defense, but he didn't know what it was, rather, he didn't have a concrete idea yet.

It was a one sided back and forth. Valâr rarely attacked, mainly sticking to defense to both irritate Leo and and exhaust him, but that was proving to be ineffective. The boy wouldn't exhaust himself so quickly.

As for Leo, he was beginning to understand why his attacks weren't having any effect as intended. He thought at first his gloves, shoes, and clothes were blade resistant, but when Leo struck at the sleeves of Valâr's shirt and pants, he saw they had been cut. Oddly enough, his skin had no cuts either, which meant one thing.

To test his hypothesis, Leo specifically struck high blows to make sure Valâr blocked with his arms and hands, and as he expected, he found his answer.

Valâr's skin had blackened briefly upon Bailey's sword making contact with his skin. As soon as the blade stopped trying to cut into him, his skin returned to normal. Leo leapt back once more and maintained his after dodging a kick to his head, eyeing Valâr carefully as he smiled.

"You'll only exhaust yourself my dear boy. Best you surrender your life to me now and avoid the trouble. I'll only hurt you more if this continues."

"We have a difference of opinion on that matter." Leo told him.

"So it would seem…"

The way his skin blackened… It only did so when Valâr was about to be attacked, and vanished after the attack ceased. It was reactionary, responsive only to incoming attack.

Knowing this, Leo had another thought pop up in his mind.

Whipping out his hand cannon, Leo fired off shots of his high density Aura infused bullets at Valâr, only for him to effortlessly raise his arms in the direction of the attacks and brush them off like they were nothing.

Just like Leo planned.

The young immortal pulled the trigger once more, only this time, nothing emerged from the barrel. Valâr was too late to react once he noticed what was about to happen, a burning beam of Aura passing through his left shoulder as his eyes widened in surprise.

"I'll give you this much, that 'armor' of yours is something tricky to bypass. Most people wouldn't ever be able to figure it out just at first glance. Your 'armor' turns 'on' only after you register potential incoming damage, and so it flawlessly defends your body wherever it'll be attacked. But… it can't possibly defend you against something you can't 'see' or don't know that's coming at you. Am I wrong?"

Valâr stood up, glancing at his shoulder and touching the hole with his finger as his flesh moved together to cover the hole, sealing it up.

"You are absolutely correct. Well done with your observation young Leonard. You've discovered a flaw, but just knowing it won't allow you to always capitalize on it. Especially since now I know of your ability."

And yet another standstill… That trick wasn't going to work as much now that Valâr would be on guard for it. Which meant Leo had to try something else.

…

If his area of emphasis was speed and accuracy, then…

Leo moved forward with with a vertical slash, making Valâr block with only his right arm. The young immortal was starting to gain ground, and eventually moved Valâr's arm out of the way and transitioned into a spinning side slash, the man using both arms this time to block Leonard. This time, he was beginning to overpower Leo, and did exactly that by pushing the teen back.

He tried to retaliate with a stab, but Valâr had stopped his hand using his left and grabbed Leo's throat with his right, raising the boy up in the air briefly before spinning him around and tossing him away.

Leo spun around wildly in the air, but after a brief moment, rotated himself around well enough to be vertical to the ground and planted his feet against the side of the building he was about to crash into. The wall cracked under his feet as he kept his blade to the left of him, and then completely shattered itself once he kicked off of it, rocketing towards Valâr at full speed.

The man raised up his arms defensively as they blackened once more, and like previous times, Bailey's sword slashed against them to only make sparks instead of cutting into flesh. Ever so present was Valâr's smile, but the smile soon faded once he realized the sword Leo had blurred out of sight in an instant, a deep cut present across his chest moments later as blood flowed from his fresh wound.

He was sent skidding back on his heels, stopping moments later to look up at Leonard, seeing him take his stance once more.

Valâr chuckled to himself as he realized what had happened. Leoanrd had found the second flaw, that being he moved far too quickly within that instant to "see" his sword.

"You've grown splendidly outside of my observation Leoanrd… Truly, I'm impressed. I never imagined you'd grow this splendidly when it came to combat. The general impression I received from you was that of a lazy introvert, but I'm not always correct."

This was getting a bit too dangerous for his liking. Anymore, and there would be trouble.

Valâr reached up to his face and removed his glasses, pocketing them immediately after as his silvery-grey eyes shone a bit brighter, the white sclerae turning black moments after as they stared back at the young immortal.

"I suppose it's time for me to get somewhat serious with you."

A flick of his hand, and Leo suddenly found a crushing force slam into him from the left side, knocking the wind out of him for a brief moment and sending him flying. Before he could think about recovering, something else slammed into the boy and sent him high into the sky before another heavy object smeared him into the floor shortly after.

Again and again a different mass crushed the boy into the ground, drawing blood from him if not but for mere moments until he was injured again.

Masses of white objects with black circuit patterns smashed and hammered Leo like a nail further into ground, burying him under a large pile of ruble with each new block that descended upon. All Valâr did was smile, and wave his hands like a composer as he brutally assaulted Leo without pause, soon after creating javelins of the same material that plunged into the ruble, spatters of red blood gushing from the cracks in the ruble.

"Dear me… This is why I don't get serious that often… A little bit of effort on my end, and my opponent ends up being defeated quicker than I can take the time to actually enjoy it. Well, what can one do? Be glad Leonard. For the first time in what's been a long time, I actually took someone seriously in a fight. Even in failure, that alone is an accomplishment of its own making. Now… Close your eyes forever more."

* * *

 _"Huh? You know, you're asking an awful lot of questions today Leo. Seriously now, there's no rush you know? Not yet anyway…"  
_

 _"I'd still like to know. For future reference at least. Ciel and I haven't really… made any progress despite your… 'shrewd' lessons."_

 _"Hey, I can't just give you two all the answers you know? A lot of these things have to be done on your own. Self-discovery and all that."_

 _Leo sat where he did, simply staring back at Dante as the elder brother sighed._

 _"Fine… So what was the question?"_

 _"How does it feel when you're using it?"_

 _"How it feels huh… Well, its… It feels like you've been invigorated, like you just had a jumbo glass of energy drink and you're all hopped up and ready to go."_

 _…_

 _"Could there have been an even worse explanation?"_

 _"Hey, it's what I feel, alright? Anyway, it'd probably feel different for you or Ciel. Might feel like your body's on fire. Might feel like it's enshrouded in ice. But the thing I'm certain is going to be common is that you'll feel like you're invincible. Which is true in some cases, but… Just don't get a big head about it. It offers an advantage more than anything, but it doesn't give you a guaranteed win."_

 _An advantage…_

 _"The more you let your feelings do the talking, the stronger you'll be. At least, that's what I think. Just remember… Should you ever manage to get it working, remember your goal. Remember why you're using it to fight. Then? You'll be alright."_

* * *

"Manipulating the matter around me… That is my Semblance. Essentially, I can even rewrite whatever I'm touching to take on different properties; make it more malleable and flexible, or make it durable and tough. My skin was such an example. The ground and matter I used to crush you another. But since this is my domain…" Valâr stated as he raised up his arms, "Everything within this tower is under my control."

He looked back to the ruble a final time, smiling as he picked up his apple from before, eventually deciding to throw it away now that it was dirty.

"You gave it your best effort, but I'm afraid it wasn't enough in the end. If it were your brother, he most certainly would have accomplished victory in the end. Not only because he is stronger than you, but because he is more experienced. Compared to him, you're an amateur at best. Well, such is the way of the world I suppose." Valâr said with a shrug as he walked away, pulling his glasses out of his pocket.

He kept walking forward, his smug smile dropping as he felt the ground tremor slightly. When his head turned around slowly, he saw thin wisps of black Aura seeping through the cracks of the ruble he brought down on Leo.

"Oh… It seems this devil still has life in him…"

* * *

 **(Devil Trigger, Full Song: Casey Edwards feat. Ali Edwards and Cliff Lloret)**

The wisps grew bigger until the ruble began to disintegrate, floating up into the sky as quickly as they dissolved until the debris finally vanished in one explosive burst of black and white.

A figure in thin, twisted black armor stood where the ruble once was, the armor segmented but spiraled around the limbs and neck, the spiral lines glowing with white energy. The underside of the forearms had small blades with large holes that faced the hands, and the legs curved blades that ran from the back of the heels to the midsection of the claves.

The face was like a black helmet-mask that had two small horns atop the head and two wide and thin white horns that faced downwards from the sides of the head and curved inwards towards the face to form a protective faceplate of sorts that left the cheeks exposed, leaving only a v-line visor. Beneath the visor glowed a pair of thin, slanted white eyes with razor sharp edges.

The most intriguing part of the figure was the dozens of glowing white vertical slits that adorned its arms, legs and body from all angles.

"I see… So this is your 'alternate form'. I wonder how it functions compared to your brother and sister. Though," Valâr said with a scoff, "I'd imagine it's much weaker than theirs."

 **(1:21)**

A blur was all the man saw before an armored fist planted itself directly under his chin, lifting him off the ground to only to take three more powerful punches to the stomach and ribs before he was punt kicked away from the transformed Leo.

Valâr attempted to recover by planting his hands into the earth, but the force he was propelled at didn't allow him to do so, and instead, he found himself crashing into the wall, imprinting his form into it. He opened his eyes and went to move, but it was too late, Leo was already upon him and brutally assaulting him with his fists, transitioning from body shots to face shots to the body again every few punches.

Leo made for what would have been a final hit, but had been shot into the air like a cannonball after the ground raised itself to launch him. It was then Valâr something.

As Leo spun around in the air, a few of the slits in his black armor emitted short bursts of white Aura that seemingly corrected his trajectory mid air, allowing him to orient his feet into the ground.

The slits on his back quickly shot out another burst of Aura that propelled the boy towards the ground immediately, and when he sprinted for Valâr, the bursts activated again, only this time stayed on as the immortal blinked across the field in a white zigzagging motion, avoiding the large chunks of debris that Valâr sent directly his way, even avoiding the chunks that rose from the ground to trip him up.

To say Valâr was surprised was an understatement. Leo was dodging far too quickly for him to hit with large masses and presented an unprecedented speed with his movements. He was simply moving too fast for Valâr to track effectively and hit.

When Leo was about to move in and land and flying kick to Valâr's face, a wall came in between them, forcing Leo to plant his feet onto the wall as it cracked under the immense force of the momentum he had, and kick off it to put some distance between them.

"How interesting. Your Shadow Skin seems to be more technical compared your siblings. Instead of focusing on overwhelming power, yours puts an impressive emphasis on speed and maneuverability. You forget though…"

Valâr raised up both hands as an electronic hum echoed throughout the underground city, the walls, floors and buildings distorting and breaking off into chunks to float towards Valâr. Those chunks transformed into very large javelins three times the size of Leonard, growing from the tens to hundreds within a matter of a few seconds.

"All bends to my will in this domain!"

Thrusting his hands forward, Valâr commanded the javelins forward with terrifying speed, like a wave of arrows ready to rain down upon and slaughter a battalion. Leo remained were he was, shrugging his shoulder before forcing them down swiftly, as if he had just cocked a gun. By doing so, the blades on the underside of his arms expanded all the way to his fingertips, allowing him to raise them up as the gaps at the tips brimmed with white energy.

 **(2:33)**

Hundreds of beams of black and white Aura discharged from the tips of the blades within a split second, carpeting the whole front area with super high density beams of Aura that easily devoured the incoming javelins and melted them away like scraps of paper.

In his jaw dropped stupor, Valâr failed to avoid the round kick to his stomach that launched him high into the sky, with Leonard giving chase by quickly bouncing off the walls, landing a blow as he passed Valâr to rocket him up further, and repeating the process over and over. When high enough into the air, Valâr could only watch as Leo dug the back of his heel into his face, then dragged it through while extending the blade on his leg to leave another large cut across the man's body to shoot him into the ground.

The second Leo landed, a razor sharp wave of the floor rose up like a saw and came after him, dozens more making attempts but failing to hit their mark. When the assault ceased, he found himself under assault from a massive tidal wave of the white material that made up the domain, rushing at him quickly like a tsunami.

Leo moved his arms back as thin, pyramidical, needle-like blades that glowed white hot shot out of the gaps where his arm blades were, each blade three feet long. Letting his arms down, the boy rushed forward to meet the wave unafraid, sparks trailing behind him as his blades tore through the earth before he leap up into the air. Folding his legs into his chest, the "thrusters" on Leo's back and legs sent him spinning vertically towards the wave as he kept his arms out, turning himself into a rapid saw that melted through the wall of white and dashed straight for the exposed Valâr.

The man raised up an arm and brought up rows of spikes from the ground at different angles, but with the immortal's newfound speed, he moved in between the spikes with not so much as a scratch, landing a solid right cross to Valâr's face. Staggered, Leo swept Valâr's feet from under him and tackled him midair, causing them both to tumble briefly, but ending with Leo stopping them and him sitting atop.

The teen's fists moved like a hypercharged machine; quick, furious, and unrelenting as he landed punch after punch after punch to Valâr's face, his blackened skin that protected him cracking under the fury of the deviled Leo. The slits on Leo's arms that let out short bursts of Aura with each punch made each attack all the quicker and more powerful, a force Valâr could no longer steel himself against up close.

He needed to get away.

A headbutt was thought to give him a chance, and it did make contact, but it did nothing but fuel Leo's anger as he grabbed Valâr and returned the headbutt with much more devastating effect than what Valâr delivered.

With this momentary pause, Valâr slammed his hand into the floor and erected multiple columns upwards to remove Leo from his person, the boy clawing at him furiously in response to being separated.

Another column of the material slammed into Leo's face to toss him away, the boy quickly looking up to see a colossal javelin coming his way. The white hot needle blades emerged yet again, and Leo quickly cut diced away at the monolith bit by bit until nothing remained of it.

The blades retracted into their slots as Valâr and Leo grabbed hold of the other's hands and head butted one another once more.

"This is… quite the impressive display! I must say I've underestimated your… abilities!"

Very slowly the man began to overpower Leo despite his best efforts, but activating the "thrusters" on his arms allowed him to even out the odds to keep them in a standstill as they tried to overwhelm the other.

"Even manipulating my own body to greatly strengthen my muscle fibers and tendons seems to only do so little to defeat you with sheer force! Very well!"

Valâr tripped up Leo and spun him around before throwing him far away to put enough distance between them. This was more of a last resort, one he didn't imagine he'd need since it would be a detriment to his "work".

But it was necessary.

Valâr's right hand brimmed with grey Aura as the area ruptured and quaked violently, Leonard maintaining his footing as he glared onward at the man a ways from him.

"Be honored, 'Simply Leonard'. You've put me in a position to use this. The damage will be great, but nothing I won't be able to repair within three days time. Now then… fall under the crushing weight of the power dormant in this tower!"

The boy made to move forward, but it was only now he realized he had fallen under a great shadow. And when he looked up, a monolith ridiculously larger than anything that was sent his way was falling on him.

It had to be half the size of a small mountain…

Leo wouldn't have had enough speed to remotely escape from it, not with how close it was currently.

…

There was no option of running.

As the mass descended upon Leonard, he raised his feet up one after the other and firmly planted them in the ground, outstretching his arms to welcome it before it made contact with him.

 **(4:27)**

All of the slits on Leo's body were bursting at full force, unleashing a heavy flow of white energy as he tried to resist being crushed. With all his effort, the mass was slowly pushing him into the ground little by little until he was like Atlas, carrying the crushing weight of the earth on his shoulders until he was at last on his knees, ready to perish.

"Look at it this way young Leonard! You'll soon be reunited with the Lianna sisters in just a matter of moments! Succumb to your imminent demise! Don't you wish to see them once more?!"

It was too much…

Everything… It was all too much to bear…

…

…

Bailey would tell him to continue fighting and give him no quarter. Alice would berate him to no end for being an idiot. Thinking this brought some sort of strange comfort to him, something that was foreign in the cases of others with the exception of his siblings.

It was like a broken connection that had been remade, only to be stretched thin soon after, yet still hold.

He wanted to see them again. He wanted to! But he couldn't…

And it was because of him! He wasn't going to let the bastard get away with it! Not after coming this far!

Valâr looked on, shocked to see the mass rise slowly and see a pair of glowing white eyes emerge from the shadow beneath. It was a grotesque thing to see once he saw the full few; blood spewed from between the spirals of the armor as the small, half sized mountain began lifting evermore.

Leo was literally tearing his body apart just to move the damn debris. His whole body was on fire as he felt of much of him tearing apart and healing, repeating the same process over and over again within the span of a few seconds, his vast amounts of blood soaking into the white earth beneath him.

 **(5:45)**

With one final push and his thrusters at full blast, the immortal finally managed to push the heavy burden off him just enough to give him enough space for what he was to do next. The white hot blades emerged once more, only halfway produced to the teens fists as he slid siege to the stone above him, his arms moving quickly like a furious machine once more as his armored fists and white hot arms blades crushed and stabbed into mass, widening the cracks with each blow.

Rearing his arm back, Leo delivered a monstrous uppercut into the stone a final time, cracks spreading out from the bottom to the top in an instant before imploding with a brilliant flash of white and black.

Shock and awe. That's all the man felt at the moment, failing to notice Leo charging his way through the air, delivering a dropkick to Valâr's face to send him skidding on his heels.

A wall, something to stop him, anything to slow him down and give him more time to think!

The first wall had been shattered. The second had fallen. The third crumbled. And the fourth wall had been broken.

He raised the ground beneath him to move himself away from Leo, furiously swiping his hands to send obstacle after obstacle the teen's way. Leonard met them unafraid, dodging around whatever he could and slicing through anything that blocked him with his white hot arm blades. Spikes emerged from the walls behind Valâr, moving around him like treacherous tendrils as they homed in on Leo.

The white hot blades had retracted themselves back into their gaps, allowing them to glow with energy once more before shooting out droves of high density Aura Beams that tore the tendrils apart in the blink of an eye. Valâr however was still a distance away.

Using the falling debris as stepping stones, Leo jumped in between each falling piece of rubble, all while avoiding the javelins that failed to meet their mark. When close, instead of hitting him head on, Leo dashed past Valâr higher up into the air. Confused by this, the man looked up and saw something else that shocked him.

Bailey Lianna's blade. It hadn't been lost, but simply discarded by Leo to use at a later time.

And all he could do was watch Leo kick off the ceiling were the sword had been planted, and drive the pristine white katana through his heart in the next moment.

 **(End Song)**

* * *

The two crashed into the ground harshly, with Leo being flung away as he drew the sword from Valâr's body, rolling on the ground until he eventually slowed to a stop. The sleek and elegant armor adorning his figure slowly melted away, revealing his previously battered body beneath as he panted.

He was beyond exhausted…

His muscles didn't feel sore, but they didn't feel like they were all in order quite yet. Leo assumed it to be a given since he virtually destroyed the entirety of his body, save for his internal organs.

It was only now he finally understood what his brother felt every time he used his Shadow Skin, let alone what he endured to an extent. But his usage of the ability over the years must have toughened his body up to extraordinary extents as to not affect him anymore.

 _Dante was right… None of this is easy, especially when starting out..._

The young immortal turned his head to the sound of pained groaning, seeing Valâr attempting to stand back up, but flailing about on the ground instead. Eventually, he had to resort to using the ground to lift himself as he glared daggers at Leo.

"Don't you ever fucking die?" The young immortal asked.

Whether it was frustration or exhaustion, Valâr gave the boy no response, and only laughed to himself silently as the ground shook violently. The earth upturned itself and formed around Valâr, forming a sort of sharp tip at the front that slowly moved forward toward Leo.

"Guess not…" He exhaustedly replied, reaching to his left for his handcannons that lay on the floor.

He missed a few times since his vision was doubling a bit, but eventually grabbed his guns as the pieces of the weapons slowly fell apart and combined together to form one, single handcannon.

It was a bit larger than usual with the barrel extending to a foot and a half instead of the normal one foot length.

He had one last shot within him. Making it was going to be a challenge since he couldn't even aim properly, much less lift the gun to an acceptable height from his position on the floor.

That was until he felt a pair of hands under his own helping to adjust his aim, and another pair with one hand sitting him up straight while the other stayed on the underside of his arm. Looking to his left and right he was utterly dumbfounded by what he saw.

"Hey dumbass! Don't go firing it off all half-assed! You're gonna miss otherwise!"

 _Alice..?_

"Leonard… We'll support you to the end, so please, take care when aiming!"

 _Bailey..!_

He couldn't believe it in the slightest! It had to be an illusion! This couldn't be..!

…

Leo could worry about his state of mind later. Right now, he had a job to finish.

The colossal pointed mass moved in ever closer, but the Lianna sisters remained as they were supporting Leo, who had now taken appropriate aim.

"Checkmate, assclown…"

A pull of the trigger, and a large, beam-like blast of white and black Aura fired off with such great intensity that even with the sisters helping resist the recoil slid back with Leonard a foot or two.

All three watched as the beam-like blast immediately pierced through the incoming debris to melt it away, encroaching upon the heavily injured Valâr.

In those last moments, all he did was smile as he bowed his head.

"Well done…"

With his final words, the beam had consumed the entirety of his body within a mere moment, leaving no trace of it as the beam continued onwards, eventually breaking through the confines of the tower before disappearing moments later. Subtle crackles of energy lingered in the air, and then vanished entirely.

"Hell yeah! There's no way he's coming back from that!"

"I agree. It's safe to say he's finally been eliminated."

Leo's arm dropped to the side as the voice of the two sisters speaking slowly faded out, and with it, his vision soon after while the sisters cried out in concern.

* * *

 **(Omake: Last Supper, by me)**

"Come now. This feast was made for you. The least you could do is eat something before our climactic final battle. I wouldn't want you cursing me if I won because you were famished." Valâr told Leo from the other end of the table.

"As if that would happen. And I'm not eating your food. You could've drugged it for all I know."

"Who? Me~? I would never~!"

"That tone of yours isn't all too convincing, if at all."

"But you can trust me. I'd never~ do something like that."

Leo didn't trust him in the slightest bit. At all. And he never would in any lifetime

Ever.

"Please, entertain me a bit. I went to great lengths cooking everything myself you know. The least you can do is partake. I'll go first."

Valâr did so, using a fork to dig into the already cut up steak, raising it in front of Leo before he ate it.

Five, four, three, two, one…

…

Nothing.

…

Could it actually be safe?

No, he couldn't trust it. He shouldn't trust it.

…

But it looked really good…

"Fine."

Leo begrudgingly took a fork and knife in his hands and cut a piece of turkey breast from the cooked bird, slowly putting it into his mouth and chewing it cautiously.

It actually tasted great…

"Aha! You've fallen for my trap Leonard!" Valâr exclaimed as he jumped from his chair onto the table.

Of course he did…

"Fool! Did you expect there to be a peaceful moment that easily?! You're a fool Leonard!"

"I figured you'd do this."

"What..?!"

"I knew that you knew that I knew that you knew that I knew this was a trap. Honestly, drugs? How amateurish."

"Those were guaranteed to work!"

"Yes, on anyone but me. But there's one thing you forgot. I rewrote the affliction so that it'll target you instead." Leo said.

At that moment, Valâr felt the unholiest rumbling in his stomach he had ever felt in his life, and covered his mouth moments before running off.

Leonard crossed one leg over the other as he took a sip from the tea he poured for himself, relishing his victory.

* * *

 **(Semblance Encyclopedia 15)**

"Good day everyone. Welcome to another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia, where myself and my sister Ciel make someone's Semblance a topic of discussion for the segment." Leo told the audience as he stepped onto the stage

"And today Leo's going to tell you about Bailey's Semblance! B-T-dubs, you totally kicked ass today!" Ciel applauded.

"Come now, it was nothing special."

"Yeah, your Shadow Skin wasn't all too much, but hey, the fight was something special at least!"

"My Shadow Skin has far more complexity and sophistication to it than yours, you tiny bean sprout…" Leo muttered under his breath as he looked away.

"Who say what?" Ciel asked, luckily not catching his last statement.

"Nothing. We'll talk about comparing our Shadow Skins another time. So, as Ciel mentioned, today we'll be presenting you Ms. Lianna's Semblance."

A projector screen came to life, projecting a small and cute cartoonish version of Bailey with her katana in hand.

"We haven't seen it in action really, but we'll display it for you and explain to you the details. To put it simply, Ms. Lianna's Semblance allows her to generate wind for both offensive and defensive purposes. In terms of offense, she can generate slicing waves of air with each strike of either of her swords. The pressure, combined with the force of her swing, allow her to cut through metal, since her air waves also contain traces of her Aura to toughen the waves and amplify their cutting ability. Their speed is also something not to scoff at since they travel very quickly."

The projection on screen demonstrated these abilities, before the small Bailey returned to her idle state, soon a thin, clear barrier forming around her.

"In terms of defense, she can use this wind generation in order to sway projectiles of course, however, this doesn't work so well with physical melee weapons since an enemy has greater control of their attack. Although, Bailey does have a counter for those as well."

"It's a pretty cool one too!" Ciel cut in, "Essentially, if Bailey can generate her wind at a fast enough rate, she'll go from using wind to lightning! Same concepts apply from above in terms of offense and defense, but the lightning barrier she uses for defense can actually repeal physical attacks and projectiles!"

"Sadly though, this process isn't done instantaneously." Leo added, "It takes a bit of time and continuous usage in order to 'charge' her wind up so it can transition into lightning. During that period, she has little to worry about when it comes to projectiles and instead focuses more on physical melee attacks, if any come her way of course."

The screen then projected the small Bailey resting, taking quick breaths to demonstrate a sense of exhaustion.

"It's also worth mentioning that using the lightning state of her Semblance drains her Aura significantly quicker than it does in its normal wind state. Twice as much in fact."

"Wait wait wait, you forgot the other ting!"

"Ting?" Leo questioned.

"The ting go skraa!"

Leo only facepalmed at Ciel's statement and let out an audible moan of disapproval, the latter laughing at her own joke.

"I get what you meant, but that was just terrible…"

"Hey, someone's got to be remotely funny here. And that definitely isn't you."

The brother only shook his head, continuing with his explanation.

"Lastly is the secondary effect of the lightning state of Bailey's Semblance. Considering it allows her to generate lightning, this in turn allows her to supercharge her body in order to make it move faster than normal and allows her more physical strength. Outside of large consumption of Aura, this will put a strain on her body and will exhaust her overtime, which is why she only uses the lightning state when she truly needs it, and has time to prepare it."

"A badass Semblance for a badass chick! Take some notes Leo." Ciel said pointing both fingers at him.

He only shook his, looking back to the audience, "That's all we have to present to you today everyone. This has been another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia. We hope you enjoyed it." Leo said with a bow.

"Well, that's a wrap for today! Let's go see what big brother's up to!"

"Wait, we have to cover the last few events concerning you before we get back to him!"

…

"Oh yeah… Almost forgot about that…"

"How do you forget-?!"

The brother let out a frustrated sigh with a double facepalm, then shook his head as he quickly walked off stage.

"What's his deal..? Meh, whatever! See you next time everyone!"

* * *

 **IT HAD TO BE DONE! Do you know how incredibly hyped I was to see that there was an actual, legitimate sequel that is Devil May Cry 5?! VERY! I almost cried tears of joy as I watched that amazing trailer and listened to that fantastic song! No joke, there was a period of three days where I only listened to that song, both the full version I listed above and the trailer cut version. So damn good... So yes, I used that song here. Why? Theme of the tune, the lyrics; they kinda fit the situation perfectly from my view. So when writing the fight scene, I kinda molded the sequence of events in tune within the time frame of the song, as I usually do when I list them in certain fights. I always feel like it'll give you an impression of what I was thinking and feeling at the time of writing the scene or fight.**

 **But yeah, I hoped you enjoyed it. I know there's gonna be questions. Like how the hell Alice and Bailey were there. Are they actually alive? Or was that a hallucination? Or was it their ghosts that came to support him one last time before they move on? The answer to that will be revealed soon enough. So ponder it as we proceed.**

 **With that, I have nothing left to say. So in that regard...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	37. Chapter 37: A Devil and Her Shadow

**I know, late, but again, school took absolute priority. Capstone was freaking hard, and I never want to do it again. Anyway, I finished the course, I'm home now for ten days, and I should be getting these out faster. I have nothing else to say really considering my semi-brain dead state, so let's begin this chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 37: A Devil and Her Shadow**

«»

The tram was slowly taking them up to the upper level, overlooking the rest of the "copied town" as the two girls sat next to one another in silence.

Both had kept their eyes glued to the floor, and both had glanced at each other a few times with the intention to say something, but their words falling short.

Mainly, they didn't know what to say to the other really. Things were too awkward with what happened earlier.

"Ciel… I… What I said earlier… I wasn't myself, and-"

"It's alright. I know. But… It doesn't change the fact he killed everyone because he was afraid of what I'd do. What we'd do. Regardless of how it happened, or why, I'm still partly responsible for this mess."

"But it's unfair to place the burden on yourself! That's why… That's why I can't blame you at all for what happened. And… I think if the others were here, they'd say the same thing."

Would they..?

…

"What are we going to do about him?" Ciel asked.

"It'll be tricky, but we both possess high standard evasion maneuvers that will allow us to slip through a vast majority of attacks. If we're careful, we should be able win."

"Right…"

His ability was…

"What have you done all this time Ciel?"

"Huh?"

"Where have you gone?" Luna asked, "What have you seen of the world so far?"

"The world huh..? Truth be told Luna, the world's kind of a mess right now. Grimm are everywhere, Beacon fell, and my brother's got one of those crazy theories of his that some psychos are trying to destroy the world. The usual."

"Your brother?"

"Ah yeah, that's right... Back then, when we were together, I didn't even know I had a brother until a month later after… after that whole mess. I actually have two of them."

"I see. And how are they?"

"Well, the one that's the same age as me is a bit dull sometimes, but he's pretty fun to poke at now and then. My older brother is totally the coolest though. He tells bad jokes, but he's still pretty fun regardless. Together, they combine to form the awesome brotherly duo, Leo and Dante!"

Luna giggled at Ciel's statement, and even she laughed soon after.

"We also got this really sweet Fox Girl who totally has a thing for my older brother. If she didn't let her sense of "morality" get in the way, she totally would've pounced him by now. Why she didn't before now, I'll never know, but hey, props for restraint."

"Aren't you similar though? Minus the restraint bit." Luna asked with a sly smile

"I-I don't just jump at anyone you know… T-There's things like… Principles! Yeah, those! A-And a connection! That's important too!"

Another giggle escaped from Luna, "It's rare to see you flustered, but it's always adorable."

Ciel didn't have words for the the giggling girl, and only gave a huff and pout as she crossed her arms. But she smiled soon after, and joined in her in laughter as well.

* * *

The tram doors opened, allowing the two girls to step outside onto the platform to take in the sight around them.

It… looked so much like the facility they lived in, only much much bigger. The thing Ciel saw on the lower level was just a replica of the entrance. This… This was the real place…

…

Well, this was a replica of the real place, but… it felt like the real deal regardless. Only white, and not very colorful, just like the rest of the tower's inside.

"Just being here gives me the creeps… And nothing ever gives me the creeps…" Ciel stated as she cautiously glanced around.

"I feel uneasy as well…" Luna said walking alongside Ciel, "Being naturally attuned with the Dark, we rarely feel such nervousness in these kinds of settings."

"Yeah… Only when someone's the real deal we get that weird shiver… Like someone's gonna put up a decent enough fight."

"Now that I think about it, we never saw what he could, if anything at all."

"I did once." Ciel started, "At least, I think I did. I'm not entirely sure about what I saw, but I think-"

The ground began quaking violently, pieces of the ceiling falling down as the way they came slowly began to collapse.

"Crap, run for it!"

Ciel sprinted as fast as she could, and Luna followed next to her, surfing on her shadow like an ocean wave to keep up with the immortal. She flicked her hands, commanding her shadows to slice through the rubble that would have have stopped them, and Ciel took care of extras that Luna didn't have enough time to cut through.

Their teamwork allowed them to easily push through to the end, leaping through just in time before the passage had fully closed behind them.

"Well well, subjects 001 and 003. How nice to see you again." A deep and arrogant voice sounded through the air, "I must admit, I'm surprised you were able to break 003's brainwashing 001. I always thought you were some brute with no real intelligence and got by with dumb luck. But I may have been wrong. Tell me 001, do you remember my name?"

"Oooo, imma spell it out for you motherfu-"

As quick as Ciel took a step forward, she immediately stepped back to let the spike jet out from the ground and slowly retract back into the floor.

"Tsk tsk 001. Language. You wandering about sullies 'life' enough as is. We don't need anymore of your crudeness tainting the world. It's broken enough as is."

This asshat…

He never directly insulted anyone back then. At least, not obviously. But Ciel always hated it when he spoke. He sounded so… arrogant and condescending. And most annoyingly was the way he looked down on every one of the children.

Ciel was always a rough and tough kind of person, so she always knew when somebody was looking at her funny.

She beat them up if they did, even if she was as nice as she was.

Bullies were never her favorite. And she made sure they knew that.

"Please. Continue on forward. Tell me how my little experiments fare against. I'm not expecting all too much, but still, anything is better than nothing in terms of results. I used my Semblance on these subjects. While some didn't turn out like I had hoped, there were some that managed to at least surprise me."

 _What twisted shit is he going to throw at us..?_

Ciel's body tensed up. She was confident she and Luna would be able to handle it no problem, but…

That shiver still remained. Not because of some worthy foe waiting ahead of them, but because she wasn't prepared to see whatever she would. Not knowing what she might see intimidated her the most. After all, how could she prepare herself if she didn't know what she'd see?

"There's movement up ahead… Large amounts… I'm not sure if they've noticed us but… They're moving slow. For now at least." Luna stated, "But something is strange with their movements. They're all… shuffling about aimlessly."

"So what? Easy targets then if they're dumb."

"True… But if their numbers are large, even they may present a problem."

"Not really. I've picked up a few tricks since we last saw each other, some of which I haven't used yet. If we do actually get into some trouble, I'll wreck those scrubs before they get a chance to touch us."

"I'll trust in you. Besides, my Semblance makes dealing with large crowds much easier, so it shouldn't be too difficult."

"Alright, I'll be at the front and you do clean up for whatever manages to slip through me."

Luna gave a silent nod and they both moved down the corridor, covering each other's blind spots as their eyes pierced through the veil of darkness. Nothing had engaged them yet, but they stopped as soon as they heard their feet making contact with a liquid surface. While their eyes allowed them to see in the dark, it didn't allow them to see in color, so they were unsure of what the liquid was.

That was, until took a quick whiff, and recognized a tangy, almost coppery smell.

"Now that's just gross…" Ciel noted.

"Where is all this blood coming from?"

"Up ahead obviously. But judging by the amount, and the fact that I think I just stepped on a finger, our friends are messy eaters."

"Do you believe he has been feeding people to whatever creatures he made?"

"Don't know Luna. All I know is that these things aren't vegetarian. Or vegan for that matter."

Luna pursed her lips together into a silent giggle, but immediately refocused herself on the task ahead of them as the duo silently stepped through the damp and darkened hallway.

As they continued onward, munching and crunching noises slowly grew louder with each step they took, and when they rounded the corner, they saw what was making the noise.

Dozens of humanoid creatures were crouched low to floor in separate groups. The thin, black skinned creatures grabbed at the the broken, mangled, bloody limbs, chomping at them like voracious gluttons and ripping large chunks of flesh and bone in whole bites. Their white, skull-like heads that had grown small horns were soaked in crimson blood, with only more splatters of red coating their faces and bare heads as they continued feasting.

A few had stopped, turning their skull-like heads towards the two girls with maws of sharp teeth wide and dripping with blood and rended flesh. Their glowing red eyes that peered through the darkness focused solely on the two as they slowly stood up and shambled forward a few steps.

Then, a shrill shriek rang out through the wider hallways, the other creatures joining in the shrieking as they fumbled forward aggressively to give chase to Ciel and Luna.

The duo did not hesitate and moved into the crowds of creatures to begin cutting them down.

Ciel's bone-like scythe swept through crowds of them, slicing away arms and legs and torsos with each and every quick swipe of hers. None were safe from the extendable range of her scythe as they were minced by one after the other without restraint.

Luna's shadows had extensive reach, splitting off into half a dozen blade-like limbs that skewered and ripped apart the creatures. Each tendril shot through the Darkness with terrifying precision, some even tearing off whole limbs as soon as they contact, only to go after the next few shortly. When Luna used her hands, her shadows struck with much more precision and deft speed, allowing Ciel to forge on ahead without worry of what may attack her from the rear or from her sides.

The last of the creatures had been felled by Ciel as she took its head, the rest of its body slumping to the ground as black blood mixed with the crimson red on the the floor.

"They… resemble Grimm…"

"Tch… That bastard… He's been making freaks out of people!"

"Correct 001! Seeing as I no longer needed the rest of the personal within the tower, I turned half of them into my precious little creatures, and then let them feast on the other half which you're stepping through. Mind the mess."

A louder, more deeper roar sounded through the hall up ahead of the duo as the man chuckled over the intercoms.

"Oh dear. It seems you've enraged the alpha. If you ran past, you could've avoided angering it, but as always, you are way too eager to start a fight."

"Shut it assclown!" Ciel pointed at the ceiling.

The roar sounded again, and was closer than before, snapping the two to attention as a rumbling could be heard.

They sounded quick and heavy, a complete opposite of the creatures the two had slain.

And then, it crashed into the earth from the ceiling above, its body three times as big as Ciel's and much more muscular than its smaller counterparts, white bone plating twisting around its hands, legs, and chest. White, chipped horns stood tall from the mess of a creature as it let out another bellowing roar at the girls.

It raised up its bone covered fists and slammed them into the ground, unleashing a messy, infested wave of who knew what that quickly crawled on the ground towards the the girls to consume them. Before Ciel moved, she had been drawn back by a shadowy tendril wrapped around her waist, bringing her next to Luna a ways back.

"I reckon even you shouldn't touch that!" Luna stated.

"Thanks! Nice save by the way!"

"My pleasure!"

The creature lurched forwards with a howl and shot out a spherical mass of whatever infested mess composed it that grew tendrils, possibly to bring the girls in forcibly when the mass was close enough.

Ciel twirled her scythe once as the curved blade straightened out and transformed it into its large swordspear form, allowing her to take aim, slide to a halt, and shoot her weapon forward with great force.

The weapon flew through the air quickly and tore through the pod of mutated mass, just missing the creature's head as the weapon had been plunged into the ceiling. Ciel crouched to the floor and slid underneath the creatures massive body, making it turn around to find the girl. Instead of moving forward like intended, it's body had been forced upwards with large, sharp stalagmites of shadow, piercing its body and limbs across numerous sections to keep it in place.

All it did next was stare at Ciel as she kicked off the floor, her weapon in hand again and in its scythe form as she swept past the creature like a cool breeze, it's head no longer upon its shoulders as its body went limp and slowly began to dissolve.

Luna approached Ciel, and gave an approving nod as they high fived one another, soon jogging off together down the hallway to meet the man responsible for their past torment.

* * *

They were in an open courtyard, large and expansive, but it still retained its strange coloring of pure white as far as the eye could see with some patterns of black circuit pathways running about. A few white stones and boulders were placed in view, standing like tall, decorative monoliths for what lay in the rounded center.

A single large tree of pure white color stood tall, none of the blank leaves moving to scatter, but moving gently in the breeze nonetheless.

The courtyard seemed to span infinitely within the tower…

"Where is he?" Ciel asked as she looked around.

It didn't take long to notice Luna wasn't next to her, causing the young immortal to look back and see her friend standing still.

"What? Cold feet?" She jokingly called out to her friend.

She didn't move at all…

Worried, Ciel quickly jogged to her friend, and saw the look of terror on her face as her eyes were wide and darted to Ciel.

"What the hell is going o-?!"

Her words were cut off as she felt something hot passing through her body and out her chest, looking down as she watched a bolt of red pass through her.

And Luna.

Unfrozen, the girl fell backwards, almost hitting the ground had Ciel not caught her that moment and quickly lay her down.

"No..! No no no no no! Luna! Luna?!" She said shaking her, "Come on, please! Please say something!"

She didn't give a response.

Ciel looked around panickedly trying to calm herself down, but she couldn't at all. She was too shaken at the moment.

Luna had gone cold, and her eyes had closed.

The young immortal pulled her in close, hugging her tightly and hoping there was still a beat in her left.

Nothing. Not even a tremor.

Her tears flowed profusely now as she cried out, her voice echoing throughout the infinity that was the courtyard.

An inky blackness overtook her from, turning her cries hollow and echoing as her body took on its devilish form, tears flowing from the glowing white eyegaps of her now black armored form.

Luna free from the Shadow Skinned Ciel's hands, the immortal let out another bellow, angry and full of rage as her white and black Aura crackled around her furiously, ceasing only when she did as her armored hands crashed into the floor to keep her up.

"Scream and cry all you'd like, but she's not going to be coming back."

Ciel's glowing eyes widened angrily as her thinly armored head jolted up at the voice, spotting a figure hiding within the shadow of one of the monolithic stones.

A man stepped out wearing black pants and shoes, a grey shirt underneath a white lab coat as he stepped forward to reveal himself fully; a middle aged man with brown hair and piercing crimson eyes that rested behind a pair of rectangular shaped grey glasses.

As his form came into view, small crystal-clear flashes shone next to him to take the form of humanoids, only, they were machines.

One of the heavily modified AK 200 Units, only now their armor was pitch black instead of grey, retaining their white glows from their v-line visors and sporting sleeker, more elegant armor that covered their entire form. Equally sleek and elegant rifles that only had two rails to format the gun barrels matching their armor rested in their hands as the eight units, four on each side of the man stood at attention.

The transformed Ciel stood up fully, stepping back and mindful to not tread on her friend as her head quickly scanned the area, ensuring there were only eight of the machines before extending her hand. Her weapon appeared in its scythe form, soon allowing her to take it in with both hands as the two outer AK 200's raised up their rifles.

Crimson glows like the beam that struck the two girls charged up between the rails, and then burst forth into an intense and continuous beam of energy. Ciel raised up her weapon and struck its curved point into the path of the beams as they connected with the blade and forced her back. With a mighty swing, she swiped her weapon across her body to reflect the beams back at the machines that let them loose, melting their metal bodies as the rest raised their weapons to fire.

Ciel gave them no chance, and quickly moved with blinding fury to cut in half the three on the outer right of her, then spun around to sweep through the last three machines in one swing, and gave no pause in slicing at the man's throat.

But she had completed been halted.

A thin, light red flash of Aura prevented her from moving any further, but the Aura on its own wouldn't have been enough to stop her swing. There was trick her from taking the man's head.

"Your rage gives you strength, 001."

Ciel then felt a burning sensation build up in her head, causing her to drop her weapon and reel back clutching her head as she angrily growled. She easily shook it off quite literally and glared at the man, unable to move further.

"But like 003, you can't defy me either."

Ciel let out a low growl, trying to resist the force preventing her from moving forward.

"Surprising as it may seem, even I make a mistake now and then. Like you… and 003."

She wasn't… some number..!

"You can't defy me any longer. Your fates were sealed the moment I had you in the palm of my hand."

The man snapped his fingers, and another machine phased into existence, taller than the rest and with a much larger rifle than the other Units.

Everything moved slowly, and Ciel watched the machine raise its rifle, certain it would fire at her. But when she stared at the barrel, her eyes widened, realizing it wasn't pointed at her.

She'd be playing into his hands, but to her, it didn't matter any longer. He wasn't going to allow him to disrespect her or Luna.

Her Aura flowed around her body violently in a pitch black color, freeing her from whatever force held her down, allowing her to move to Luna's body. By the time she took hold of her body into her arms, there wasn't time to freeze anything around her, and there wasn't time to escape, she'd be hit regardless.

The powerful, beam-like railshot crashed into her back forcefully, sending her flying with Luna still in her arms and crashing into the monoliths, knocking a few of them down and onto her, burying the two in a massive heap of rubble.

"Hmph… All that power and still too soft hearted and stupid to save herself. What an utter disappointment…"

A wave of his hand, and the large machine shouldered its weapon, turning in unison with its maker as they walked away.

* * *

Her glowing white eyes opened slowly in the dark. All she saw was stone all around her. With what little luck remained with her, Ciel hadn't been completely crushed by rubble, and lay within the mound of collapsed stone with minimal space to move freely.

She let out a few distorted breaths, pulling her armored, trapped foot out of some of the rubble, and looking around her once more.

That was until she heard some staggering breaths from the one in her arms.

"Luna..!" Ciel called out in a hollow, echoing voice.

"Ciel..? Ciel… You're… okay…"

"Of course I am, dummy! W-We need to do something about you!"

She tried to move around, but was only reminded of how small her space was.

"Damn it..!"

"Ciel… Listen… Don't… Don't let him tell you what you are… Be… who you want to be…"

With her words spoken, her paled lips touched the cold, armored cheek of Ciel before she closed her eyes and leaned back into the girls arms.

The armor on the cheek began to crack, and a piece fell onto Luna. A bright ray of light emerged from the small gap as the rest of the armor began to crack and fall apart to let out more rays of light.

Then, within the next instant, the armor had cracked.

* * *

"Now then… I should leave before she comes back out. I still need to get things working like she asked before I leave here."

The pile of rubble had exploded, sending chunks of stone flying at the man. His machine had stepped in the way, the chunks crumbling to pieces as soon as it made contact with its armor.

"Well now, I didn't expect you to get up so soon. I thought you'd shut down just like you did last time, but I suppose that was asking for too much."

The large machine had soon returned to standing at attention, and the man noticed something white falling from the sky. They were glowing and thin strands…

"Feathers..? Ack!"

He quickly dropped the glowing white feather out of his palm, shaking off his smoldering hand and spotting the burning imprint of the feather.

"What in the world..?"

 **(It's My Turn, feat. Casey Lee Williams)**

A bright glow blinded his sight for a brief moment, and then died down, allowing the man to take in the sight. It was Ciel, but… she was different. Way different.

Her body had forsaken its dark encasement of armor, and revealed a bodily form completely bathed in white, resembling a secondary layer of skin. Her face had no mouth, only the form of a nose, and eyes completely overtaken with a bright sky blue glow. Most noticeable of her new form was the pair of large, Angelic wings of pure white Aura, each wing easily twice her size or larger and each feather traced in a black outline of Aura. And her weapon, her scythe… It took on a purer form compared to its natural, sinister skeletal form.

"Well well, how ironic… A devil that can take on the form of an angel… What are you going to do? Smite me? Ha! What a joke! Do you think a simple change of appearance is enough to scare me 001?!"

His hand quickly shot into the machine, burying itself deep into the metal, where oddly enough, the metal began to assimilate with his body, spreading across all corners of his body to make him almost as large as his machine, and nearly as covered in armor.

More groups of smaller machines phased into existence near him, their guns armed and ready.

"Now..! Step forward 001! If you're lucky enough, I might reevaluate your worth!"

Within the next instant, the front row of machines fell to pieces within an instant, shocking the man as he looked back to the now angelic Ciel.

 **(0:48)**

Without warning, she surged forward spanning her wings, leaving a glowing trail of feathers behind her as she instantly melted her divine scythe through the metal of the machines, and swung for the man's neck. He quickly stepped back, and although he avoided the zing of the metal, a small cut formed on his throat.

He moved backwards with each swing, assimilating the pieces of the broken machines to his body to block the deadly steel of the scythe as it cut through his defenses like butter. Forming enough metal around his arms, he blocked the next few strikes, but even that was beginning to fail against Ciel's mighty scythe. She swung so quickly that her attacks were practically invisible, and left dozens of streaks of white light with each attack.

Ciel kicked the man away from her than underhand tossed her scythe at her target, sending her deadly weapon spiraling like a saw. The man blocked the initial attack, but still suffered direct damage to his body. He watched as the scythe quickly spun back into Ciel's hands before she sent it spiraling back at him.

"That won't work again!"

With a mighty punch, the man sent his armored fist into the weapon's pole and sent it flying back at the Angelic girl, who easily caught her weapon and held it with both hands before taking a graceful swing at her opponent.

He smirked at the nonsensical wing, but it vanished just as immediately when dozens upon dozens of slashes appeared around him in a deadly vortex, leaving deep cuts all across his body.

 _B-But how?! She was nowhere near me!_

Sparing no time, the man leaned down quickly to assimilate four of the smaller machines' miniature Dust Railguns to his arm, and fired all of them off as soon as they were fully attached to his arm. Four beams of red energy surged forward within a near instant, but Ciel simply twirled her weapon around quickly, opening a small vortex of white Aura within the center of the spin that ate up the beams.

Then, the Angelic girl took her weapon up with both hands as the vortex of white opened once again, and with another quick and powerful swing, eight beams of red energy, larger than the ones shot at her, surged outwards in a flash, barely giving the man time to defend himself as only one of his legs was taken.

"Damn it..!"

Touching one of the broken machines near him, red veins traveled across the machines body, tearing off its legs and replacing the one he had just lost.

 _What the hell..! She didn't have these kinds of powers before!_

Yet again he was pressed to act quickly as the pole of Ciel's scythe extend far as she took a wide swing, missing the first, but quickly making the blade shift into a straight position to resemble a sort of curved spear as it was thrusted forward with intense force. The point tore through the defensive barrier that was formed like paper, and was digging into the armored body of the man as he struggled in vain to defend himself.

The scythe point only barely dug into his gut, but it's current divine essence sent an excruciating burning sensation throughout his body, upping in intensity the longer the blade stuck him. Crashing into a nearby monolith, he had an opportunity of escape when grabbed the pole with both hands and kicked his leg into it with a pained shout to force both it and the girl up into the air.

He threw the girl into one of the monoliths nearby, but her divine wings of light shielded her from the impact, allowing her to then let go of her weapon and span her wings wide to remain in the air, her weapon shrinking back down to its original shape.

Touching one of the machines near him, he assimilated eight of their weapons, four for each arm as he raised them up and fired each one off in intervals.

 **(2:06)**

The Angelic Ciel kicked off the colossal stone as her wings spanned outwards, allowing her to dart and weave through the air easily to avoid anything that came her way. Glowing white feathers floated in the air wherever she traveled, and when she was centered high above, she flapped her angelic wings, and all the feathers instantly swayed and pointed at the man down below before traveling with the powerful energy that moved them, raining down like deadly needles of light.

All the man could do was cower under the metal barriers he put up, but even that didn't save him from the majestic feathers that quickly dented and warped the metal across various sections, soon bursting through to attack and pierce the man's flesh as he cried out in pain.

Ciel landed gracefully, her glowing bright sky blue eyes focused only on the man as he stepped out from the dust, pulling feathers out of his body as they smoked within his grasp.

"Damn you..! A good for nothing like you couldn't possibly have wings as pure as those! You shouldn't have those in the first place!"

The Angelic Ciel moved without hesitation, charging in as her weapon returned to her hand. Another swing for the head, but like the last, it only barely missed as the man swung his massive arm at her. The entire arm had been cut away easily, allowing Ciel to easily move in for another attack.

Or so she thought.

Her weapon had been caught, and with a quick glance, she saw one of the machine still had enough functionality to grab hold of the pole with both hands and keep her held down.

"Idiot!" The man said swing a newly acquired arm at the girl, "Falling for something like that is-!"

Zero hesitation and a glowing white bare fist crushed into the side of the man's face to crush the armor plating protecting him and knock out a few teeth, some spatters of blood included given the armor plating was directly attached to his face. The mighty strength of her punch sent him flying far without sign of losing altitude until he crashed into another monolith and fell back down into the ground.

"Damn you..! I won't let you win!"

Numerous pieces of the broken machine bodies began to rush towards the man after he extended his assimilation veins and drew them in, each piece increasing the size and mass of his body exponentially until he was a giant mess of machine parts that took on something of a human shape, however grotesque looking it was.

His voice had become deeper and more distorted as he angrily shouted at the Angelic girl he towered over and raised his colossal fist to crush her. Recalling her weapon, the blade had become spear-like again and completely straightened itself to resemble a double edge greatsword, thus allowing the weapon to take on its swordspear form as she used her wings to surge forward and under the great beast's legs and cut one of them out so it could kneel.

A desperate punch missed its mark, allowing the girl to fall onto the hunk of metal and drag her weapon through it to render it useless before leaping up and slashing the arm off entirely. As she fell onto its hulking shoulders, she quickly ran up towards the spine and stabbed at it repeatedly, earning more cries of pain from the lumbering beast as blood eventually surged in large amounts.

Despite being shaken off, she flew up into the air and then immediately swooped down to lob off the other arm in an instant, making more blood flow freely from the fresh wound. Sparing no time for her enemy, Ciel folded her wings towards her back and spun under a desperate swing of the stump-like arm, stabbing her swordspear into its abdomen.

As if it weighed nothing, the Angelic girl easily lifted the metal creature into the air, spun it once, and tossed it off her weapon and into the ground with a large crash. Another flap of her wings immediately placed her on its back once more as she pierced its body again. Aura surged from her weapon in an explosive burst, causing explosive ruptures all around its body as it fell to the ground in a heaping mess.

 **(End Song)**

* * *

Ciel had leapt off its back to put some considerable distance between them, landing on top of a monolith and twirling her swordspear into backhand position as she raised it up and aimed at the mess of metal and blood down below.

The nightmare would end with this next strike.

…

Or so she thought.

It was only then she remembered Luna was still present. But…

…

Her moment of hesitation benefited her in the end.

With the same zero hesitation she possessed in the fight early on, she thrusted her swordspear behind her, hearing a wet "thunk" behind her as blood spilled onto her pristine, white form.

The man behind her stood behind Ciel with the only arm he had, knife ready to pierce the back of her neck, but slipping out of his burnt and bloodied hand.

"H-How did you..?!"

"For someone so smart… you've always been a complete idiot when it came to people… Vogler…"

Her voice echoed, but it was soft, almost crystalline as the words came out of her.

Vogler coughed up more blood as he fell off the monolith, but he spared no time in crawling away pathetically like a worm.

"I… don't want to die…"

"Luna more than likely thought the same." Ciel responded in a cold tone as she trailed the lowly man.

He was a snake. No, not even that much. He was a worm. Nothing more, nothing less.

He stared back at Ciel, fear ever present in his eyes as he knelt down and looked back at the girl resembling divinity. Vogler's gaze then trailed to the floor as he let out a manic sort of laughter that was pathetically stifled.

"Ciel…" he said finally using her actual name, "Kill me."

Just as quickly as the words left his mouth, his head had been taken in one swift slash of her swordspear, the rest of his body slumping to the ground a moment after. An almost divine essence, matching Ciel's white and black Aura, burned away the body slowly until nothing but blackened ash filtered in the air of the pristine, pure white background of the tower.

She waited. And waited. And waited. And waited until the body had completely been reduced to black dust and scattered.

It was only then she let out a relaxed exhale of breath with her crystalline voice, falling to her her knees moments after as her Angelic wings of white Aura chipped away quickly like shards of beautiful glass that floated and dissolved in the air. Soon , the second layer of pristine, white skin followed after, reverting her to her original form as she let out exhausted breaths.

"Big brother wasn't kidding… I really tore up all the muscles in my body… If doesn't hurt… but… it doesn't feel all too great either…"

…

…

"Right… This tower of terrors… Need to bring it down…"

Using her swordspear, Ciel propped herself up until she was on both feet, and moved slowly away from the courtyard, dragging her weapon behind her. She looked back a final time where Luna had been left, flashing a smile before tears streamed down her face.

"I guess… This time it's goodbye for real… Luna…"

* * *

The room was… dark in contrast to the rest of the tower. Rather, it was dimly lit. For a room was that seemingly spanned a hundred meter radius, there was absolutely nothing in there.

Save for the large, black sphere at the center that was three time her size.

That had to be what was powering the tower… and fueling progress towards the nightmarish experiments Vogler was conducting…

He never had something like this before. It had to come into his possession recently.

It was so dark… The presence it gave off was absolutely dreadful. Like it was absent and void of life.

True dark… It almost reminded her of when HE got really mad.

…

Not that it mattered. She still had to destroy it.

She didn't have too much Aura left in her, and her muscles were still undergoing the constant strain of destroying and repairing themselves. However long this was going to last, she had no idea, but it was annoying to have limited movement.

It was the price she had to pay for using such power.

And so she dragged her heavy legs towards the core of pitch black darkness, swordspear dragging through the floor to leave long cuts.

Then she struck.

The rebound was immediate, and she fell flat on her back.

"Damn it… Tougher than I thought… Oh well… Try again…"

Ciel picked herself up and forced herself at the core, but this time, instead of bouncing back, the tip of her swordspear remained where it was, unmoving against the crackles of black energy resisting her.

"Come on..! You piece of shit! Break already!"

She pushed harder, but the weapon barely budged.

"Break damn it! Break!"

The swordspear moved just an inch forward, but no further.

"BREAK ALREADY!" She screamed.

As if the chunk of blackened glass heard her, her weapon sank deep into the sphere. But it wasn't so simple as to break. Ciel was blasted away a considerable distance by a large force of electrifying black energy.

Crashing into the floor, she was completely paralyzed by the massive flow of energy that suddenly passed through her. But she could feel the ground shaking violently, and saw chunks of debris falling from the ceiling all around her. The ground even started to fall apart, revealing the lower levels below.

Everything was falling apart now.

"Well… I did it… I guess…"

She really couldn't move any longer with paralysis that had just hit her…

"I wonder if I'll get to see big brother soon… And Leo… And foxy… And the cutie pie wolf cub Irene…"

Her eyes grew heavy, and unable to resist her exhaustion any further, her consciousness faded shortly after as the floor had completely fallen apart.

And just as she was about to fall… a hand reached out and caught her.

* * *

The tower had collapsed entirely, but she was far enough away to be unaffected. No Grimm were around in the forested area, so they wouldn't be attacked. Hopefully.

Her soft humming of the lullaby was so peaceful and soothing…

It made Luna all the more sadder as she sat in the grass with Ciel's head resting on her lap. She was still unconscious, so a direct "goodbye" wasn't likely in the cards. No, it wasn't going to happen. She was already fading.

A rustling of leaves alerted her, but she didn't stand. She let her shadows stand like flexible spears, pointing towards the direction of the noise.

"Now now… No need for those."

A man stepped out garbed in a tattered black cloak and… wearing a dragon mask that resembled a Grimm. His voice was sly and cool, making Luna wary of him still.

"Who are you?"

"Who I am isn't really important. However, the person in your arms is." The man responded pointing to Ciel.

Luna's hold grew tighter on Ciel. She wasn't going to let any means of harm come to her while she still lived.

"Calm down, now. I'm not here to take her away. If that were the case, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now."

Then…

"Why are you here?" Luna asked.

"No real reason. I'm here to make sure she's alive and alright. Well, as far as 'alright' applies to her. The older one would be very upset if he realized something terrible had happened to her, and then he'd come running after her. With the way things are now, we can't have that happening."

"Older one… You mean her brother… What is he to you that someone as shady as you would come here to ensure her survival?"

"Hmmm… Well, if I had to sum it up, he's more or less a long term investment."

"Long term… investment?"

"That's right. While I can't really be 'hands on' concerning him, there's nothing wrong with working behind the scenes a bit."

…

He… didn't seem to be a threat… But could he be trusted?

"Oh dear, you seem to not be doing so well…"

"I…" Luna paused briefly, staring at her hand to notice it had already become transparent, "I'm going to fade soon… As horrible as it sounds… that crude scientist's power kept me alive past the limit of my Semblance all those years ago. I'm only allowed to survive one fatal attack within a period of a week, regardless of what the attack is. Even if I haven't taken any fatal hits after the first time, with that man dead…"

"His power no longer holds sway over you. But as a consequence, the same power keeping you alive is also no longer present. And soon enough, you'll fade." The dragon masked finished for her.

"Yes…"

"Well… spend your last moments together wisely. I'll be going now."

"Wait a moment! Please! After I fade, will you-?"

"There's no need for me to be here any longer than I should. Besides… the 'other' dragon will be here shortly. No doubt for her."

"Other..?"

That's right… Ciel was traveling with someone else for some time…

"Kind sir… May I know your name?"

"Please, a degenerate such as myself isn't anywhere near being worthy to share his name with anyone. But if you insist…"

The man's dragon mask turned to Luna, looking down to the seated girl.

"My name is Aizûr. And it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, however short term it was. Waste no further time on me. Say your goodbyes while you can, young girl. Bye bye."

With those last words, he had turned around and disappeared into the clearing, leaving Luna alone with Ciel for the time being. She leaned forward and gave her a kiss, sniffling as she did so before hugging her tightly.

"Even if it wasn't for long… I was able to see you again after all this time… And… I couldn't be more grateful for such a wonderful opportunity! But… here we part ways yet again. This time, the last time. I love you, my little devil. Or should I say little angel?" She said between another sniffle, "Knowing you, I'd think you'd prefer 'little devil' given how mischievous and rambunctious you are…"

Her body had become completely transparent, and parts of her had already began to vanish. With what she managed, Luna had pulled out the split-heart necklace, one half of the heart black while the other white, that Ciel had lost earlier within the tower and placed it in her friend's hand, closing it shut to make sure she still held on to it.

"Regardless of what occurred in the past… I always enjoyed my time with you! Nothing made me happier..!" She said over her sobbing.

She had lain Ciel on the ground so she wouldn't fall, but still kept what was left of her hand interlocked with Ciel's.

"Goodbye… sweet Ciel. I will… always love and cherish you…"

Her form had been erased as the last of it vanished in thin wisps of shadow into the bright rays of sunlight.

Musashi had arrived just then, and sword for a moment she saw another person present, but thought she must have imagined. She was exhausted after running for a day and night straight without stopping.

All she saw for sure was the battered Ciel as she hurried over and gently scooped her up into her arms. Her sensitive hearing allowed her to ascertain Ciel was still breathing and had a heartbeat, so she wasn't as panicked. But seeing her injured…

The tan skinned dragon Faunus shook her head as her long, obsidian horns glistened in the sunlight. She stood up, and immediately began walking in the direction she came from, looking to the resting Ciel and smiling before she turned her eyes back to the clearing.

"What sort of mischief did you manage to get into, you sweet and tiny devil…"

* * *

"He… seems a little off…"

Jaune, Nora and Ren stopped at Ruby's sudden statement, staring at her with some confusion. They then looked to Dante who was further ahead of them, seeing him continuing walking.

It looked as though he also put his arm back into the sling he had been using for months now. He never complained about it hurting, but he did make mention it ached a little now and then, and so he wanted to rest his arm.

But most of the time now, he was at the head of the pack, ensuring their safety.

"I mean, he's always been a little weird. Well, not weird weird… I mean-"

"What Nora is trying to say is that he's always been somewhat strange to some extent. No disrespect mind you." Ren said in place of Nora.

"I know that. But… he doesn't talk all too much nowadays."

"Well, that's because he's really serious about getting us to Mistral safely. His concentration's off the charts that it's scary…" Jaune replied as he continued helping Ren carry Qrow in their makeshift stretcher.

"But this is different…" Ruby said, worriedly looking to Dante, "There's something wrong with him. I've tried asking if there's anything wrong, but he always brushes the question off."

"Oh yeah! One of those 'There's plenty wrong with me' jokes he always says! His jokes are pretty good sometimes! Did he tell you one of those jokes?" Nora commented.

"Well, he did, but…"

"Has he been doing anything out of the ordinary? Well… At the very least, anything out of the unordinary he already does?" Ren asked.

"You mean not sleeping at all like he already does? Or eating anything at all?" Jaune returned.

"I… I think he's hurt somehow…"

All of them went silent for a moment.

"N-No way! That guy heals quicker than ripping off a bandaid! Well, except for his arm…"

"Not like that." Ruby said shaking her head at Nora, "I think it's on a more personal level. Haven't you guys noticed how different he's been ever since seeing each other again?"

"He did seem a little down…" Nora said.

"We have to take into consideration there might have been a lot that's happened in the time we've been separated. For all we know, things may have happened that he doesn't really want to talk about." Ren added.

"It's just… I don't like not knowing what's wrong with him… How else am I supposed to help if don't know what I can do?"

"M-Maybe you can go ask him again! A-And you know… Be super cutesy about it!"

"Wouldn't that be a bit manipulative?" Ren asked Jaune.

"W-Well… Maybe, but… It'd get results wouldn't it? I mean, he never says 'no' to Ruby…"

"True…"

"Of course he'd never say no to her!" Nora said pinching and tugging the sides of Ruby's cheeks in spite of her cute squeaks, "Can't you guys see just how cute she is?!"

A violent quake interrupted them all, making their footing unsteady for the few seconds the tremors lasted.

"What the heck was that?!" Jaune asked.

"Earthquake..?" Ren said as he looked around.

Ruby, stumbling out of her stupor looked back to Dante in the distance, his left hand touching the side of a large tree. His head was down, and he was… trembling..?

Within the next moment, she saw his hand squeeze, easily crushing the bark and wood of the tree as large, destructive cracks ran up all the way to the top of the tree, collapsing it in the next second with a loud, echoing thud.

It didn't take long for Ruby to zip over to him.

"Are you okay?"

No response.

"Hey… Da-"

She touched his shoulder, and felt something horrible wash over her. It… felt so terrible that it brought her tears

Snapping out of whatever trance he was in, he immediately snapped his head to Ruby and panicked slightly.

"What?! What happened?!" He said wiping away her tears with his bandaged hand that he took out of his sling, "Seriously, what's wrong? Did something happen? I kinda spaced out for a bit…" He said apologetically.

"Why..?"

"Hm? Why what?"

"Why are you feeling this way..?"

"W-What do you mean..?"

"Why are you so hurt..?"

"Uh… I'm not… hurt or anything… I mean, I got angry for a second just a little while ago when that quake hit us, but… I don't really know why… so…"

"Then why aren't you talking much to any of us?"

"I'm…" He paused, letting out a shard exhale, "I'm just worried. With everything that's happened both these recent weeks and months ago… I'm legitimately worried for once."

Dante stared at his right hand, clenching it tightly.

"Way back then before I came here, I had the luxury to be laid back and humorous until I reached the end of the road because of how strong I used to be. Problem is, I'm not as effective or efficient when I'm like that. And now… Now things are in such a state that I can't afford to be a total goofball for even a split second. I have to be serious from the get go all the way to the end. Otherwise, it'll go downhill quick."

The immortal gave the young reaper a reassuring head pat, and rubbed the top of her head gently.

"I made a promise that I was going to get you and everyone else safely to Mistral. And unlike the bonehead I used to be in the past, I'm going to follow through on that promise with as little bumps in the road as I can manage. So I'm sorry if I'm not laughing like everyone else or being my usual goofball self. Getting you safely to your destination… That's what's most important to me right now. More than eating, or sleeping, or having fun. I will protect you all. And I will not fail."

Ruby gave him a small pout, but she grabbed the hand on top of her hand and held onto it tightly, moving it down to her cheek.

She could feel the warmth in his hands now…

"Aw, ain't that sweet? Two lovers sharing a moment together! You're one lucky bro!"

Dante immediately spun around at the sensation of the foul Auras he sensed, eyes wide open. He wasn't shocked, the immortal had been expecting trouble constantly after Aizûr. His widened eyes were only a means to keep himself focused and able to perceive what might have been coming his way.

Five figures stood down the road, each garbed in black cloaks and wearing bone white masks that resembled different Grimm.

"More of you…" Dante silently muttered.

Jaune and Ren has already placed Qrow down so that the two of them and Nora could join Ruby and Dante's side.

"Looks like all of them are here. Now then, let's start the party!" One of them shouted as they charged forward.

* * *

 **(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning 5, by Xera Stark)**

«»

"Okay, serious girl talk, okay?" Skyla said.

This was very serious stuff. Delicate stuff. Stuff she shouldn't mess with.

Irene rubbed her tired eyes as she sat cutely on a rock.

"I know it's early, but we need to make sure they don't hear us." Skyla's voice came out in a whisper as she reached forward and gently grabbed Irene's kicking feet, holding them still. "Gucci?"

The little wolf girl's blue eyes opened, bright in the fleeting rays of the morning sun. The sleepiness seemed to leave her in one, affirmative "hmph!".

"Gucci." Skyla gave a firm nod herself as she let go of the small girl's cute socks. "Now, I need you to think hard. Ciel and Musashi. You've seen the way they act, the way they talk, the way they look at each other when they think no one's looking!"

Her voice was soft, but firm. She wanted to be clear. Concise. This was a job for an investigator. A good one, too.

Unfortunately, Skyla left her bubble pipe and detective cap at home.

Irene nodded innocently.

"Now, the real question. Has one of them been acting… suspicious, lately?" Skyla asked.

Irene stared. She stared for a long time into Skyla's wide, piercing eyes. And after a long, silent minute, she tilted her head with a confused little blink.

"I knew it! One of them is having an affair…" Skyla concluded, bopping her palm with her fist. "But which one? Hm…"

This was more serious than she thought.

Irene's confusion grew.

"It can't be Musashi. No, she's too pure," the brunette reasoned, lowering her bopped hand as she paced around. "Ciel is faithful. No way she'll cheat either. They cuddle at night for Oum's sake!"

Skyla's brow knit in frustration as her pacing quickened. "Whoever it is, she hides it well. Almost… like she knows I'm looking into them!"

Irene's head lifted and tipped the other way, blinking silently. Her small mouth opened, but her confusion held her tongue.

And Skyla's suspicions only grew.

"There has to be something… They must've slipped up. Just once! That's all it takes to bring them in for questioning," Skyla murmured to herself.

Irene closed her mouth when Skyla fixed the girl with a quick, hopeful, but determined stare.

"Quick, you're an agent of the wolf clan! I need your spy skills! You're the only one of your bloodline who can h-!"

A pair of twin, soft pats stopped Skyla's words as two hands squished her cheeks. Skyla's eyes squinted at the young girl standing on the rock in front of her.

Holding her face.

Irene's eyes narrowed, a huff leaving her lips before squishing Skyla's cheeks a little more firmly.

"You want me to stop freaking out and making stuff up to distract myself, is that it?" Skyla asked.

Irene nodded with another "hmph", this one sounding demanding.

"I know I know…" the brunette sighed softly. "You don't have to call me paranoid."

Another "hmph", this one softer.

"You're right. I have nothing to worry about. They're happy together."

Irene lessened her squishing, but fixed Skyla with another narrowed gaze.

"Hey, I can feel sorry for myself! Besides, you don't know what it's like playing third wheel," Skyla offered up pathetically.

The small wolf girl rolled her eyes and took her hands away from Skyla's cheeks, brushing them down the front of her blue dress.

Two ears flicked as the girl crossed her arms, tail waving.

Her childish face held a firm stare again.

"Fiiiiine, I get it I get it," Skyla smiled at the girl and waved her hands dismissively. "I'm not lonely or anything. Besides, they're not even together yet! So I have nothing to be jealous of."

Irene hmphed again and tapped her socked foot.

"W-What?! Noooo, I'm not jealous. Why would you even think that?" Skyla looked appalled, leaning back with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Psh. No way. You're the one who's jealous."

Another hard "hmph!".

Skyla let her head fall dejectedly. "I know…"

The small wolf child nodded with a satisfied hum, hopping off her rock and taking Skyla's hand.

She walked the sulking girl back to camp.

* * *

 **Weapons Illustrated 16**

«»

"Right right… We're back again folks after a good and well needed break. So instead of just dallying about, let's get straight to it. Ruby?"

"Right'o! Today's weapon is Alice Lianna's pair of katanas. The white bladed one is called Cruel Salvation, and the black bladed katana is called Cruel Entropy." Ruby stated as she walked up next to Dante, "Like her sister's weapons, they don't have any transformative forms and instead are geared more for working in conjunction with her Semblance, which Leo and Ciel are going to cover next time."

"Her Semblance involves shadows, and reversing its polarity to use light, in tandem with her weapons. When using the shadow aspect of her Semblance, she's able to lash out at enemies with powerful waves of shadow. When keeping them contained to her swords, it adds tremendous strength to herself and the weapons to overwhelm her foes with brute force."

"And when she uses the light aspect of her Semblance, adding them to her swords gives her tremendous cutting power that literally burns through her enemies with such intensity it's like literally chopping through butter! It helps that the material of her blades are super durable and just flexible enough that they won't break against most things!"

"The added strength factor of the materials used for her katanas, and the immense sharpness of them allows to cut through steel fairly easily. Unless there's a counterforce strong enough to block her, safe to say she'll cut through mostly anything sorry enough to come into contact with her blades." Danted added.

"To simplify it, think of her swords, when using the light aspect of her Semblance, as superheated blades infused with light!" Ruby said excitedly.

"And when she uses the shadow aspect, think of them as using chilled ice blades that are made more or less for absolutely overpowering her enemy. They wouldn't have as much cutting power when using her light aspect, but they compensate for that with greater overall durability and impacting force."

"Well everyone, that pretty much wraps things up for us today! Check in next time for some totally awesome fights!"

"Meh.."

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"It's gonna be annoying is all."

"Come on, fights aren't always annoying!" She said patting him on the back.

"No, but this one will be. I can feel it."

"Meh, I guess we'll see." Ruby stated before waving to everyone with Dante, "By everybody!"

* * *

 **Bittersweet in the case of Ciel. I guess? I can't think or say anything clever. I'm still too exhausted. In any regard, we've moved back to the main course and are on our way towards the end. What's to happen in this predicament with RNJR and Dante? Look forward to the next chapter for more. But for now...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	38. Chapter 38: The Devil and his Companions

**No excuses really except settled back into college. Amongst other things. Other than that, nothing else to report, so let's get started.**

* * *

 **Chapter 38: The Devil and His Companions**

«»

Dante crashed and tumbled through a clearing, twisting his body around so his back was on the ground to allow him to roll backwards and back onto his feet. He drew his sword with his left hand almost immediately, and readied himself for an attack.

But nothing came his way.

For the moment.

Even if nothing came his way immediately, he kept his weapon handy, waiting and listening.

He shook his head, determining he had no time to wait for his enemy. There was a problem. A very big problem.

Everyone had been split up. Rather, everyone but Nora and Ren, who miraculously remained together. Now it was a matter of getting back to everyone and regrouping. It didn't help that his Aura Sensing skills were terrible compared to Inuba, his partner. It was one of the very few things he envied about her.

Even with how terrible it was, it at least worked moderately well for short range.

Now then… what of the enemy?

…

Did they leave? Was the purpose to strategically separate him from everyone else? How far was he moved?

Looking up to the sky, the immortal found his answer. Before he was forced away, he struck the ground using an explosive Aura Sword to mark the area for easy territory familiarity. But it also luckily served as a good smoke signal.

One hundred meters away at best from the area they were attacked. Moderately far.

…

The longer the immortal was alone, the more he was wary of someone preparing to attack him.

It didn't take long to realize the area was changing, rather, it was midday, now it was getting darker and darker until suddenly…

There was nothing. Just darkness. No trees, no mountains; there was nothing but a stone path ahead of him.

Illusions? No, this was something else. When the land started changing, he immediately presumed it to be the work of illusory magic, but when nothing returned as to what it was supposed to be, that assumption had been thrown out.

So what was this then?

Dante looked to his hands and… saw something odd. They were pitch black and ethereal like, maintaining a glowing white outline. When he stared at the ground beneath him, he noticed its peculiar shine, able to reveal to him the rest of his reflection.

He was a black Specter now that had but a white outline to define his features in the darkness that surrounded him. He had no facial features but his eyes. His eyes… They were perfect circles that had a bright white glow to them that seemingly could pierce into the soul of anyone they glanced at.

His eyes turned into half-circles to articulate his displeasure of the current happening, but they immediately reverted to their perfectly round shape as he stood up and glanced around him.

There seemed to be no other way to go but forward.

What kind of trap was this? It wasn't a Boundary Illusion, and it was less likely he had been caught in a Reality Container, for there would have been obvious signs of his entrapment.

Whatever trickery was at work, he had no choice but to play for now. If they enemy decided to reveal themselves, which was likely if Dante showed a moment of weakness, he'd kill whoever it was as soon as they'd show up.

But for now, the darkness beckoned him, and he walked onwards without fear.

It was endless, nothing but the obsidian shine of the stone path he walked that reflected his ghastly image. But suddenly, the path grew larger and larger until he found himself in a wide expanse. And at the center…

…

Was that..? It couldn't have been…

It was small, and resembled a small child, about five years old, and had more defined features than he did, but…

It looked like a smaller version of himself…

"Everyone is afraid of us. They're afraid of what we are, what we can do…"

…

"No, they're afraid of you. You're the reason everyone hates us. You're the reason no one will come near us. You're the reason we have, and will always be, alone!"

He pushed the small child-like version of himself out of the way as it crumbled like ash and scattered. It wasn't long after he saw another specter, this time older and around 13.

"You ruined our life. You worked for the wrong people and look where it got us. We were actual monsters because of you and still are! You've ruined any chance of happiness that we ever had!"

This was getting annoying…

Dante was more forceful this time and placed his whole hand on the specter's face and tossed him away as he proceed forward.

Another damned Specter… This one older, and more within the recent year right before he was exiled from his home world to Remnant.

"You couldn't just listen could you? You had to do whatever the hell you wanted because you felt like it and thought it was the right thing to do."

He clenched his fists tightly.

"He was right you know. You can't just do whatever the hell you want and expect no consequences! That's exactly why we're here now in the mess we're in! Because you couldn't just sit down and shut up!"

A solid punch to the specter's face immediately shattered its image into dust, and allowed Dante to walk on forward, his pace quickening this time.

He didn't need a reminder of what he was. Or the vast mistakes he's made.

The immortal just needed to get out and kill the fool who decided to play this annoying trick on him.

Further and further he walked across the obsidian plateau with the darkness blanketing him.

Dante stopped in his tracks, spotting wisps of white light emerging from the ground that grew larger and larger until it formed the figure of a person as old as him.

The figure was an ethereal white, almost like the immortal, but had its holy-like Aura. It wore gloves, and twin tailed coat with an upturned collar. The front of the coat itself was folded across to the left side of his body to close it up, and had six shining buttons to hold it together. Long pants of the same ethereal white energy, and knee-high boots that had solid pads covering the knees with protection.

On the right side of the ethereal figure's hip was a rapier-sword that was double edged, where the blade was thin, but not too thin. And the guard… It was a cross guard, but there was a cover from the bottom of the guard that reached all the way to the butt of the weapon. The cover itself resembled an angelic wing, with top fused to one of the branches of the crossguard, and the tip of the wing melding into the bottom of the handle.

To confirms his fears, the specter had hair that was slightly curly.

It was a spitting image of his previous friend, Blanc.

There were no words, only the immortal extending his hand with his palm facing his enemy, Anvil in its longsword form apparating in his hand through a burst of black Aura.

The glowing white Blanc specter, as if accepting the challenge, slowly drew its sword from its sheath, raising it up before swiping downwards. With the downwards cut, angelic wings of light three times the specter's size spanned into existence, spreading out its glowing white feathers to offer some light within the deep abyss surrounding them.

* * *

 **(Nier Automata OST: Bipolar Nightmare)**

Dante was the first to dart forward and swing, his white blade clashing against the spectral blade of the ethereal "fake" Blanc. They remained locked together for a few moments, but violent torrents of white and black Aura flowed from their swords and pushed each other back a small distance.

The fake had flapped its wings in Dante's direction to scatter more feathers and fire them off like beams of light, Dante deflecting a few of the, but unable to block two of them that burned through his chest.

A distorted growl of annoyance slipped from the immortal as he ran forward unfazed and slid underneath a swipe from the specter's sword, slipping a slash as he slid and spun, but had his blade blocked by the one of the fake Blanc's angelic wings and pushed him away. Dante rolled on his back and dug his claws into the earth to stop himself and quickly made another attempt at a dash.

More feathers shot at him with frightening speed, only now they had large, explosive impacts that launched the immortal into the sky as they landed near his feet. He spun his body in the air to dodge the secondary volley of deadly feathers until he got close enough to stab at the specter. In response, the specter covered its entire front with its large wings to block the stab that was chock full of explosive black Aura, sending the ethereal figure skidding on its heels.

It flung its wings outwards to create a gust of razor sharp winds, but its target was no longer at the front. A blade cut through the darkness and collided the ethereal Blanc's sword as it reached its arm backwards to defend itself. Dante quickly disarmed both of them of their swords and landed solids punches to the specter's face before he spun around to its back, grappled it both arms, leaned back with the specter in his arms, and suplexed it into the ground head first.

Still continuing with his assault, Dante performed another suplex by smashing its head into the ground, and then another, finally leaping into the air with the fake in his arms, turning the specter downwards and pile driving it into the ground head first. Unfortunately for the specter, its brutal beating didn't end there, for Dante then delivered a powerful stomp kick right to its spinal column and sent it flying.

The specter stumbled up, or at least tried, and was then pounced upon by the devilishly spectral Dante, who drove it face first into the ground by stamping on the back of its head. The immortal soon after grabbed hold of both of the Angelic wings, slamming his foot into his enemies back and pulling its wings as hard as he could, tearing them off its back a few moments later as the specter clawed at the ground, escaping from the devil's grasp.

It fumbled onto its feet, its body in shambles as it summoned its sword back to its left hand and swung wildly at the immortal. He easily parried the pathetic strike, and quickly retaliated with an upwards swing that severed the specter's arm, followed by the immortal performing a quick twirl and plunging his sword into the ethereal Blanc's chest.

It weary reached out towards the immortals face, but Dante only faced forward and plunged his blade deeper into his enemies chest, soon kicking its legs out from underneath it and pinning it to the obsidian floor.

Another deep plunge, and Dante shortly ripped his sword outwards through its shoulder to bifurcate its body in a diagonal cut.

The fake Blanc's glowing white body faded away like mist at the twilight shortly after its defeat.

It was the end.

* * *

The cloaked figure peeked its head out from the clearing, laughing silently in a evil tome as it stepped out towards Dante, who had been standing perceftly still, like a stone. It's Grimm-like mask that resembled a cobra's shone under the light of the day as it moved in front of Dante, quickly snapping its fingers.

No movement.

"Hehehehehe… Perfect… You fell right for it. And it looks like the effect kicked in too." The man commented as he glanced at the two holes in Dante's shirts, unaware of his body having already healed.

He pulled a twisted and malformed dagger from underneath his cloak, running its jagged edge across the immortal's cheek that cut into his flesh.

But soemthing was odd.

He had cut his flesh, but the wound… It immediately-

The man let out a sharp gasp as something pierced through his stomach. He looked down to see the pristine edge of Anvil in its longsword from buried deep into his stomach as blood spilled from his wound and slowly poured from his mouth. He shakily looked up to see the immortal glaring at him with such intense eyes that he felt like his whole person was being burned away.

"B-But how..? W-What happened..?"

"That was a good trick. Anyone else and it would have surely killed them." The immortal coldly stated, "A radial ability that places its target in a deep state of hypnosis where whatever they see has the potential to kill them. For instance, in there, I was shot through with light beams in vital areas that should have killed me. Firstly however, the ability wears down the victims mental state to put them in a state of despair. If they were to take their life, it would have simulated somehing akin to brain death I would imagine. And if the first phase didn't succeed in killing them…"

Dante plunged his sword deeper into his foe's body as he hacked up a lot of blood.

Something was wrong. It felt like his body was being burnt away slowly.

"The second phase of the hypnosis would have created a powerful hallucination of one the victim's greatest threats that would end them. Clever, but not good enough I'm afraid. While what I saw last was by far one of my most challenging moments of my life, the fight ended a lot differently. I spared his life. But this time, knowing it was a fake, I didn't need to hold back. And so I tore your hallucination apart."

The man gasped fearfully, trying to removed Dante's sword from his body, but failed to match the teen's strength as he kept a firm hold.

"Anyone without the proper mental fortitude would have easily succumbed to this ability of yours. And if they were a bit stronger than antcipated, the hallucination would have killed them. It's a nasty ability, truly I must applaud you for its rather terrifying power. But… you choose the wrong opponent."

Without another word, Dante easily tore his blade upwards through the man to cut him in half perfectly, and kicked away the remains from near his person. His white coat had already cleaned itself of the blood, and repaired the holes made as he brought up his left hand, dusted off his chest, and he walked away.

"For your information… Sosuke Aizen did it better."

* * *

All she could do was run, or rather, zip about with her Semblance and hope she wouldn't be hit anytime soon.

Whoever he was, Ruby needed to defeat him quickly and regroup with the others. As much as she wanted too…

That would prove difficult given her opponent was fast, and expertly using the trees around her to stay out of sight, and occasionally attack her. But she was getting used to his attacks. He always struck for her blind spots, and rarely made any deviations before retreating.

Even so, she had to be careful not to over familiarize herself with his current patterns, lest he switch them out to throw her off.

It was definitely one of the lessons from Dante she took to heart.

Ruby skidded to a halt and held Crescent Rose up defensively, certain she would be attacked at that instant, but was surprised when nothing came her way.

At the very least, she had time to take a quick breather.

…

Was he not going to attack?

All she could hear was the creaking of the trees in the forest. There weren't even other signs of wildlife, or even Grimm for that matter.

Which meant she needed only to focus on her current attacker.

"Not bad little lady!"

A black cloaked figure landed behind her, rising slowly from the ground with a grunt to allow Ruby to see his mask.

It was certainly Grimm-like, but the animal it more or less represented was a cheetah.

"Not many people have survived this long. I'm genuinely impressed!"

"Who are you people?! Why are you attacking us?!"

The man let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head, "That's a little hard to answer… But in any sense, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Gotta be all hush hush, you know?"

He wasn't going to talk…

The man saw the little reaper scowl at him, making him let out another sigh.

"Alright.. I'll tell you this at least. We are here to fight to you. Whether you die or not is completely up to you. And everyone else in your group of course."

"What do you mean by that?!" Ruby asked.

"Come on, isn't it obvious? You fight us, you win, you get to live and move on with your day. Easy, right? If you lose and you die… Well, that's the end of that I'm afraid. That's why you and everyone else should be thinking about winning rather than losing. Get the drift of things now little lady?"

It was like a game to them…

"Hrmmm… You're the straightforward type, right? I guess we're the same in that regard. So..! I'll do you a bit favor and get rid of this crap I'm wearing!"

His hand shifted to his shoulder as he grabbed at the fabric and pulled it off in one go. Underneath the cloak was a man dressed in a grey bodysuit that had very thin and light strands of black colored armor that encircled his limbs and body. Sharp angled shoulder guards of the same black metal were molded to the shoulders of his bodysuit perfectly.

The man himself had to be 6'5, and had messy black hair that as chin-length, but the back of his hair was long, reaching to the center of his back and tied up into a ponytail. From the sight of the bodysuit, he was fairly muscular, but not a hulking mass of pure muscle. He looked young too. Maybe about twenty five or so. And his eyes… They were golden colored with black slit pupils.

"Since you're such a straightforward person, I'll be the same with you as well! The name's Callix! And I'll be the blocker in your way today."

The man who identified himself as Callix reached behind his back and pulled out a black rod that had numerous wavy patterns etched into the metal. He grasped it with both hands and twisted the rod in separate directions before harshly pulling it, allowing the rod to extend into a large spear as tall as him, only, the blade of the spear was a foot long.

It was double edged, and near the connecting base of the spear, it had sharp, zigzag patterns on both edges that made up a third of the whole spear's blade. What drew Ruby's interest other than how glorious the spear looked was the center of the pole, where it had been originally a rod that the man twisted and pulled slightly to extend the weapon into its form. The very center resembled a large mass of coiled together red muscle fibers that pulsed with crimson Aura.

"Don't get too distracted little lady! You just might die if you do!" He said as he suddenly charged forward.

Ruby swung upwards with Crescent Rose to counter the stab, catching the weapon between the blade and shaft. A pull of the trigger allowed her to slash her scythe into the ground with the man's spear forced into the ground as well, allowing her to kick at him. He laughed, and let one hand free of the spear to block the kick with his forearm.

Callix freed his spear from the ground and took a few more stab at the girl, mixing in a few blindingly fast twirls that nearly knocked Ruby of her feet a few times.

The stabs weren't so dangerous, but they weren't easy to counter either. The biggest threat by far were the short twirls. They were the faster attacks, and had a lot more power behind them, but he must have been pulling punches on the stabs just to make her react and jump back into striking range. Even with her Semblance she was barely dodging him.

What was he?! Did he have a Semblance almost like hers to allow him to move as fast?!

Ruby's train of thought was interrupted when she saw the man quickly leap up into the air and then slam his spear down atop her. The reaper had been quick to react, and raised up Crescent Rose to block the strike, feeling the powerful force of the shattering blow vibrating painful through her hands and arms as she blocked another downwards slam, pushing her away from Callix.

"Wow! Still standing Little Red? You really are an impressive one! I'm glad since I mostly get weaklings begging for their life in the first two minutes."

 _What do I do..?! I can't..! I can't stop him! He's almost as fast as me when using my Semblance and physically stronger! What can I do to beat him?!_

Ruby glanced back at the man to see him stretching his arms and legs before rotating his neck clockwise and counterclockwise after two rotations each, then twirl his spear quickly as he approached Ruby.

"Alright… Time for me to get a bit serious!"

Callix closed the large gap between him and Ruby almost immediately, and began his assault once more. All she could do was block, dodge and counter his strikes, having no room to slip in an attack. She thought about keeping her defense up to tire him out, but it would likely take too long.

 _What'll I do?! What can I do?!_

Callix twirled his spear around vertically from side to side, the blunt bottom of his weapon as deadly as the razor sharp tip of his spear as Ruby helplessly defended against the rapid flurry of attacks. The reaper then felt a swift kick to her abdomen that made her cry out as she flew back into the nearest tree, the impact of her body splintering and cracking the wood from the immense force.

Her red Aura shimmered around her body briefly as she gasped painfully, slowly recovering from having the wind knocked out of her.

The man took slow strides forward, dragging the tip of his spear through the dirt to make and irritable, yet fearful noise as he approached.

"Well… I guess this is about far as you go. Gotta say little lady, you're the first in a long long time that's made me get serious." He said dragging his spear up through the dirt, resting the pole on his shoulder, "You may not think so now, but I'm actually grateful to you. So for that… I'll give you a quick and honorable death at least. Professional courtesy."

Ruby knew all the bones in her body weren't broken, but her senses were so shaken after that kick it felt like they had been shattered since she was barely able to move and was numb all over.

She didn't want to die…

She wanted him here to save her, but he wasn't here.

Ruby was alone…

* * *

 _Ruby landed on her rear with a silent yelp, rubbing her aching arm._

 _He was beyond freakishly strong…_

 _Dante stood normally, letting out a sigh as he extended his hand and helped Ruby up from the training ground floor._

" _I do seriously think it's time for you to start working on hand-to-hand."_

" _I'll..! I'll be fine! Just have to make sure I don't lose my weapon!"_

 _The reaper took a few steps back and readied herself a fifth time, then quickly darted in close from the excellent momentum provided by a pull of Crescent Rose's trigger. And like the last few times, she was almost immediately disarmed._

"Oh no, _Ruby, where'd your weapon go?" Dante cheekily asked as he confusedly looked around._

 _When he looked back to Ruby, she saw her pouting at him, tearing up slightly._

 _Another sigh escaped the immortal as he walked over to where Crescent Rose lay on the ground, and folded it up in its compact form, handing it to Ruby as soon as he approached her._

" _Sorry. But I am right you know. While it's great to work on your skills with your weapon, it's important that you work on the fundamentals too for when you don't have it."_

 _She was starting to think he was right…_

 _Ruby cradled Crescent Rose in her arms closely as she looked off to the side, Dante sitting down on the ground in front of her._

" _I'm not as tough as I am just because I know how to swing sharp sticks. I've worked on the basics too in case I can't use my weapon or abilities for whatever reason there might be. What better way to surprise the enemy than to show them you're not entirely defenseless without a weapon or powers, right?"_

" _Right…" Ruby said with a sigh as she looked back to Dante, "I'm not really good at that stuff. I'm actually kind of terrible at it..."_

" _No one's the absolute best at what they do. Not even God. Perfection is just a pretty dream we chase throughout life. We can only ever get something close to it, but not the genuine article." Dante told Ruby, "Essentially, you don't have to be the very best or be a perfect hand-to-hand combatant Ruby. You just have to know how to do it. Punching isn't your strong suit yet, so why not try something else?"_

" _Like?!" Ruby asked as her face brightened up._

" _Kicking."_

" _Kicking..?"_

" _Yeah. You're Semblance propels you forward right? Since you're already holding Crescent Rose in your hands, why not work on your footwork more? I've seen you kick people before, and you're actually pretty good at it."_

" _Y-You think?"_

" _Totally. Let's work on that for a bit." Dante said as both he and Ruby stood up, "Your arms and legs are just as much viable weapons like your Crescent Rose, an extension of yourself. It's like turning your body into a weapon in some way or shape. So go on. Let's see you kick."_

 _The little reaper squared herself up, slightly mimicking Dante whenever he did hand-to-hand combat, and took a deep breath before exhaling. She the let out a small shout that sounded almost like a cute squeak, but her kick definitively spoke louder than her voice did._

 _It was a fast kick that was moved forward with the usage of her Semblance, the topside of her foot crashing into Dante's side as he moved slightly to the right and let out a silent wince as he held his side afterwards._

 _It actually hurt…_

" _Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Ruby said lowering herself to the kneeling Dante._

" _No no…" he said coughing out, "That was good… Really good… Yikes that woke me up…"_

 _Still worried, she moved closer and mistakenly placed her hand where his was when trying to feel if she broke something or really hurt him. But she didn't move her hand away._

 _Nor did he._

" _See?" Dante said with a brief cough, "You're a natural! At the very least, you now know how valuable hand-to-hand combat can be."_

" _I guess…"_

" _You guess?" Dante asked as he pinched Ruby's and pulled them apart briefly in spite of her cute squeaking._

 _He let go after a few seconds and gave the girl a head pat._

" _Other than me maybe not having a weapon, why do you want me to learn how to fight without a weapon so badly?" She asked him._

" _Well… I see it like this. Out there in the world, there'll be times where it's just you and you alone." Dante said waving a hand across the sky, "In those kinds of times, the only person that'll ever be able to save you is you, and you only. While it's not bad to have help from others now and then, you need to know how to deal with all sorts of things when you can't get help from others. Otherwise, how else will you be able to move forward towards the future?"_

* * *

Callix lowered himself into a stance, rearing his spear behind him as he shot forward and made to stab Ruby.

He was surprised suddenly when a gunshot rang out, and Crescent Rose quickly swiped at the deadly spear to knock both it and the man away from her.

Callix stopped sliding back on his feet and looked up, noticing Ruby had been absent from view.

"What the..?! Where'd she-?!"

He spun around, and was unable to do anything as two metal feet buried themselves in his face, launching him into the tree Ruby had crashed into earlier, only he had completely broke through the wood, the large tree falling with a loud crash. Recovering from the tumble he had been sent into, Callix flipped up and dug his spear into the ground to slow himself down, looking up and thinking a new arrival had appeared to aid the reaper.

But there was no one other than the reaper in red herself. Only, she was… different slightly.

Nothing about her general appearance had changed, save for her eyes. The white sclerae were now pitch black, encompassing her silver eyes that gave off a small, luminous shine.

Most noticeable however wasn't her eyes, but her legs. The tips of Ruby's toes all the way to the center of her thighs had been covered in thin, black, twisted plate armor, accompanied with sharp, elegant and well defined edges. The black armor had thorny, vine-like patterns etched across the entirety of the armored leggings. The foot armor had long, thin, flat black heels that resembled the blades of small, single edged, four inch daggers.

"So were hiding a trick up your sleeve!" Callix stated wiping away the blood from his face caused by Ruby's bladed heels, "Nice! Now the fight's gotten even more interesting!"

Ruby leaned forward and vanished immediately in a furious blast of black and red rose petals that stormed through the forest, a gunshot ringing out and Callix finding a nasty cut across his body.

He couldn't even see her..!

Another gunshot echoed through the forest, only this time the man was able to listen carefully enough to hear Ruby's scythe slicing through the air to reap his life. Luckily he managed to block the initial swing with his own spear, the point of the reaper's blade just barely grazing his chest.

He stabbed and twirled his spear at Ruby much more furiously than before, but Ruby not only surprisingly managed to keep up with him, but she also managed to match the strength of his blows to cancel them out.

It was as shocking as it was amazing for Callix to bear witness to something like this. There was no anger or hatred for the little reaper whenever she damaged him, only the feeling of excitement swelling up inside him as he bore a wide grin.

Callix moved his spear up to block an overhead strike from Ruby, but that proved to be a mistake. Ruby was quickly pulling the trigger on Crescent Rose while forcing it down on the man, the scythe slowly but surely moving ever downwards to nearly plunge into Callix's neck.

The reaper delivered a swift kick to the man's abdomen, retribution from an earlier attack, to throw him off balance and allowed her to swiftly bring her scythe down fully. Although she didn't cut deep into the man's flesh, she at least left him with another long cut across his body.

Callix was moving slower than before. Ruby didn't ease up the pressure and kept swinging and shooting at him, and when the man swiped at her armored legs, the reaper leaped up and trapped the spear into the ground with a hard crash from Crescent Rose. Still in the air, Ruby flipped her body her body forwards and smashed the sole of her armored foot into the man's face, pressing off of it a moment later.

Continuing her assault, Ruby pulled the trigger, her bullet just missing Callix's face, but it still allowed her to yank him towards her. Ruby then ducked under his legs, pulled the trigger once more, and made the man flip from his standing position onto his back with a loud thud. Rather than dig her scythe into his body, Ruby used her weapon as a club and batted up the man, prepping him him for a back spin heel stomp to his spin to send him flying through another tree nearby.

His body was aflame with pain, and he was still bleeding. It would have taken a while, but some of his wounds should have healed by now, and yet they didn't. Something was interfering with his body's natural healing. Other than that, his vision was blurry from the constant thrashing he took, from a small girl no less.

Callix wasn't impressed anymore, he was amazed.

But the fight was still on.

Slapping the sides of his face to refocus is vision, he saw Ruby standing still, silver eyes encompassed in black sclerae wide open and ready for whatever may have come her way.

"Alright..! Guess it's time to use my special trick!" Callix stated as he wiped the blood from his face.

He raised his weapon over his head and twirled it around rapidly before whipping it downwards and towards his back, a crimson shade of crackling red Aura coating his entire spear, seemingly roaring with the voice of a beast.

"Iarr..! Cridhe! (Heart Seeker)"

The fiendish spear was shot forth from Callix's hand moving forward with the speed of a lightning bolt and the power of a large scale explosive, and it was heading straight for Ruby's heart.

With no time to shoot the spear out of the air, Ruby instead decided to counter the flying weapon and swung Crescent Rose at it. Scythe blade and spear point collided into each other with an explosive impact, making Ruby slide back slightly as she continued pushing against the tremendous force that kept the spear propelling for her.

She needed to get the spear away from her. And luckily, she had an idea. But it was dangerous. She needed to be precise.

Ruby ducked down and let the spear pass overhead, noticing how it moved as if it were tracking her body. But the plan was working so far. The little reaper used the spear's own propelling force to spin around the spear caught in her scythe and slingshot it back at a surprised Callix.

He reached up with his right arm and caught his spear near the center-grip, then looking back at Ruby to see her in a low stance and Crescent Rose raised up and behind her.

And then, she dashed forward, her body seemingly splitting up to make what appeared to be three Rubys total that soon after vanished as soon as they moved forward a few feet. There was nothing for Callix to do other than accept the large vortex of tens of slashes that coated his body within a split second, each slash cutting deep enough to make his limbs and body heavy and aching furiously.

He glanced back at Ruby, seeing her in another stance before the trigger on her weapon was pulled. She was like an invisible blur that passed by Callix. The speed of her attack was too quick for him to register at first, but when he looked to his left, he saw a bloody stump in place of where his left arm used to be.

Callix crashed into the ground, cracking it slightly as he tried to stand but continuously fell until he managed to eventually stand up by using his spear to prop himself up.

"Not… Not so bad… little lady…" He said between heavy breathes, his wounds seeping with blood, "Looks like… you're a lot more special than most…"

Ruby readied herself once more, raising up her scythe in preparation.

"I know… when I'm beat…" The man plunged his spear tip into his left arms that remained on the floor, and then rested the spear on his shoulder, "I'm leaving…"

Ruby went to step forward but felt a painful twitch in her legs, prompting her to stop and wince silently.

"You're pretty damn good Little Red… Don't go dying anytime soon. I want a rematch once day when you're stronger. Then… I'll show you just how tough I really am."

Callix stabbed the ground with a powerful thrust to kick up a large cloud of debris and dust, and in spite of the small twinges of pain she felt in her legs, Ruby rushed forward and cut through the dust, seeing the man was long gone.

She noticed a small trail of blood, but it cut off midway.

He was apparently good at covering his tracks…

Ruby shook her head as she folded up Crescent Rose and clutched it tightly, falling back onto a tree and sliding down it to rest and catch her breath. She looked through the tree line briefly to see the few rays of sunlight before looking down to her armored legs, her fingers softly glazing over the cold, black, sleek metal that adorned her legs.

They looked as though they were made for her, styled after her. But the feeling of it, as well as a part of the look… It reminded her so much of Dante…

It was like the armor itself was him, protecting Ruby in his own way even if he was far away from her. The thought of it made her smile.

She gasped slightly when she felt the armor fading, watching it break off from her legs into pieces, which floated up into the air like blackened ashes before vanishing.

Speaking of her legs, they felt fairly sore. She looked as though she didn't move around so much, but she was moving far faster and many more times than her opponent realized.

The sensation when she moved too; it felt like her Semblance had no off switch with minimal consequences. She felt slightly more exhausted than usual, yes, but given the enemy she just faced, that was a given.

If she fought someone that difficult, then…

…

All she could hope for is that everyone else was okay for now until she reached them.

* * *

Jaune's back hit the tree behind him, and when he opened his eyes, he ducked under a quick slice at his face and rolled out of the way. He blocked a downwards swipe, then was sent flying once again from a powerful kick to his shield.

"Ha! That all you got weakling?!" A man shouted at jaune from a distance away.

The man was about six feet tall, was lean and muscular and had slightly long black spiky hair that stood up, a few loose strands hanging in front of his forehead. His eyes shone a violet color, and his attire consisted of a black shirt, pants and boots. The only other thing he wore was a white open coat with the sleeves rolled up to show the inner black lining of the coat.

On his arms were black plated gloves, the armor sleek and thin black bone that twisted around his forearms from his elbows to his wrists. Between the twisted gaps were thin, blood red strands that looked like muscle fibers.

The hands were covered in the same thin black bone material that resembled flesh stripped from the body to reveal the bare bone beneath, only, it too was black in color. The tips of his fingers were black bone claws, yet strangely, on his forearms, hands, and fingers, were slits in the center of the pieces.

Jaune had blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and now from his forehead given he spotted a few droplets falling onto his gauntlets.

"With the way things are going you're no better than a damn punching bag! Tch! Unbelievable!" The man said kicking away a stone, "I got the weaker one of the bunch! Typical!" He said kicking at the dirt.

The man looked to the blond knight with a disgusted look in his eye as he walked over. Jaune, still taking the time to stand, rose up, breathing heavily and taking a stance.

The man charged in and thrusted his razor sharp claws at Jaune to stab him, and although the attack was powerful, Jaune was only knocked up in the air a bit before his feet touched the ground again and dug deep into the dirt, eventually allowing him to stop the man despite how hard he was pushing Jaune.

With a loud roar, Jaune swung his blade upwards and across his body, making the man widen his eyes as he leap back. Jaune's blade only nicked him slightly, but deep enough to leave a small cut and draw blood.

That was the only attack he had managed to land so far in the fight.

The man ran an armored thumb across his chest where the cut had been made to rub away the blood. He then stuck his thumb into his mouth and sucked off the blood, much to Jaune's disgust as he grimaced at the action.

"Hmph… You might not be so worthless after all… But I've already beaten the shit out of you quite a lot. How much more can you take before you fall, I wonder?"

"I… I can take more than you can throw at me…" Jaune answered in between breaths.

"Huh?" The man asked with an irritated tone.

"There's someone I know… who's a lot tougher than you'll ever be…"

"A human tougher than me?! Hahahahaha! Did I bash around those pathetic brains of yours too much? There isn't a single human alive who's stronger than me or my own!"

"You're wrong! This person… My friend..! He's the toughest kind of person there is! And he's the best fighter to ever live! People like you would never beat him!"

The man looked around, raising his arms up at Jaune, "I don't see the bastard anywhere. He hiding behind that princessy shield of yours?" He asked laughing, pointing to Jaune's shield, "What the fuck even is all that gold shit?! Did you melt a shitty tiara into it to make it even girlier?"

The blonde knight's grip tightened on the handle of his sword as he silently growled to himself.

"Struck a nerve did I?" The man asked, "Good… At least you won't be so pathetic when I kill you!"

Jaune side-stepped the man and swung down on his head, but the man blocked it with his armored hand and began his counter assault. Previously, he was attempting to crush Jaune with pure force, but now he put an emphasis on speed. The blond knight could deal with this a bit more since he didn't have to focus entirely on blocking for his dear life or risk having a hole bored into him.

But quicker and less powerful attacks meant Jaune had to not only react faster, but move quicker to counter his enemy, and he made it very difficult for the blonde knight to do so.

Jaune didn't spend most of his time attacking, and instead focused on blocking. If he couldn't attack directly always, maybe there was a chance his enemy would tire out if he gave it long enough. But this sort of situation had been going on for ten minutes now, and the man showed no signs of easing up anytime soon.

How can a person keep fighting so ferociously and not get tired?!

The blonde raised his shield up to block a claw swipe, and found that it stayed in place to his shield. When Jaune moved his sword for a side swipe, the man caught it within his armored palm, and firmly kept it in place despite Jaune's resistance.

With a maniacal laugh, the man headbutted Jaune in the face, making him drop his guard and opening him up to a world of pain provided by his enemy. The man unleashed a rapid flurry of punches to Jaune's person, laughing as he kept up his seemingly endless pace of punches.

A final punch to Jaune's face sent him soaring into a rocky cliffside, cracking it immensely from the sheer impact that knocked the wind out of the blonde.

"Tch! It's almost disgusting how weak you really are! No wonder Huntsmen and Huntresses die left and right these days, they're all subpar, just like you!"

…

…

"Here's what's gonna happen, human." The man said as he took slow strides forward, "I'm gonna kill you, but I'm not gonna eat you. Your other friends might serve as a good enough snack though. I bet the one in the red hood would taste good." He said with a disgusting laugh.

Jaune's fingers twitched briefly before the blond himself finally managed to push himself, his arms barely supporting him.

"Get lost, human."

* * *

 _Jaune was knocked to the ground once again, a loud groan escaping him._

 _It wasn't one of pain, but frustration._

 _Dante sighed before he walked over, plunging his own sword into the ground before he extended a hand to Jaune._

" _You're fairly durable Jaune. But that won't really cut it in the long run. Sure its useful when defending, but you've got to take opportunities to attack too you know."_

" _I know…" Jaune said half-heartedly as he was helped up and dusted off._

 _Dante gave him a glance and exhaled, looking to the knight's shield._

" _I see you swinging your sword around plenty. And your technique's significantly improved with Phyrra's help."_

" _But~?"_

" _But~ You aren't using everything at your disposal."_

 _Jaune shot a questioning glance to Dante, and the immortal nodded._

" _You do realize this thing is just as much of weapon as your sword is, right?" Dante asked tapping the shield on the knight's arm._

" _It is?"_

" _Of course. Sharpen the edges and you could cut into someone or take a limb if you strike them hard enough. Even if you don't do that, it's still good for bludgeoning your enemies or throwing them off balance."_

" _That's…"_

" _A different sort of fighting, I know." The immortal responded as he took up his sword from the ground, "But that kind of fighting could be the difference between life and death out there in the wilds."_

…

 _He had a point…_

" _Learning the proper ways and techniques is good. There's nothing wrong with that. But as you go, you need to pick up things that work in tandem with your skills and combat style. Expand your arsenal, in a sense."_

 _Knowing more was always better. Especially if it could help in a fight._

" _So~?" Dante asked with a rather coy smile._

 _Jaune smiled as he raised up his weapons once more._

" _Teach me!" he asked._

 _Dante chuckled to himself as a shield of white and black Aura, similar in proportions to Jaune's own, apparated onto his left arm as he stood side by side with Jaune, but with just enough room to demonstrate._

" _Forms first, live practice after."_

 _The two had readied themselves, Jaune copying Dante's position before he made the first movement, and Jaune mimicking the movement shortly after._

* * *

The man raised up one of his clawed, armored hands and swiped them down onto Jaune. Instead of making contact with flesh, his claws struck something hard.

The knight had defended himself, and in spite of the push the man gave, Jaune did not budge.

His white sword stabbed at the stranger, who out of confidence put his palm in the point's path, expecting it to stop there. But then, he felt something that had been foreign to him for what seemed to be forever now. A burning sensation gathered at the center of his hand, as he glanced over to it and saw the tip of Jaune's sword sticking out of the back of his hand.

When he looked back to the blonde, he reciprocated the headbutt from earlier and knocked the man back before smacking him again in the face with his shield.

"Damn it! What the hell?!"

The man stopped yelling and looked to see something strange happening to Jaune. The white coloring of his armor, shield, and weapon turned into a pitch black color, leaving the gold traces of his equipment untouched.

But his shield… His shield began warping itself. The way he normally held it was different. Jaune held the shield with his arm entering the top, flat side of it, and his hand covered by the sharp, end point of the shield. It was then the shield began to shrink down, and mold itself to Jaunes arm just enough so that it'd still offer a good amount of protection.

His eye now… The whites of his eyes were pitch black like his armor, encompassing his blue irises.

"How 'bout that? Looks like you manned the fuck up!" The stranger said shaking his wounded hand, "But it won't matter in the long run since you'll be dead!"

The stranger charged at Jaune, swiping his deadly armored claws at him. What he expected to be a hit was a miss since the knight ducked underneath the claw swipe and delivered powerful uppercut with the pointed end of his shield. His opponent staggered, Jaune quickly spun with an outward slash, only, the stranger recovered enough just to parry Jaune's now blackened blade with his claws.

Jaune could see him clearly now. He could see everything.

"Damn brat! Don't get so cocky because of a few lucky hits!"

The man rushed Jaune again with the idea to kill him now rather than toy with him like he intended. He was pissing him off far too much now to just beat him around like a rag doll. He was going to rip Jaune to pieces.

But he wanted and what was happening where two separate things. Jaune was reacting faster than before and blocking with his shield much more effectively than simply raising it up and hiding behind it like he did before.

He was using it like a real weapon. And it damn well hurt the stranger every time Jaune countered him, and either bashed him with the shield or cut him with his sword.

It was like Jaune decided he was fighting to win, and dropped the niceties for that sole purpose.

Jaune kept up the tempo, fighting the stranger without pause and without reservation, and he was winning. But he didn't let the sudden shift of the battle make him overconfident. His one and only focus now was the stranger, and no one else.

The knight took a step back and let the man come closer as he swiped down on Jaune with his claws, only for his shield to be in the way. The force sent Jaune back a bit, but it wasn't enough to distract him from the stranger's next attack as he swiped for Jaune's head.

The knight quickly countered with a swing of his sword, and countered with another swing, but his blow had gone through too easily, just as the man intended. Thinking Jaune was off balance, he took the opportunity to pounce at him, his razor sharp claws leading the way to Jaune's chest.

But the knight hadn't been tricked so easily. Rather, it was he who tricked the stranger. He lured him in as intended, making his attacker believe Jaune was open to attack after he missed his own. And the stranger, unable to do anything as he approached, missed his window of opportunity as his claws went overhead of Jaune, who had ducked down, pivoted his foot, spun around and threw both his shoulder and shield into his attacker's body to send him flying on his back.

"Damn human! I've had enough already!"

The air began trembling under the immense pressure of the stranger's light blue Aura that crackled around him in fierce bouts of energy.

The man's armored hands crackled to life as the slits on his fingers, hands and arms let loose blasts of his Aura. The Aura gathered near his arms, forming large, spectral arms three times Jaune's size that resembled the arms of a beowolf.

"DIE!"

The stranger's harsh voice carried through the air as he quickly shot forth his right arm, sending forth his first spectral arm.

Jaune's shield, as if responding to his will, warped itself once more, changing back into its original shape and position, only now, it grew larger and longer. With greatshield in hand, Jaune slammed it into the ground and welcomed the attack head on.

The spectral hand collided with the black and gold shield, turning into a violent, razor sharp torrent of energy that threatened to break the blonde knight at any moment. But both Jaune and his shield held fast against the powerful shockwave of menacing energy.

When it passed, the stranger stood in shock, watching Jaune's shield contract back into the form it took on when the second stage of the fight began. But the shield now had a vibrant glow to it, its gold traces brimming with energy.

Another yell and the man shot his left arm forward to send out the second spectral arm as it shot forward with intense speed. Jaune spared now time, and quickly upturned his black sword and inserted it into its resting place within the shield as it detached itself from his arm.

The knight rushed forward, raising his sword with both hands as shield joined together with blade to create a large greatsword that shine furiously with white Aura. Digging his feet into the ground, Jaune swung his sword with a loud cry and cut through the spectral mass of Aura in one mighty swing.

The destructive force of the blow rushed past the stranger as he shielded his eyes, but when he opened them, all he saw was Jaune in the air above him.

With another powerful swing, the knight brought down his black greatsword upon the stranger, who defensively raised up both arms. But they did not save him.

A mighty cleave from Jaune severed the both of the man's arms at the center of his forearms, just enough to save him from his body being bisected in two, and instead, left him a deep cut across his body as he fell on his back with a pained cry.

The man rolled, and continued rolling on his back until he crashed into a tree. Without his arms, the man only had his legs to help him up as his blood spilled everywhere from the stumps that were his arms.

"You… Damn human… You think you're better than me… because you've won this time?!"

Jaune didn't give the man the pleasure of a response. He only raised up his black greatsword in preparation.

The stranger gritted his teeth as his gaze moved to the floor briefly before angrily glaring back at Jaune.

"Remember this… pathetic human… I'm Grîvâu… And I'll be back for you… someday…"

The man ran behind the tree and kicked it behind him, instantly tearing off the majority of the trunk as the rest of the tree flew at Jaune. The knight immediately dropped himself belly flat against the ground until the tree fly over him. When he looked up, the stranger had fled, but not without leaving a trail of blood.

Even so, Jaune had no intention to pursue. His enemy was beaten. And he wasn't going to come back. The knight let out a sigh of relief, looking to his black greatsword to see how it change its shape. It was longer than the usual when he combined his sword and shield into its greatsword form, almost as tall as he was, and it didn't leave any open space near the tip.

He saw his reflection in the shine of the black blade, looking to his gauntleted hands to see the armor too had turned pitch black, leaving the gold decorations untouched. Some of the armor had warped itself too, taking on a more twisted appearance that almost resembled…

…

Could it be..?

Before Jaune could pursue the thought any longer, he watched his armor slowly warp itself back into its original shape as the pitch black colored broke off of the metal like petals of black ash that scattered with the wind.

His sword too had reverted to its original shape and color, and back into its standard sword and sheath form. It wasn't until then Jaune felt a wave of exhaustion and nausea hit him. His entire body felt sore as his muscles screamed at him.

Even so, he still reached for his weapon and grabbed hold of it, glancing it over briefly before placing it back on his belt.

"Jaune!"

"Ruby!" Jaune said turning to the sound of Ruby's voice.

"You're okay!" Ruby said as she stopped in front of Jaune and helped him up.

"I'm… I'm okay… Sort of…"

The two looked around at the destruction that was caused by the stranger and Jaune's battle. The knight himself was still in awe at everything that happened, looking to hands and slowly clenching them.

"Jaune… Did… Did it happen to you too?" Ruby asked him.

He only gave her a small nod as he lowered his hands to his sides.

"What's going on Ruby? We were attacked by that scorpion maniac a few days ago, and then those people that Dante and his partner's father fought off, and now whoever these guys are."

"I don't know Jaune. I don't know…" Ruby said looking to the ground, "But we can't sit around here thinking about it. We need to find Ren and Nora before we find Dante."

As she spoke, the ground trembled as an explosion sounded through the air, making the two look up at the pillar of smoke in the distance.

"Let's hope it's Ren and Nora and that they're okay..! Come on!" Jaune motioned as both he and Ruby ran of into the distance.

* * *

 **(Omake: Skyla's Reckoning 6, by Xera Stark)**

 **«»**

"You know, I have the sneaking suspicion Ciel's not actually trying to get me home and just wants to camp with me..." Skyla wondered, looking up to see Irene's face glancing down at her.

The wolf girl's two cute feet bobbed and kicked before Irene gave a toothy grin, obviously having no idea what Skyla was talking about.

"You're a very good actor…" the brunette murmured to herself, pursing her lips in a pout of thought.

They settled down for camp again. This time at a riverside, tucked in a grove of trees where they had just enough elevation on their outcrop to see over the forest. Skyla's amethyst gaze glanced back to the sky as she kicked her own dangling legs over the flowing water below, watching as the stars glinted through the clouds.

"You two seem to have bonded fast." a relaxed voice came from behind her.

Two careful steps took it to the ledge with Skyla before the brunette watched Musashi sit herself down beside her, hanging one of her feet over the rocky edge. The dragon faunus wrapped her arms around one risen leg, a gaze turning Skyla's way.

"If I didn't know any better, you might actually be able to have a full conversation with Irene and know what she's 'hmphing' about." Musashi said, imitating Irene's favorite noise.

Irene just crossed her arms and made an approving "hmph!" of her own.

Skyla smiled and giggled at the exchange. "Maybe. Irene just said you sounded pretty funny though."

Another "hmph" came down from above as Irene nodded. The light from the campfire behind them kept their silhouettes illuminated, letting Skyla catch the small grimace scrunching up Musashi's face.

"I'm crossing that off my list of things to ever repeat...," she said, her eyes turning to the campsite behind them.

"Ciel didn't take you along to hunt dinner?" Skyla asked, reaching up to distract herself with the two tiny little feet bobbing in her vision.

Musashi groaned, but a side glance caught an annoyed blush taking hold in her cheeks all the same. "I still have a long way to go if I want to keep up with her."

"She would've slowed down for you if you went." Skyla pointed out. Irene knew it too, because the wolf faunus nodded with a flutter of her own ears. They were sure of it.

"You think I don't know that? I didn't go because of it." Musashi rested her chin on her raised knee as she looked out over the trees now. "Besides, we haven't talked much."

Skyla caught a narrow glint pass over her eyes just then, right before she blinked. The brunette just giggled at the strange dragon faunus.

"You're a funny person, Musashi."

All she got was a quirky confused expression in return. "Huh?"

"You keep trying to impress her. Right?" Skyla asked, and suddenly Musashi's face reeled back and looked away.

Sputtering to hide a blush.

"L-Like hell I needs to-!"

"She's strong. And pretty too, but we'll get back to that," Skyla cut her off, holding up her finger as Musashi's form slouched a little. "You like running after what's stronger than you, just to get stronger yourself and eventually surpass it. But I don't think you've ever bumped into someone like her. Do I have that right?"

Musashi's eyes narrowed into little slits as Skyla caught her pouting behind her knee, arms starting to tighten around her leg. "Can you blame me?" she replied quietly.

"Nope! It's not fair, is it?" Skyla spoke with another laugh, reaching up to idly tickle Irene's sides. As the small wolf faunus buckled and kicked at her hands, Skyla continued. "What makes you funny is that you act like a different person around her. Shy, but also after her attention. Did you realize you always smile whenever she says something even remotely about you?"

Skyla's gaze tossed Musashi's way again just to see the girl's blush worsen. That, and a healthy thwack of Irene's little hand helped turn her face anyway.

However, the brunette didn't relent her tickling conquest.

Musashi eventually peeked back at her. "How do you know so much after only being in this reality for a few days?"

"Hm? Oh, good question." Skyla looked up with a hum as she lessened her attack, letting Irene slump over on her shoulders and catch her breath. "You tend to notice things when you're jealous."

She could feel Musashi's gaze widen. "Don't tell me a girl like you is jealous of…?"

"A girl like me, huh?" Skyla wondered. She turned her gaze back to the sky as Musashi jumped a little.

"I didn't mean anything by it! It's-"

"I come across that way a bunch, don't I?" Skyla asked instead, her view of the stars getting obscured for a moment as Irene gave her a weird look. The brunette just reached up and lightly pat the girl's head, then tickled her again for getting worried. "I like to pretend I'm selfish, but people always tell me I'm the opposite. Isn't that funny?"

"Not to me…" Musashi voiced. Skyla didn't need to glance her way to know she was staring. "You're strong too, you know. Didn't you survive the fall coming here? I heard you fell from the _sky_ , and not a scratch was to be found on you. Come to think of it… you also landed on your face…"

Skyla giggled at that. "Did I? I think that was more the ground coming up to catch me. It's dependable like that, just not always soft."

"I don't think that's how it works," Musashi replied, but she quickly shook her head to get back on topic. "You're strong. I can tell. You know how?"

Skyla gave the girl a curious look.

"Because I want to fight you." Musashi said simply, lowering her leg to dangle with her other one now. This time, any embarrassment left her. And her face was just left in a firm look of determination.

"You really are a funny girl…" Skyla laughed, smiling amusedly at the challenge as she brought her gaze down to the river. Even in the dark, she could spot a long fin swimming through the current. "Oh! Fishy!"

Irene jumped in a startle as Skyla reached out and an explosion of steam erupted from the riverbed. Jets of boiling water shot into the sky in torrents before a hot wind blew through the trees, Skyla lowering her hand a moment later to a loud, quaking thud behind them.

Musashi and Irene glanced to the tents to see a sizzling, _massive_ fish resting on the stone near their campfire. Motionless and blown out of the water.

"Huh…" Skyla looked down at her fingers, the dry riverbed below her slowly starting to refill with water from upstream. "Weird how it landed right behind us..."

She glanced Musashi's way again, but found the girl's mouth hanging open and eyes twitching.

" _That's_ what you're pointing out about what just happened?!" Musashi asked.

"Yeah, why?" Skyla asked, watching as Musashi's wide eyes narrowed after blinking.

"Now I _really_ want to fight you…" the girl muttered.

Amethyst eyes stared for a few long moments before Skyla cracked another smile. "Okay."

"Hey guys! I'm- whoa, who put this here?" Ciel's voice called out, another thud hitting the stone behind them.

Skyla glanced back with Musashi to see Ciel standing next to the body of a boar, the girl leaning over the sizzling fish with her hands on her hips.

"And here I thought _I_ was catching dinner..." the girl said, poking at the steaming scales.

In the end, it really wasn't fair… to leave things the way they were.

* * *

 **Semblance Encyclopedia 16**

 **«»**

"Good evening everyone." Leo stated as he bowed on stage, "Welcome back to another episode of Semblance Encyclopedia. Thankfully it's only me today, so today's explanations will be clearer than usual. Now then, let's begin."

Leo took a few steps back and let the projector screen emerge from the ceiling. On it displayed a cute and chibi-ish Alice, standing around with her arms crossed.

"Today we'll be discussing Alice Lianna's Semblance. Last week, my brother and Ms. Rose briefly touched up on her Semblance to explain her weapons and their functions. But now, we'll go into deeper details of what we've seen so far."

The cute and small Alice on screen had drawn her swords and was in a readied position.

"Her Semblance is Polarity Reversal, where she can wield powers with a Shadow or Light aspect. The idea is that she switches the polarity between the types she's currently using. If she's using her Shadow Aspect, the polarity can be switched, which will then allow her to use Light abilities."

The cartoonish Alice demonstrated so on screen, her Aura blazing up like pitch black fire before shining into pristine strands of white light.

"In the case of her Shadow Aspect, Alice's physical capabilities are bolstered tenfold, giving her incredible strength and durability for however long she is using her Shadow Aspect. In addition, she is able to outwardly project her Aura into powerful shockwaves, and in the case of defense, can either erect barriers of Shadow for protection or sink into her own shadow to retreat if need be."

The projector demonstrated Leo's explanations, from Alice lifting extremely large and heavy objects effortlessly with a single hand to her jumping into her shadow and it moving around.

"Swapping polarities to her Light Aspect offers Alice new approaches to combat compared to her Shadow Aspect. Whereas her Shadow Aspect focused on overwhelming strength and high endurance, her Light Aspect places a focus on speed, maneuverability, and highly amplified Aura abilities."

As he said this, the small Alice on screen posed briefly before her Aura turned a bright white color.

"Alice's when swapped to her Light Aspect, Alice's movements become incredulously quicker. To add to that, she is able to freely control her movements with more accuracy, be it in the sky or on the ground, to effectively evade or outmaneuver her enemy."

As he spoke it, the Alice on screen moved about at blinding speeds, and easily evaded a target dummy with a smug look.

"Regarding amplified Aura abilities, as opposed to her Shadow Aspect that grants her immense physical abilities, Alice's Aura abilities are significantly quicker, more powerful and explosive. For instance, her shockwave projections would have much more power and speed behind them."

With Leo stating such facts, Alice performed numerous actions that resulted in her emitting arcing waves of light that quickly traveled and devastated her targets.

"Lastly, her channeling abilities for both aspects. With her Shadow Aspect, Alice has immense knockback power and breakage force, allowing her to easily shatter the defenses of most enemies."

The Alice on screen demonstrated by shattering the shield of a target dummy.

"With her Light Aspect infused to her weaponry, her cutting abilities are significantly enhanced to the point she is able to cut through most object effortlessly. As Ms. Rose stated last time, it would be like a hot knife through butter."

As he spoke, Alice used her katanas to easily cut through sheets of metal, boulders of stone, and other objects before she plunged her swords into the ground and gave a proud smile.

Leo himself smirked at the action of the small and cute Alice on the screen, before clearing his throat and facing the audience.

"Now then… I believe that is all for this week. Tune in next time for Weapons Illustrated. Farewell everyone."

* * *

 **Oh boy, things are heating up for Dante and the gang. For those of you wondering, I think at the time I'm writing this I remember making mention previously that RNJR would be getting something akin to upgrades. If not, now you know. Ruby's was something of a simpler mechanic meant to boost her overall speed and leg strength tremendously, which would basically make her movements seem like her Semblance is constantly active. When she does use her Semblance with this upgrade, she quite literally becomes far too fast for mostly anyone to see her.**

 **Jaune's upgrade took a bit more time to flesh out. For starters, remember how it was mentioned his shield "warped" its shape? If anyone reading has seen Avengers: Infinity War and remembers how Captain America's new shield(s) look like, I had Jaune's shield take on a similar shape, since I like those shield types, for the duration he uses the upgrade. Now, as for the mechanics of his upgrade, I did something a little interesting.**

 **Playing MHW with over 600+ hours of gameplay, I've found the longsword, charge blade, and switch-axe to be my favorite weapons. So when deciding how to upgrade Jaune, I went with the charge blade approach given his weapon already somewhat resembles one in a sense. But here's the kicker. I didn't simply make it into a charge blade. I actually changed the mechanic for storing energy.**

 **Essentailly, Jaune's shield or sword has to defend against damage meant for him, and gathers the energy of the attacks. When enough energy is gathered from blocking attacks, Jaune can either plunge his sword into his shield for a quick and incredibly deadly and** **powerful** **draw slash, or combine his sword and shield together to transition it into greatsword form to deliver a heavy and** **devastating** **cleaving blow, as he demonstrated with his opponent this chapter.**

 **Know where the inspiration for this came from? You guessed it, Black Panther. T'Challa's newer suit in that film absorbed kinetic damage and redistributed it into a powerful concussive shockwave. In Jaune's case, he absorbs any damage that he can take with his sword and shield, and then combines them together to perform either of the two powerful cutting attacks mentioned above.**

 **Next time, we cover Ren and Nora, move back to Dante, and then have the group move on to the final road block of this section of the arc, allowing us to move on closer. I know I haven't been quick with these updates recently, mainly due to minimal time that I have since I'm in my final year of college and severe exhaustion in some cases, but I'll try to get these out as soon as possible.**

 **With that, I have nothing left to say. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	39. Chapter 39: Rekindled

**Chapter 39: Rekindled**

«»

Ren and Nora leapt off of the short cliff side, an explosion blowing over them as they took a moment to catch their breath.

"What's… What's that guy's deal?!" Nora asked between breaths.

Ren only shook his head as he got his breathing back under control, "I don't know… They just attacked and separated all of us…"

"Except us! Cause, you know, we're inseparable!" Nora stated happily, earning a chuckle from Ren.

The thunderous crash ended, and the duo nodded to each other as they quickly moved around the underside of the cliff a good enough distance to throw off their attacker, peeking their heads out to find their opponent out in the field.

He was a hulk of man, mostly muscle. Nothing special about his appearance; black pants tucked into a pair of black boots, and a gray sleeveless shirt. On his face, he wore something resembling a Grimm Ursa mask that fully enveloped his head, with only a few strands of messy black hair peeking from the back of his head.

On his arms were black, bone-like cufflinks, and on the underside were large, black bone knife blades that had numerous segments spanning the blade. The segments were connected together by numerous crimson strands that resembled muscle fibers. At the back end of where the knives connected with the cuff links seemed to be embedded Dust shards, red currently inserted into the back slot for explosive fire.

Normally, one would think because of his size he'd be slow and easy enough to move around. But the fight early on proved the duo wrong. For someone his size, he moved incredibly fast, and it didn't help that he had his tremendous strength to boot. But what worried Ren the most was how quickly and powerfully he swung those segmented sword whips of his.

A single blow had cut through a tree… Not to mention the raw power the Dust crystals added…

He dreaded thinking about being hit by them…

"Nora?" Ren asked drawing her attention, "Can you make a smokescreen from here by shooting at his feet?"

She took a few moments, peeking her head out of cover and squinting her eyes.

"Yup, looks like I can make it from here!"

Ren gave her a nod and quickly circled around the cliffside as Nora prepped herself, checking the ammo drum of her launcher once more before closing it up. Leaning her head back, and letting out an exhale, she quickly sprinted opposite of where Ren ran off to and leapt up into the air over the cliffside and took aim.

The man noticed Nora, but was too little too late as three loud shots flew through the air quickly and exploded near the man's feet, forcing him to lift an arm to shield himself. Pink smoke enshrouded him entirely as his head looked everywhere. Not having it, he raised up his other arm and did a wide sweep with his chain in the hopes of hitting the hammer wielder, but felt his chain make no contact with anything.

The man was too late to notice Ren had fallen atop the man and plunged StormFlower's blades into his shoulders, making the man cry out in pain as he flailed about wildly to shake his grappler off his person. Ren missed his initial target, that being the area around the man's neck, and raised one of his weapons up to finish the deed, but was grabbed and tossed into the dirt.

He ran up to kick the teen, but Nora had charged in and swung Magnhild into the man's side to send him skidding on his feet back into a tree.

Ren quickly stood back up and shrugged his shoulders a few times to shake off the pain that shook through his body.

"Those were quite impressive attacks." The man said with a deep, booming voice, "It's quite clear the two of you work well as a pair. That means I'll have to end this as quickly as I can." The man spoke as he twirled his chains twice.

Ren focused his glance on his opponent, "Nora, we can't afford any mistakes here. We need to-"

"I know." The girl softly replied as she switched her grenade launcher into its massive hammer form, "Don't worry Ren, I won't mess up!"

With that, he gave his partner a nod and was the first to move, leaping over and in between the chains being lashed out at him as he got closer and continued firing his weapons. Ren handled a majority of the attacks, but noticed his attackers focus splitting up when he moved one of his arms and chain to attack Nora.

She too demonstrated superb dexterity under assault of the deadly chains, but it was her attacks that made the man move back, dodge, or slice into the grenades shot at him. He was put off balance, allowing Nora to slide down and through his legs, turn around, and unload a grenade shot into the man's back before she stood up, transformed her weapon, and smashed it into her opponent's head to send him stumbling forward.

Ren followed up from the front by uppercutting his foe using one of his weapons to leave a cut across his chest. Still in the air, Ren quickly twirled around and delivered a powerful spin kick into the man's face.

The duo, sure that their attacker was completely disoriented, moved in to finish him with Nora targeting his legs and Ren his head. But they themselves were caught off guard when the man seemingly recovered almost immediately from the exchange of blows and kicked Nora's hammer away from its trajectory before he backhanded the girl away from him.

Ren was caught in his mighty grip soon after, but fought back by stabbing the man's hand repeatedly until out of annoyance, he tossed ren away from him and into the ground, causing him to bounce a few times until he rolled to a stop.

The two partners slowly picked themselves up to see the man laughing heartily at them as he circled his arms around, his chains flowing freely. They had the time to regroup by the will of their opponent but he then reached into a pouch behind him and pulled out two large shards of yellow dust.

Inserting them into the attached slotting mechanism on the underside of his arm, and whipping his chains once, they crackled to life with vibrant and violently flowing lightning that cut into the earth as they trailed his path.

A chuckle emerged from him as he took slow strides forward, whipping his chains menacingly twice before pausing a brief moment and resuming, only now, he whipped them about his person continuously as he made his approach.

The idea was to intimidate them. And it was working to some extent. But now, at the very least, their unfavorable situation was somewhat salvaged now that he used lightning. And given Nora's Semblance, it would definitely provide them an advantage. Regardless, being hit with the chains directly had to be excruciatingly painful, and Ren didn't want to needlessly put Nora in danger simply for the sake of gaining an advantage.

If there was to be an opportunity to just grab them when they're at rest…

Ren's train of thought was interrupted when he quickly avoided a chain lashing down on him, while Nora raised up her her Magnhild to block the other lashing at her horizontally. Separated, the man had an easier time of keeping them from attacking him simply by preventing them from combining their attacks.

Whenever Ren moved in, he used on chain to keep him at bay while he used the other to stop Nora's advancement. Ren made no attempts to block, lest he be heavily damaged, and tried his best to weave in between the chain strikes to find something of an opening, anything usable.

But nothing was working. The man was skillfully keeping them both occupied with his chains. It wasn't until now however that Ren realized the chains moved in odd directions and flows. Sometimes when the man moved a chain, Ren expected to avoid it entirely, but the chain seemingly sought him out at times.

With no choice concerning the next strike, Ren quickly leaned back to avoid a swipe and flipped backwards and over another swing, and like he figured, the chain had sought him out. He had no option to dodge, and so he raised up his StormFlower weapon pair and blocked the strike, feeling a heavy current pass through him as he was launched into a boulder nearby.

"Ren!"

Nora's shout drew the attention of the man as he slung his other chain down on Nora, the girl using the handle end of her weapon to stop its contact with her body. Both chains were wrapped around the opposite ends of Magnhild, electrifying the girl as she resisted the pull of the man.

Little did he know, the constant flow of electricity was only making Nora stronger as she suddenly let out a roar and pulled hard enough to bring the man towards her as she spun around, chains unraveled from her weapon and slammed her explosive hammer into her enemy's chest and sent him flying.

Quickly recovering after tumbling shortly, the man dug his hands into the earth and charged Nora, this time prepared for her hammer strike. As soon as they came into close contact with each other, the man grabbed Nora's hammer, and was slowly being forced back until he used both hands. It was then Nora was the one being overpowered.

Even with the power of her Semblance, she still couldn't fully stop the immense force of her opponent, and was eventually pushed into the ground before being tossed away.

Nora flew into a rock formation, the sheer force of her crash causing the rocks to fall and bury her. Ren had already moved around the man and ran to where Nora fell and helped pull her out from the ruble.

"He's… He's too strong..!" Nora said in between breaths as she winced slightly.

Ren knew that now after seeing he easily handled Nora after she was powered up. Running was their only chance of living, but… that was only a pipe dream at this point.

"It clear to me you wish to retreat." The man spoke up in his deep voice, "And I suppose I'll allow it."

He… was going to let them leave..?

"However, I'll impose one condition." The man spoke as he took a step forward, "One may leave. The other is to be left behind."

…

…

Leave one another?

* * *

 _Dante and Ren leapt back from their exchange of blows. Ren was breathing heavily, and Dante exhaled slowly once before both he and his sparring partner relaxed their stances, stood up straight, and bowed to one another._

" _Not so bad Ren. With more practice, you'll be even more menacing with those fists of yours."_

" _Thank you, I suppose?" Ren said after having calmed down his breathing._

" _No joke, you've got some serious hand-to-hand skills. You actually made me keep my guard up the whole time."_

" _Which I imagine is a triumph in its own right?"_

" _Triumph, huh? Eh, I guess." The immortal stated with a shrug as they both sat down and drank some water from their bottles._

" _How was it at first when you discovered you were immortal?"_

 _Dante glanced at Ren briefly before he shifted his gaze up to the sky._

" _I guess… It was a bit maddening. Seeing something that should've certainly killed you happen right before your eyes? You're bound to go a little crazy. But that feeling didn't last for all too long."_

" _How come?" Ren asked._

" _A realization. If I don't have to worry about dying, then I can keep fighting without worrying about myself. Plus, what better way to scare the crap out of your enemies if you're still charging at them full speed like nothing happened at all?"_

 _That'd certainly be terrifying for someone not used to such a sight…_

" _I can certainly see it's uses…"_

" _Right?" Answered Dante, "You know what's actually scary? How well you and Nora work together."_

" _Really now?" Ren asked smiling._

" _Yeah, man. You guys works fluidly together like a really well oiled and cared after machine. Like you'd guys never break down, or something along those lines. Almost reminds me of…"_

 _He paused briefly, his gaze falling to the ground before looking back to Ren._

" _Eh, that's not all too important right now. What is important though is that you and Nora keep a tight grip on the bond you two have. Nothing will ever be more important in this life."_

* * *

"One leaves… while the other gets to survive?" Ren asked, his tone solem and his gaze falling to the ground.

"That's right young man. If you wish to leave the young lady and escape, that's fine." The man answered, "However, if you wish for her to be the one to escape, then you must be the one to remain."

Silence had fallen among them. Nora looked to Ren with concern, not for herself, but afraid that he would volunteer himself to stay behind and let her escape, something she didn't want to happen for any reason at all.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Nora's eyes lit up at Ren's sudden response.

The man looked to Ren from afar, and saw the teen glaring daggers at him.

"There's no way that I would ever leave Nora by herself. Not now, not ever." Ren responded simply as he stood up fully, "You're wasting your breath on a result you'll never get."

"Then you'll die together?" The man asked.

Ren smiled as his gaze seemingly grew sharper and more fierce.

"The only one that will be dying… is you."

"Is that so?"

"Yes…"

Ren felt immense power flowing through his body, his earlier injuries no longer painful to him as his pink Aura briefly flared around him before condensing itself to his body and vanishing.

Nora herself suddenly felt invigorated herself, and like Ren within the next moment, noticed blackened energy clinging itself to her arms, covering her fingers, hands and forearms all the way up to the center of her arms. The blackened energy formed into black, twisted armored gauntlets that were heavily plated.

Ren's black armored Gauntlets had the same twisted design, only sleeker, more elegant and not too heavy on the plating. That, and the tips of his fingers had sharper claws compared to Nora's.

As soon as Nora gripped her Magnhild, its silvery color changed to pitch black, and it became larger as it took on a more brutal form, all while still maintaining its somewhat elegant design.

Ren had briefly glanced over his newly armored hands and arms, turning his sharp gaze back to the man as his white sclerae, along with Nora's, were now a pitch black color. Taking a stance and raising up his hands, the teen readied himself to begin the fight anew as he delivered the final part of his reply.

"It is so."

"Then so be it!"

The man whipped his chain forward, but missed both his targets. Nora simply leapt back to avoid the swiped at her, but Ren…

Ren had completely vanished. That was until he showed up on front of the man and stabbed his index and central finger into the underside of the man's arm. He cried out in pain and swung down on the teen, but he was moving fast than before, striking at his opponent rapidly with his fists before kicking him in the gut and sending him skidding on his heels.

 _He's stronger?!_

The man was confounded, and totally focused on Ren. That in turn allowed Nora to position herself behind him, and pull the trigger on her enhanced Magnhild to fire off a grenade. The shot, however, did not move like a grenade. It had no angular curve, and moved straight like a beam, almost like it was a railgun.

The projectile flew through the air at near invisible speed and tore through the man's shoulder, and even after the projectile burned through him, he had been launched backwards with immense force. His only method of stopping was crashing into a boulder, and even after, he crashed through and rolled around until he stopped on his own.

There was no rest for the man, for Ren had already made his way over and began attacking his opponent numerous times, stabbing the points of his fingers into the man wherever the teen struck.

More and more, the man began to feel numb all over. It just felt like his body was getting weaker. But a human doing this much damage in such a short time? It was incomprehensible.

His train of thought was broken when Ren delivered a powerful punch to the left side of the man's face, and then followed up with a heavy palm strike under the jaw of the man to launch him up. Nora had moved in quickly as well, leaping up overhead of Ren and smashing her hammer down into her opponent's face.

His large body crashed into the earth and tore through it, leaving a gaping trail in the dirt as the man was sent into a hill that collapsed on him shortly after.

It wasn't any strange wonder that the man was having trouble using his Aura. Ren had blocked off his opponent's pressure points where his Aura was being channeled through, this preventing him from using Aura in specific sections of his body. This not only left him unprotected against Ren and Nora's onslaught, but it left him unable to counter or attack.

Ren noticed it early on, but the way the man swung those chains was too irregular. Some of their trajectories never followed their expected destinations, and went out of their way to seek either of the teens. Thus, Ren could only conclude that Aura had to be involved, and more specifically, his opponent's Semblance.

He never used this type of fighting before in a live situation. Dante had spoken off this method of targeting pressure points to debilitate the enemy, and even trained with Ren so that he too could use this style. But he wasn't strong enough at the time to reciprocate it effectively, and thus never used it in combat.

Until now.

"He won't be getting up after that…"

Almost as if fate was challenging her, electrified chains shot out from the smokescreen, and almost hit Nora where it not for Ren. He had moved in front of her, grabbing hold of chains with his armored hands as he fell to his knees from the intense electricity coursing through him.

"Ren!"

Ren's eyes opened at the calling of his name, the pain seemingly lessening as a burning fury welled up within him, overtaking the sensation of pain he felt. With a loud roar, Ren stood up on both feet, and with a mighty pull, yanked his enemy out of the smoke.

The man couldn't understand what was happening. All he saw after he was pulled towards Ren was the teen's black armored fist crush in itself in the center of his enemy's face, and sent him flying.

Just when his torment had seemingly ended, Nora had already zipped off to the other end where he was heading towards, and was rocketed high up into the air by the brutal force, and equally brutal looking Magnhild.

Ren had ran towards his partner, and leapt up on the head of her hammer before she spun around and quickly launched Ren in the air with a mighty swing. Like a bolt of lightning, the teen surged through the sky with intense speed, passing his enemy before he too spun around, reared back his arm, and smashed his fist into the man's chest.

The next few moments could only be described as if one was watching a shooting star of pink light crashing into the earth, making a huge crater in the process.

Ren stood at the center, breathing heavily as he removed his fist from his enemy and took a few steps back.

The man's body was battered and beaten beyond recognition. And it didn't quite seem like he was alive either. If he was…

…

Ren had listened closely and waited. And waited.

…

No heartbeat. Which meant it was safe to assume the man had died.

Ren let out a sigh, and failed to notice he was stumbling backwards until he felt a pair of hands supporting him.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded to Nora's question, "Yes… I'm alright… Somewhat…"

Nora giggled at that as Ren found his footing. Both had watched the blackened armored break off of their hands like ash, floating up into the air before vanishing moments later. Magnhild had even returned to its original form as well, and Ren's StormFlower weapons were in his hands once again.

"Do you have any idea what just happened? Because I have no idea what heck just happened…"

Ren had hidden his weapons, and stared at his hands briefly before smiling.

"I think I have an idea. But I don't think I can totally be sure until…"

Ren turned his head in the direction of approaching footsteps and sighed in relief once he saw it was Ruby and Jaune that approached them.

"You guys okay?!" Jaune asked as he came to a stop.

"We're fine. I assume the both of you handled your attackers accordingly?" Ren asked.

"Of course!" Ruby said proudly placing her hands on her hips.

"That's good… What about Dante? And your uncle?"

Ruby and Jaune looked between each other briefly before Ruby answered Ren's question.

"Dante made sure to put a barrier around Qrow before we were separated. But… we haven't seen Dante at all."

"Do you think he's okay?" Nora asked worriedly.

"Knowing him, he's probably trying to find us right now. Question is… how can we make it easier for him to find us? Or even find him for that matter?" Jaune pondered.

They all looked between each other, and noticing a flash off to the side, Jaune's eyes lit up as he got between everyone and expanded his shield.

A bolt of flame had crashed against his white shield, protecting his allies as the flames pushed past them.

Looking up, they saw a figure in a forest clearing, smiling at them while he pointed his finger at the group, as if his hand was imitating a gun. Wasting no time, he immediately ran.

And like he expected, the group ran after him.

They pushed through the heavily wooded forest with Ruby at the front given she was the quickest. And once they broke through the forest, they came upon a valley, with cliff sides on both sides of them that seemed to span infinitely towards the sky. A huge lake was a few hundred yards in front of them.

But there was still no one in sight.

A whistling sound carried itself through the air until it got close to the team and exploded at their feet. Jaune however once again came to the rescue as his shield blocked the blast, splitting the flames past the edges of his shield.

"To think a mere human was able to block my flames with such a small shield… I'd be impressed if you weren't such a lowly subspecies."

Their attacker approached from behind them, wearing a black pinstripe suit with grey lines, a black and grey line-pattern tie, and shining black dress shoes that seemingly had silvery plated metal covering the entire bottom soles of his shoes. On his wrists were thin, silvery bangles that looked as though different, elegant strands were woven together to form them, and on his right index finger, a ring that looked as though a draconic beast was eating its own tail. And on his waist was a grey belt with a black metal buckle resembling a Grimm-like flat dragon skull.

The man's eyes were a burning orange, his irises black slit pupils that stared deep into the souls of the teens as he slowly and proudly strode towards them. His chin length and slightly mess platinum hair blew around in the breeze that swept past them all.

He also looked young, maybe twenty from what the group could tell.

The man stopped a few dozen yards away from the group, keeping his smug smile on his face as he glanced over them all. Then, without warning, he raised his right hand up, clenching all but his index finger and thumb to make it resemble a handgun.

The group readied themselves for an attack, but the man only stood there, grin growing wider as he chuckled softly to himself. Then, all he did was move his arm up and behind him, and clicked his thumb down to resemble a hammer from a gun firing as a bolt of flame immediately shot out from his finger and into the rocks above.

A fiery explosion came first, then all the debris and rubble came tumbling down, blocking off the entrance.

"That was the only way in or out of this valley. Well, unless you're able to climb all the way to the top of course." He said raising up the hand he fired a bolt from while keeping the other hand in his pocket.

The man looked off to the side for a moment, placing a hand near his ear to try and attune his hearing.

"Heh… And it seems like your other friend is still a bit of a ways from here. Just like we planned."

"Are you here for Dante?!" Ruby shouted at the man.

"Hoho, well look at you little one." The man said as he glanced to Ruby.

In the next second, Ruby had almost been hit with a bolt of fire, but she found herself able to dodge just in time, allowing the bolt to only graze her cheek.

"Don't talk to me like we're on the same level, mongrel." The man cautioned, "As for that brat, well… Let's just say this visit of mine is an unsanctioned one."

"Unsanctioned?"

"That's right little insect. We were told to leave him alone, but after hearing so much about him, I couldn't help but round up a small crew. Two for the young man, the rest for you to play with and kill time."

"What do your people want with him?" Jaune asked.

"What indeed. That's for us to know and for you to not worry your scraggly blonde head over."

It didn't seem like they were going to get answers out of him, not unless they beat it out him at least…

"Well… Here's to hoping Kailêk can hold your friend long enough for me to finish with you brats. Come forth mongrels," The man said raising up both hands to urge them to come forth, "Let's see how strong you really are."

* * *

Dante broke through a clearing, and hurriedly looked around, seeing the remains of a battlefield all around him.

He took a few moments to slow down his run and come to halt, looking around the sight more clearly now that he wasn't running through. Bullet casings… Large ones.

Ruby was here. If there was anymore evidence needed, the casings were of a silver colored metal, and from picking one up and inspecting it, he saw a small marking on the side that had the initials RR.

Inspecting the area further, he could see more signs of where the battle moved to, given a few of the trees had been either scorched or cut down entirely. Most importantly, he had to find it.

He looked around, eyes quickly scanning the ground and the trees until he found what he was looking for.

An emergency marking he had taught Ruby and the others in case they were split up. The marking was hard to read, intentionally so in the event a pursuing enemy would give chase. But if one knew the secret to the marking, like the five of them did, it'd be easy to understand its meaning.

With that, he had his destination.

Or so he thought.

A few steps forward and he found himself stopping suddenly, his vision blurry as a strong sense of exhaustion swept over him, bringing him to his knees. Dante covered his head with a hand as he took deep breaths, turning himself around so that he could lean his back against the tree.

"Damn it all… The worst possible time…"

Exhaustion was finally starting to hit him, heavily too.

He could fight for days on end, weeks even.

But that was exactly the issue. He had been fighting nonstop.

Ever since regrouping with Ruby and the others, he never rested himself properly. Even sleeping was done on false pretenses just to bring a sense of comfort to Ruby that he was properly resting. But the truth was that he never slept a wink the whole time. Surely, he kept his eyes closed, but he kept all his other senses open, sharp, and vigilant for anyone or anything that would mean them harm.

Tyrian only amplified his anxiety. Aizûr and Eradûm only worsened it to an entirely different level.

And so Dante had remained vigilant, like he always was. Never resting and always making sure everyone else was safe regardless of the consequences to him. He may have been entirely unkillable, but he was still able to get exhausted under the right circumstances.

No sleep, no time to rest properly… It wasn't a mystery as to why this was happening.

The only thing of real concern to him were two things. His Aura Reserves, and RNJR.

He needed to get a move on and help them, but his Aura Reserves were fairly low, another consequence of his weeks on end without rest.

"If it was the old me fighting…"

"Do you plan on reversing time to be your younger self?"

Dante's gaze snapped up to the shadowy figure in front of him that oozed inky black Aura from its person in great quantities. It looked like him when he used his Shadow Skin…

It was the Proxy…

"I was wondering when you'd show your face again…"

"You already know when exactly I appear."

"I have an idea of when, nothing more." Dante replied simply, "But now… Now I just don't know."

The shadowy figure knelt down to Dante, so that they could be eye level, "I think we both know why I am here."

"Words of mysticism I suppose that'll allow me to win in this situation."

"Funny, but no." The shadow spoke with a wave of its hand, "You say that you are at your limit right now, but is that really the truth?"

Dante gave the shadow a quizzical glance, "I don't follow."

"Don't play coy." The shadow spoke as it grabbed hold of the teens cheeks, turning his head to make sure he saw him, "You know what I speak of."

The immortal brushed away the cold spectral hand, "That is _never_ going to be an option."

"You've already realized it. You realized it since that lunatic attacked you. You realized it when the two dragons attacked you. And now…"

Now…

"You know there's no longer any room for reservations if you wish to protect them."

Even so…

"Is it really the only I option I have now?" Dante asked.

"You can stay here and let them die of course. But I suppose that's something that won't quite do."

…

…

There really was no other option…

"Look inside yourself. You know it's there. It's always been there, waiting for you to unlatch the door. Rekindle the flame."

With the Proxy's last words, it dissolved in the air, scattering like blackened ashes as Dante watched them vanish one by one. He let out a sigh, pushing himself off the tree as he plunged his sword into the ground, where he then sat in "seiza", placing his hands atop his thighs near his knees. Closing his eyes, he let himself drift as darkness took him.

 **("Blades of Chaos" Extended OST, God of War 4)**

The immortal walked the long dark upon a surface of water, each step he took making him feel all the more uneasy. When he first came to Remnant and discovered _it_ was still here, he made sure it stayed here and was never used.

Now… It brought upon him a sense of shame that he needed to come back here and re-obtain it. To use it just so he could win. And he hated the fact it was necessary, that it all came down to this.

This… This was his greatest burden. A painful reminder of the past he left behind, the people he once called friends. Just thinking about it brought on a powerful rush of all the terrible things he had ever experienced.

But for them…

…

For them, he would have come here at any time if it was the only option left.

Dante was eventually met by two large black metal doors that stood leagues above him in height, decorated with countless waves that resembled energy, and countless devils swallowed up by those waves.

It took some effort, but he managed to quickly push the doors open and step on through.

Seeing it made him stop in his tracks, forcing him to bite his lip as he let out a heavy sigh and reluctantly stepped forward. Each step only made him want to turn back all the more, but it needed to be done.

It was funny. Those phrase was all he ever needed to go through with his crazy ideas and plans. "It needed to be done". "It was necessary". All those times, he was never afraid. But now…

He was terrified.

Dante stood face to face with _it_ , a deathly chill washing over him as his gaze fell on its form. His hand slowly reached out, and the cold grew with intensity as his hand touched it, his eyes closed in solemn silence.

…

"The time for reservations… is over. I can't afford to play around any longer like I have been. I won't let the past repeat itself. I… I will do whatever it takes to protect what I want."

(1:01)

His eyes opened, a more hardened gaze staring back at his Shadow Skin, standing in front of him like a suit of armor with its clawed hands resting atop the pommel of a black longsword.

This wasn't the same thing he had been using all this time. This… This stood as a testament. A physical representation of the Dark Power he once thought had left him. But he knew the truth all along.

It had never left. That power was weak to the point it was mere embers, but it survived. Knowing this, the immortal deliberately placed it under lock and key, that way he'd never use it on accident, only if he willingly did so of his own accord. As his new powers grew, so did his old Dark Powers, albeit at a very minimal rate.

He intentionally neglected them.

Now though… Now was the time to take back what was his and use it to protect, regardless of the painful past it reminded him of.

(1:30)

"You never really knew when to call it quits, did you? Then again, that is part of the reason you're here as well."

Dante turned his head to see from the corner of his a familiar figure. It was a being completely wrapped in glowing white robes, and brilliant wings of pure white. Blonde strands of long hair, and golden colored eyes stared at the back of the immortal.

"Like a moth to the flame, you come running back once matters take a turn for the worse. This is the fool I lost to?"

"Aultus… Still lingering about are you? You're supposed to be dead."

"But I am dead. The current me is but a fragment left behind, waiting to activate at just the right time."

"To spite me, no doubt." The immortal replied

"I've been watching, you know. Seeing everything through your eyes. That Shadow of yours was correct. You've neglected your wonderful power simply because of the pain it has brought you. But really Dante, you of all people should have faced facts already."

The once living Angel of The Trinity took slow strides forward until he was directly behind Dante, placing his disgusting hand on his shoulder.

"You're a monster. Always have been, always will be. Changing around your whores won't change that fact, regardless of how much they 'love' you. Trying to do good deeds and saving lives will never erase the oceans of blood you've spilled."

…

…

"You're absolutely right. I am a monster." Dante said pulling his arm back, "I'm probably the biggest monster to ever plague the entirety of Creation."

As the immortal spoke, his body quickly became blanketed in black Aura to form twisted segmented armor and his devilish head, his Shadow Skin now fully formed.

(2:18)

"But I'm not the monster you wasted ten years of your life to make." Dante spoke in a hollow, echoing voice as he backhanded the Angel's projection into oblivion and moved forwards back towards the door.

Consumed in a flash of light, Dante found himself back in reality, his entire body Shadow Skinned as he opened his eyes to show his glowing white irises and black sclerae, slowly standing back up on his feet.

(2:28)

The Shadow Skinned immortal grabbed hold of his longsword backhand style, pulling it from the ground and twirling it into its normal position as he stared down the gathering of Grimm that surrounded him.

He welcomed them openly.

The first pack of Beowolves charged in without fear, as did immortal as his feet seemingly left the ground barely as he surged forward almost instantly, spun around, and hacked through the first flock of five in a single swing.

More filtered in, confident in their numbers as they pressed the attack, but Dante leapt up into the air above the swarm of Beowolves and surged downwards into a powerful, explosive sword slam of violent black and white Aura that shredded the poor creature into chunks of meat.

The Ursi soon followed, clumsy swinging their massive arms at the teen as he effortlessly moved between them, his body disappearing and reappearing in black blurs among their ranks as he stabbed and hacked them to pieces. Eventually he leapt on top of one and plunged its sword into his skull, then turned to continue the onslaught.

He leapt from one Ursa to next, delivering a killing stab to one before he leapt onto another, eventually coming upon the alpha of the pack and dashing past it to take its head.

Thinking they had set a clever trap, a mixture of Ursi and Beowolves had encircled the teen, and were about to pounce on him, but he let out a quick chuckle before he back flipped out of their encirclement, gazing down on them from above.

With a loud grunt, the transformed immortal quickly spun himself around, sending out a fan of dozens upon dozens of black and white Aura swords that carpet bombed the Grimm below before he immediately twirled around once more and delivered another destructive fan of swords.

As soon as all the swords had hit the ground, half a second had passed before they all exploded in fiery blasts of the teen's Aura, completely obliterating their ranks into nothing but mere scraps of flesh and bone that dissolved soon after.

An ear piercing roar sounded through the clearing as two Berengal smashed their way out of the forest, spotting the transformed teen and charging at him after they pounded their chests. The one at the front was the first to suffer, for Dante had rapidly swung his sword twice and unleashed thin, neat waves of his black and white Aura that cut off the arms of the first Grimm to make it eat dirt.

Dante welcomed the other one head on, tossing his sword high up into the sky so that he and the Berengal could grapple each other's hands. The beast, to it's surprise, was almost immediately overpowered as Dante twisted its arms around to lock them up before he harshly tugged the creature towards him and delivered a devastating headbutt that caved the creature's face in.

Catching his sword, Dante quickly walked over to the armless Beringal, plunging his sword into the ground next to it so that he could use both hands to grab hold of its head and snap its neck with a harsh twist that almost took the Grimm's head clean off.

A pack of five from the earlier group of Beowolves thought they had snuck up behind Dante, but they thought wrong. The teen's sword was already in hand, and when he grasped the handle and pulled in opposite directions, the longsword transformed into a twisted spear, allowing the teen to stab one Grimm, and swing his spear into another and another and another until he skewered them all on his weapon.

With a quick thrust outward, he shot their corpses off his weapon as it took on its original sword form. In front of him stood more as they slowly began to step away from the Devil.

But the Blackend Devil wanted his due.

Grabbing his sword with both hands, he pulled the weapon apart to create dual blades, and dashed forward, using only one of them at first to cut apart a few of them, then performed a cross slash with both blades to cut another Grimm into pieces. Without giving pause, Dante ran forward, swinging his swords in front of him at blinding speed to the point of where his slashes seemed create perfect X shapes as he diced through the fresh meat.

To finalize his combination attack, Dante leapt up and twirled his body sideways to turn himself into a sawblade, tearing through the Grimm and the earth before he performed a final cross slash to wipe out another flock in front of him.

A quick second later, he tossed his dual blade into the other half to create the full weapon once again.

Nothing remained intact. All the Grimm were either dead, and very few were in the process of suffering slow deaths from all the pieces of their bodies that had been hacked away.

Another roar sounded throughout the forested area, this one sounding bigger than the Berengals.

But this one he recognized.

One of their biggest was on its way to play. Perhaps this one would be more of a challenge.

A column of flame bursted through the treeline and swept past Dante as he stood his ground, waiting as the thunderous footsteps grew closer with each second.

It was a Minotaur Grimm, much like the one he and Inuba fought months ago. It stood at twenty feet tall with bull-like legs and a humanoid upper torso. Only the head resembled that of a bull, with its bone white mask and glowing red eyes and red markings sprawled across the mask.

In the creature's hands was a large metal hammer that was lit aflame.

The Minotaur let out another echoing below at Dante, who continued to stand where he was, unimpressed with the creature's show of strength.

Instead, the immortal smashed his armored fists together, his sword splitting apart into four pieces. Two covered his arms and hands to form twisted, armored gauntlets, the other two blanketing his feet and legs up to his knees in more blackened armor. The adorned greaves and gauntlets bore elegant, glowing white lines and waves etched into the black metal, slowly pulsing with energy as the teen took a stance and readied himself.

The bull charged forward and swung down, but Dante easily avoided the attack and landed a solid punch to the creature's jaw to crack its mask. Angered, it tried to backhand the teen, but he instead leapt onto its massive arm and leapt up to deliver a power uppercut under its jaw to force its head up.

Dante's momentum carried him up with the creature's head, allowing him to spin around as he brought his leg all the way up to his own head and slammed his armored heel down onto the Minotaur's head to leave another nasty crack in the bone as its head collided with the floor.

The Grimm was quick to get up, grabbing hold of Dante with both hands. But no matter how hard it tried, it could not lift the teen off the ground. Instead, the teen steadily pushed away the colossal creature's hands wrapped around his body and dealt another devastating blow to its face.

The immortal, now having forced back the creature, threw his shoulder into its massive hulking body to lift it up off the ground and run with its huge body in his hands. A few moments later, Dante tossed the creature off of him and into a rock wall, and began delivering a flurry of devastating and rapid punches to wherever his hands could reach until he delivered another powerful punch to the throat to fully seat the beast.

Dante moved back a few paces, then brutally stepped on the creature's arm that held its giant hammer, completely separating it from the main body. Kicking away the arm, Dante grabbed hold of the massive hammer, took a few more steps back, then charged forward to end the best.

Swinging the hammer around and under, he landed the solid chunk of metal underneath the Minotaur's jaw to lift it into a standing position. Using the momentum of the swing, Dante had lifted himself up into the air as well, the hammer he held now high above his head before he brought it down on the beast's head with a loud roar, completely crushing it's head into paste as hammer and head met the rocky ground they stood on.

(End Song)

* * *

Dante smashed his fists together once more to discard his greaves and gauntlets to form them back into his longsword, and within the next second, his Shadow Skin dissolved from his body and scattered like ash.

Somehow… He now felt refreshed.

No, refreshed wasn't right. Surely, Dante felt better now; his Aura Reserves had been restored and his exhaustion had left him. Yes, he had been renewed, but he felt something more from this occurrence.

He now felt… just a little more complete than he used to.

Complete. That was it.

For months now, his Aura Signature had been fluctuating greatly. Sometimes his Aura was strong and vibrant, other times it was frighteningly weak. But now… everything felt balanced out.

It was the restoration. Dante had learned his "newer powers" were always his own, just locked away from ever being able to be used. And when his Dark Powers were diminished beyond usability, they undid the shackles. Even if the new set of powers were unlocked when he came to Remnant, it left a detrimental imbalance that ended up making him weaker than he was supposed to be.

But now? Balance had finally been restored.

He could feel it for the first time in his life as he glanced at his hands a brief moment, clenching his fists as he could feel his Aura flowing more freely and calmly.

Even so… He thought about it all for a few brief moments. The pain, the suffering, the tragedy; all of it came rushing back the instant Dante opened the door again. Regardless, he had already made up his mind.

The past had shackled him a great deal already. But he understood it all now. He didn't need to fight it any longer.

He was the one in control.

"Man, I round up a small army of Grimm just to take you on, and you kill them all while laughing in my face about it. Tch… you punk…"

Dante looked above towards the source of the voice, spotting him sitting above a cliffside, freely dangling and kicking a leg about.

It was a man dressed in a black biker jacket and pants. The jacket had been zipped up, and had small tufts of black fur around the neck and color. The man also wore fingerless gloves, and black boots that shone under the light of the sun. A pair of golden sunglasses covered his eyes as his messy, near shoulder length platinum hair drifted with the gentle breeze. Black headphones covered his ears, which made Dante note that the man had probably been watching the whole time as he listened to music.

He looked around twenty five years old…

"But seriously now, did you wake up pissed today brother? Because man, you seriously shredded through them like they were nothing!"

 _I don't have time for this idiot…_

Dante looked forward towards the path he believed Ruby and the others had gone and kept on walking, acting as if the man didn't exist.

That was, until the man suddenly appeared in front of Dante in an instant.

"Hey now, that's not very nice you know? I went through a lot of trouble just to set up this little shindig, you know?"

"And I really don't care if you did. Out of the way."

Dante moved forward, but the man insisted in standing in front of him.

"You know as well as I do there's no other way to go besides through me. So let's do this the old fashioned way brother. Mano a mano."

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you. Get out of my way. I won't tell you a third time." Dante spoke with a much more menacing tone as he stood just mere inches away from the man.

"Brother, you know I'm not-"

The man yelped when he narrowly avoided a stab to his throat, and leapt away from Dante.

"Hey, that was dirty!"

"Dirty?" Dante questioned with a quizzical glance, "There's no such thing in a fight. There's only winning, and that's that."

"Tch… Real serious type… Alright!"

The man reached behind him and pulled out two baton rods, the handles resembling coiled together muscle fibers while the rods themselves were thick, circular black bone. On the sides of each baton were four thin, sharp strips of outcropped bone, possibly done so to add a sort cutting effect.

 _Dual weaponry and seemingly very quick… This will be annoying..._

Dante glanced to his sword a brief moment, letting out a sigh.

 _I can't waste too much Aura on this clown. I have to end this as quickly and effectively as I possible while being superbly efficient with my Aura. But what to… Ah…_

Dante reached behind his back and sheathed his weapon, earning a confused glance from the man in front of him.

"What? Don't tell me you're giving up before we start?"

"That's not it." Dante called out as he removed his sheathed weapon from his back, "I was just taking the time I have to think quickly."

"What about?"

"How to kill you in the quickest and most efficient way possible."

The man sounded as he just tried to stifle a laugh. He was amused.

For now anyway.

"I can already tell you're a technical fighter, so regardless of what my methods are, fighting you will still be a pain and take some time. My only problem is finding which method will kill you quickest without wasting too much Aura."

"Brother, you are really starting to piss me off with that attitude of yours, thinking you're higher above me or something."

Dante pursed his lips together and hummer briefly, "That's not it either. Enemy or friend, I look down on nobody."

The immortal held his sheathed weapon at his side now as it warped it's shape to take on the form of katana. The cross guard simply shrunk down to two inch prongs, and the blade simply curved itself slightly, the sheath taking on the curve to fit the weapon properly.

 **(DISSIDA FINAL FANTASY: NT, Massive Explosion)**

"Listen and listen well." Dante proclaimed, "There isn't a single thing in this whole universe that I can't cut or kill. Be you human, Faunus, Devil, angel, or even God, it won't matter in the end. They all fall the same."

"Alright ya damn punk..! You asked for it!"

The man leapt at Dante, but the teen slid a foot back, quickly drawing his sword. In the man's eyes, Dante only pulled his sword halfway before sheathing it, yet somehow, the air around the man was filled with tens of dozens of slashes, all within an instant as their energistic zing sounded through the air.

His body was littered with cuts immediately as those slashes appeared around him.

"Damn, you got some bite to ya! Alright youngster! Kâlek's the name! Best you remember it after I beat you down!"

"Then and take a piece of me. If you can." The immortal challenged.

Kâlek spared no time and charged straight for Dante, watching the teen slide back a bit before he kept doing his near invisible draw slashes that unleashed a flurry of slashes wherever the man went.

He could only run around. Stopping meant death, that much was certain.

It took him some effort but the man leapt in close to Dante, attempting an uppercut that failed before the immortal began countering his opponent using only his sheathed sword. He didn't even draw the weapon, and simply continued to smack Kâlek with the scabbard hard enough to make him feel it whenever he left an opening for Dante to exploit.

Speaking of an opening, the man had thought he finally found his, but this too proved to be a faulty triumph. With that same blinding speed, Dante draw slashed once, but two cuts appeared on the man's batons. And on the last strike, the immortal actually drew his weapon for a quick and powerful slash that left a deep cut across his enemy's chest.

Kâlek didn't falter, he kept himself moving, assaulting Dante from every angle he could using his batons and kicks.

But it was all too easy. It was all so much simpler now.

The immortal's defense was frustratingly on point an nigh impossible to penetrate given how quickly he reacted to everything thrown at him.

It almost terrified Kâlek that someone of Dante's age could perform such feats against him of all people.

Even so, he still had a trick up his sleeve.

Kâlek took quick note of Dante, seeing the teen lean forward a bit as his feet glided over the ground in a blindingly fast dash. During this short dash, the immortal quickly drew his sword entirely this time before twirling and sheathing it once more, leaving a trail of slashes in the path he traveled.

But his opponent was smart enough to jump high up into the air to avoid the attack.

No, being smart had nothing to do with it. It was either just dumb luck or a survival instinct that kicked in.

"Alright brother, time to really lay the hurt on you!"

"I'm still waiting."

Kâlek let out an angered laugh and charged forward again, and Dante only shook his head as he too ran forward, hand hovering over his sheathed katana to cleave the man in two as soon as he approached.

As soon as he was within striking distance, the teen did exactly as he intended, only he missed somehow.

Dante twisted his body around and delivered a high side kick to stop the baton about ready to strike him over the head.

The teen couldn't quite understand what was happening now. Every now and then when he was sure he was about to deliver a killing blow to Kâlek, he missed every swing and stab as his opponent danced around him with a smug look.

Once again, baton and blade clashed against one another, but the man still had a few tricks to show. He quickly tapped his other baton against the butt of the other one and spun around to deliver another p

Dante noticed something odd, rather, he noticed something was missing.

Where was the other baton?

He soon found his answer when the man swapped hands and the other baton found itself harshly crashing against the back of teen's skull. Kâlek let out a triumphant laugh as he went in to deliver a deathly swing at the teen's head.

To his surprise, the immortal raised up his sheathed weapon and stopped the blunt tool from proceeding entirely. Wide eyed, the man did nothing in that next moment but watch as Dante smashed his fist into Kâlek's face to send him flying.

The teen scratched the back of his head where had been struck, then propped his weapon in front of him, resting his hands on the butt of the katana.

"Now… you have my undivided attention." The immortal replied.

Kâlek let out an angry roar as he ripped off his shattered sunglasses and readied his batons.

But now, he held them in an odd position, as if they were…

 _Nunchucks… How quaint…_

Now the immortal understood the blow from behind.

Kâlek began twirling his nunchucks around himself, going at a slow pace before gradually speeding up to a blindingly fast pace. That wasn't all however.

Lightning began to gather at the rods from the intense circulation of wind. The man let out another roar as he leapt up into the air, and slammed one of his nunchucks into the ground, unleashing three separate torrents of jagged lightning that were on collision with the teen.

As if that could stop him.

Dante's feet seemingly left the ground only barely as he dashed forward to face the bolts of lightning head on. Then, in a rapid series of blurs, Dante's hand and sword moved at blindingly fast speeds as he continued his dash, cutting through three different bolts of lightning as he quickly approached his target of interest.

Yet again Kâlek began twirling his nunchucks around rapidly, erecting a barrier of lighting around his person as Dante's blade screeched closer and closer. While the lighting barely did enough to stop the immortal's sword from cutting through it, it gave the man plenty of opportunity to retreat.

 _What the hell is this kid?! I heard he was some sort of freak, but this?! This is just insane!_

The man's train of thought was broken when he felt something and looked behind him, seeing Dante already waiting for him and swinging his sword.

Another large cut had been run across the body of the man, but as Dante went in for seconds, the man dodged over him and crashed into the ground.

There was no choice. It was time to use it.

Kâlek's golden Aura flared up around his body, and then, he vanished.

The immortal's eyes widened before he was struck from behind, but he quickly spun around while lashing out his sword to catch his attacker, if that was even possible.

Dante had now taken a more defensive approach now that his attacker had shown his hand. Striking randomly would only waste energy and time, so he decided the best approach was to stay were he was and continue defending until he found a clear pattern of attack.

The attacks were too random, almost as if it were…

Kâlek had ended his onslaught, appearing in the air above Dante as he used his lightning to keep him standing in the air.

"Alright brother! This ends here!"

The man twirled his nunchucks around, this time faster than before. Bolts of lighting began appearing around Dante to in what seemed to be the hundreds to form an inescapable dome.

…

 _It would seem I have to use it. Even if for but a few brief moments._

Dante drew his sword from his sheath, and pointed it up at his enemy, his sharp gaze focused on him before he swung outwards. A burst of black Aura completely swallowed up his entire body, vanishing moments later to reveal the twisted, black armored form of his Shadow Skin.

But it was different. The armor was less heavily plated, and now more sleeker, elegant. Even his horns were slicked back slightly at a diagonal angle. And the scabbard he held for his katana… it seemingly grew an outcrop of two connected bones that folded together in a V shape, one that attached itself to the arm and the other to the scabbard, fusing the two together.

Kâlek would have lied to say he wasn't a slight bit intimidated with the new form, but it didn't matter. He had Dante in an inescapable iron maiden of sorts. There was no hope or even chance of escape.

Little did he know, Dante didn't need to escape this meager prison of lighting.

All he had to do was shatter it to pieces.

With a forceful swing of his nunchucks, Kâlek called down the cage of lightning bolts as they glowed more vibrantly with energy, and were ready to strike.

"You think something this petty has a chance of stopping me?" Dante called out in a hollow, echoing voice.

Kâlek's smug smile vanished as he watched the transformed teen slide his foot back into a stance, his blackened, clawed hand hovering his katana as his black and white Aura blazed brilliantly around him.

"Don't get ahead of yourself..! You trash!"

Dante had seemingly slid forward, but apparently also in numerous different directions in a circular angle around him.

They were but afterimages as both he and his "look alikes" vanished instantly. Then, within the next instant, every single bolt of lighting had been slashed and cut out of existence. Within the last second, Kâlek could only watch as Dante knelt on the ground, drawing his katana over the top of his scabbard before slowly inserting the weapon, pausing very briefly before forcefully pushing the weapon back into it's place of rest.

And then… Kâlek found himself littered with dozens upon dozens of deathly cuts around his entire body before he fell to his knees gasping for air, then feel flat into the earth.

(End Song)

* * *

Dante slowly stood up as his Shadow Skin vanished afterwards, allowing the teen to rub the back of his neck freely and stretch it out.

He took one final glance at his seemingly defeated opponent and turned to walk away.

As he did, the bloody and cut apart Kâlek stood in front of him, ready to bash the teen over the head with his baton. Dante drew his sword to counter, then grasped it with both hands to begin his motion of cutting down the man.

But, everything began to move slowly, to the point Dante seemed frozen. Kâlek smiled victoriously as he stood a short distance away from Dante and rushed forward to deliver what would have been a finishing blow.

He, however, did not see Dante twirl his sword into backhand style and thrust his sword behind him. Just as he expected, his katana had met Kâlek's heart.

The man coughed up blood, wide-eyed as his weapons clattered to the ground, his hands weakly grasping the sword now embedded in his chest.

"There's no… fucking way… you could have…"

"I'll admit this much. Your efforts in hiding what your Semblance's capabilities are were somewhat impressive given your… boisterous personality. But your 'suicide' attack essentially confirmed it for me." Dante spoke as he slowly turned around to face his attacker, holding his weapon steady.

The man angrily glared at Dante, weakly reaching out with one hand, but just falling short of the immortal.

"Your Semblance is something of a reversal. It allows you to place yourself directly behind your enemy so that you can deliver some sort of sneak attack, given that they are unaware of your abilities of course."

"How did you..?"

"Know? It was quite simple really. The set up of my previous attack is what helped me. Usually when an opponent disappears right from your very eyes, there are only two assumptions to make. They're either directly behind you or above you."

"That's..! A fifty fifty guess! You… couldn't possibly..!"

"I did check above first. Hence why my sword was raised up so high. Then, after seeing you weren't above me, I was absolutely certain you would strike from behind."

Kâlek's angered expression changed to that of surprise when he truly realized what had happened.

"You… You set me up..!"

Dante's smirk grew, "That's right. That feeble attempt to counter you and intentionally leaving myself open was nothing more than bait. Considering you were desperate to finish me off, it was only logical that you'd take it."

"You're… a real freak..! A monster..!"

"And? What of it?" Dante asked as he plunged his blade deeper into the man, slightly churning his tool of destruction to inflict more pain, "True as it may be that I'm a sort of freakish monster, that doesn't change where my allegiances lie. To humanity and Faunus kind, for starters. But more importantly… to those whom I wish to protect."

The man weakly groaned and gasped for air as he tried to grab hold of Dante a final time.

"You and your comrades stabbed the Devil in the back without even realizing it. And so, the Devil's claimed his dues. You can come at us all you like. It won't make a difference." Dante said as he grabbed hold of his attackers face with his free hand, "This 'monster' will always be ready to greet you and cut you out of existence without fail. That, I promise."

With his final words spoken, Dante pushed his opponent of his katana, letting his body crash to the ground with a heavy thud. The immortal whipped his blade outward of him to completely remove any bloodstains, and sheathed his weapon as he began leave.

But once again, he found himself irritated that he had to stop.

Kâlek has used whatever strength he had to lunge at Dante, his body glowing with lighting inside. He was going to destroy them both with this blast. Or so he thought.

The immortal paused for a brief moment, drawing his katana out of his sheath and quickly twirling it above his head twice before slashing it down in front of him. Kâlek had frozen entirely, letting out one last groan of pain as he watched Dante twirl his weapon once, slide it across the top of his scabbard, and slowly sheathed his weapon.

As soon as the weapon had fully been place back into its sheath, the man's body burst with fountains of blood as his body fell into dozens of pieces.

All that remained of him was a small portion of his cut apart torso, and half of his head.

The immortal let out a relaxed sigh, knowing now his opponent had finally been defeated.

"So annoying…" he said as he took strides forward.

But he stopped briefly, raisin up his bandaged right hand to stare at it.

It was hurting less. Brief flashes of negligible pain were still present, but it hurt far less than it did previously.

Lowering it to his side, he glanced ahead and began running once more. He already wasted enough time with his opponents. Now, he needed to make haste to help the others.

And destroy the enemy foolish enough to attack them.

* * *

 **(Omake: It's All in the Poses, by me)**

"Damn Brother, you're pretty strong!" Kâlek commented to Dante, "What's your secret?"

"Secret?" The immortal questioned.

"Yeah! Everyone's got some sort of secret to make 'em as strong as they are! So what's yours?"

Dante brought a hand to his chin as he genuinely began to think about it.

"The first, healthy meals. An obvious, yet still crucial one."

Kâlek pulled out a pen and notepad and began taking notes.

"The second, daily exercises in the hundreds. Such as one hundred pushups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundreds, and a 10 kilometer run. Every day."

"Got it, got it!" Kâlek said as he continued taking notes.

"Third, long warm baths for at least an hour or less. It helps relax the muscles and helps sweat out any nastiness that would make you sick."

"Good, good!"

"Lastly!" Dante exclaimed as he tapped the butt of his scabbard against the ground and placed his hands on the pommel of his katana, "The poses!"

"The… poses?"

"Yes! They are absolutely of crucial necessity!"

"You're kidding, right?!"

"Absolutely not. Have you ever seen JoJo's Bizarre Adventure? The proof is evident. Poses are everything!"

"Alright, if you say so!" The man said taking the last of his notes, "Awesome! I guess with all of this stuff, I'm bound to be a kick ass maniac when it comes to a fight!"

Dante stood a distance away, smiling faintly. But his thoughts betrayed his expression.

 _This fool has no idea that he's now lost._

* * *

 **(Weapons Illustrated 17)**

"Heya guys. I'm Dante."

"And I'm Ruby!"

"And today we bring you…" they said in sync as they posed together, waving their hands, "Weapons Illustrated!"

A small party horn sounded in the background as confetti blew around them.

"Been a while since we done this. Let's hope we still got it." Dante said stretching himself out.

"We totally got this!" Ruby affirmed.

Dante checked the sheet of paper in his hands with Ruby, and both froze up when they saw what was on it.

"I-Is that..?"

"Yeah…" Dante answered Ruby, "Seems like it unfortunately…"

"What do we do?"

Dante let out a sigh before crumpling the piece of paper and tossing it away.

"What we always do for the segment. Even if we're going to be a little bit… reluctant."

Dante cleared his throat before he began again.

"Alright, bit of a surprise, but today we're going to be talking about… ugh… Aizûr's weapon."

"Oh? I swear I heard someone call my name…"

Ruby and Dante looked to their left to see Aizûr standing a few feet away from the duo, calmly waving "Hello" to them.

"W-When did you get here?! And how?!"

"I was in the audience the whole time. Couldn't you see me waving at you?" The dragon masked man asked.

"N-No… I didn't…" Dante admitted.

"Oh well. Can't be helped." Aizûr said shrugging, "Now then, I believe you're talking about my weapon today?"

"Y-Yeah… But, we don't know the name of your weapon… So…"

"That's an easy one. It's name is Ephîldûr."

"Not bad." Dante commented with his arms crossed, "So, why don't we state some facts we 'think' we know and you confirm them?"

"That sounds good. I'm actually eager to hear what kind of theories you've created since the time we fought."

"There is one thing I know for a fact… Your sword is able to phase through objects."

"Yes and no. Be more specific."

Dante took a moment to think, glancing over the battle in his memories.

"It doesn't just phase through anything! It specifically phases through inorganic matter!"

"Bravo! You seemed to have figured it out. My sword allows me to bypass most armored enemies to deliver deathly blows. In the case of clashing swords, should someone block me while the phase effect is active, not only would my weapon pass through the weapon or their armor, but it'd leave a fairly nasty cut I'm afraid. As you discovered for yourself." Aizûr explained.

"Yeah…" Dante commented, "But I did figure out a way to counter it."

"Did you now? Do tell."

"Well, from what Dante told me, your ability works by vibrating at super high frequencies right? So if someone has a weapon or object that vibrates at the same frequency or higher, it cancels out your ability."

Aizûr chuckled silently to himself as he raised a hand to his chin.

"Impressive, young man. You got all that just from a single encounter? You're a pretty scary kid, you know?"

"Whatever… There any other tricks up your sleeve with that weapon?"

"Nope."

"What about what it's made of?"

"Can't say."

"Can't say?" Dante questioned, "You don't know or you won't say?"

"Can't say."

The immortal groaned audibly at how easily Aizûr was making fun of him.

And the dragon masked man laughed silently another time.

"I-I guess… That's it for today's segment…" Ruby stated awkwardly, scooching closer to Dante.

"What? Over so soon?"

"Well, there's not much else to cover, so…"

"But there's so much more!" Aizûr interjected, "At least, now you know there is. Who knows? It might be my turn soon enough again."

"I'll die before I left that happen…" Dante murmured.

"I suppose it would be time to call it a day then. Alright everyone, we'll be seeing each other again soon enough. Bye bye now!" Aizûr waved.

* * *

 **I'm very late, I know. Exhaustion, work, and illness that lasted for about week made it incredibly difficult to do much of anything. But now it's here, so no worries. Yay.**

 **So, Nora and Ren. For Ren, I had this idea of him using pressure point targeting for the longest of times. I can honestly see him doing it. So when thinking of his "upgrade", that's what I rolled with, only it had an added effect. That effect is disabling Aura whenever he struck an area of the pressure point. Not only would a person's Aura shielding fail them in that specific Area where he struck, but the Aura wouldn't flow or work properly in that struck Area. Bit of a simple one here, but I liked it.**

 **Nora was a bit of a challenge. I almost had no idea what to do for her, but thankfully, Xera Stark came to the rescue and helped me flesh out her upgrade. And as you saw for yourselves, that upgrade was in the form of a railgun of sorts. Instead of grenades, rail gun shots. And when in hammer form and pulling the trigger, the hammer had the added force of a railgun shot. Essentially, this was an upgrade to make the ever strong Nora even stronger.**

 **Now then... Dante...**

 **Yes, you saw correctly. A fragment of his original power survived, albeit a very very tiny fragment. As Dante worked on growing his new powers throughout his time so far in Remnant, his old powers steadily grew back at a slow pace. To clarify, he doesn't just get everything back by reactivating them. Like with his new powers, he mostly has to start from the beginning again. So, that's that. Unless there's more questions or needs of clarification.**

 **With that, I have nothing left to say. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

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 **Bye-bye now!**


	40. Chapter 40: Shadow and Flame

**Chapter 40: Shadow and Flame**

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"Tch… That little punk… 'Oh, look at me how I rounded up this army of Grimm!'. He forgets to mention it was my sorry ass that rounded them all up…" Spoke a woman as she overlooked the battlefield Dante fought in, and was currently retreating from.

"You know him, always wanting to puff out his chest at great accomplishments."

The woman turned, and found the dragon masked man behind her.

"Well look who slithered out of hiding. Where've you been all this time?"

"Oh, you know me, out and about really." Aizûr said as he walked forward and stood next to the woman.

"That 'kid' of yours you set your eye on… He's a real freak, you know that?"

"Hmmm… Freak isn't what I would call him. Unique if anything."

"I guess…" the woman said shrugging, "You know, all that aside, I think he'd be great for my little game. Don't you?"

Aizûr chuckled to himself, "Perhaps. But now isn't the time for games."

"Stingy lizard… You just want to watch him in action yourself, don't you?"

"Perhaps. He is quite interesting, you know?" Aizûr stayed turning his masked face to the woman.

"Yeah I guess…" the woman said with a sigh, "So what now?"

"Hard to say really. So far, both he and his friends have taken care of the deserters. Most of them anyway."

"Ah right. That young punk who thinks he's all that just cause he's got some mild fire. I think the humans are dealing with him right now."

"That they are."

"And? How's that going?"

"Not all too good. But it's to be expected given it's him." Aizûr stated.

"What about the fox that was with the kid?"

"I've mislead her and put enough obstacles in her way to keep her occupied. For now anyway. Though, given she senses danger on approach to her 'Master', she's tearing through anything in her path. It's actually fairly endearing to see."

"Yeah, like you're one to talk about emotions…" the woman scoffed.

"Now now, you should know better than that. I'm simply… more reserved by comparison."

"If you say so." The woman said shrugging, "By the way, that meddler you told me about? Guess who asked our little deserters for a favor?"

Aizûr let out a sigh, the gaze behind his mask looking up towards the sky.

"So it was her after all…"

"What are we going to do about her?"

"Nothing. For now."

"What, you serious?!" The woman asked as Aizûr began to walk away, "Hey, this isn't a joke ya damn reptile! This is serious! She's planning some serious shit! Don't you think we should do something 'bout it?!"

"We could. But as far as we've been told as to taking any sort of action, we're on standby until The Calling. Until then, we're free to do as we please so long as we don't openly expose our identities." Aizûr spoke, pausing to glance over his shoulder at the woman.

"Yeah, but..! Damn it!" The woman held a hand on her hat and ran in front of Aizûr to stop him, "Shouldn't _we_ do something about it?! What about Erêntîel?! Calîgâr?! Hell, bring Eradûm for the ride just to make it easier!"

"We're uncertain of Calîgâr's location at the moment. Erêntîel has decided to stay out of any and all of our affairs unless she's specifically called upon for The Calling. And given it's her we're talking about, I and everyone else have decided to respect her wishes. Eradûm won't so much as lift a finger if it means helping humanity or The Faunus."

"Then..!" The woman bit her lip, understanding how unrealistic it'd be for just the two of them to go.

"Besides, this isn't our trial to complete. It's his."

The woman turned around, watching Dante finally disappear into the clearing as he let out a heavy sigh.

"I seriously think you puff up the kid way too much…"

"Heh… Perhaps. But if you watch him long enough, you'll see in him exactly what I see. And you may just well be surprised."

* * *

Jaune flew back into the group as Ren and Nora helped stop his tumble, allowing the knight to quickly get back up and raise his shield up to defend them all from the deadly bolts of fire.

"That shield of yours is annoyingly resilient, mongrel. I must applaud you."

Jaune winced slightly to shake off the painful reverberations through his arm. He may have successfully blocked the attack, but it's power was still great for such a small attack.

Their overall efforts haven't gone so splendidly either. He brushed off almost every attack with ease, and even his seemingly smaller attacks would likely perform an incredible amount of damage if his bolts of flame were anything to go off of.

And his speed… It practically matched Ruby's Semblance on a natural level.

Worst of all, he hadn't suffered a single scratch…

"As pointless as it is for you mongrels to attack me, I must admit that you're at least allowing me to alleviate some of my boredom."

"What're we going to do?!" Nora whispered.

"We're going to need much more force if we're going to even want to lay a scratch on him." Ren stated.

More force…

…

 _I guess now's a better time than any…_

At Beacon before it fell, Dante had crafted special bullets for Ruby's use that were of the same material as his sword. But he didn't make all too many magazines of the special bullets, given that he didn't have enough resources to make more. The reaper had never used them, as Dante explained to her once that they should only be used for the toughest of enemies, and even then, they were to be used sparingly.

"If I can disappear for a bit, I think I can lay a few shots into him if you guys can keep him distracted." Ruby stated.

"Then we'll do just that." Jaune said looking back at Ren and Nora, "You two ready?"

"You bet!"

Ruby was the first to move forward, and slashed at the man with Crescent Rose, an attack he easily stopped with his bare hand. He went to backhand her across the face, but she already blurred out of sight, leaving Jaune the one to take her place in attacking.

He made a few good and quick swipes, but the man was still moving too fast to be hit by them. In fact, he seemed bored by Jaune. In an effort to swat Jaune away, he moved to brush his knuckles against the Knight's face, but found them knocking against Jaune's shield.

It may not have sent the teen flying like he wanted, but at the very least he moved the irritating "thing" away from him. Ren and Nora were the next two to move in and begin their assault, darting and weaving around each other to combine their attacks into a constant onslaught of strikes.

The man only had to block them, not giving much effort into dodging save for when the two teens seemingly were about to damage his suit. When he had the chance, the man grabbed hold of both their wrists, splint hem around and powerfully tossed them into the wall behind Jaune as he worked on shaking off the violent and painful vibrations from the shock he absorbed with his shield.

"Come now mongrels, is that the best you have to offer me? I go out of my way to meet you here on the field to see how you would fair against me, and this is all you have to offer me?"

The man stopped in front of them, realizing now they were only three.

A sudden change in the wind caught his attention as he moved his hand behind him and blocked the sniper bullet that was about to hit his head with his palm.

Another shot rang out from opposite of him, and this time instead of blocking it, he caught the bullet between his fingers and threw it off to the side as if it were a ball of paper.

"So that's where you were… Clever."

This time the man paid attention and heard the actual shot, and turned his head towards the oncoming bullet, smiling arrogantly as he watched it come closer. He only chuckled at the attempt, and raised his hand up to block the small chunk of metal that was supposed to kill him.

But he was surprised when he felt a small twinge of pain flood his senses, slowly watching the white and black bullet actually penetrate his hand. Had he not moved his head to the side, the bullet would have gone through it as well.

The man growled as he shook off his hand, "You dare injure me, you lowly human?!"

He extended his hand as the tips of his fingers glowed red hot, and shot out bolts of orange flame in a fan towards a clearing nearby, and set off a chain reaction of explosions that decimated anything in their path.

Ruby had already cleared out, zooming in with her Semblance and swiping her scythe at the man's neck.

While she wasn't shocked that her scythe didn't even cut into him, she still visibly winced before backflipping away, and making use of her Semblance to avoid a cone shaped blast of flame.

The reaper appeared in front of her three friends, and took deep breaths to rest herself as much as she could. For all she knew, the stranger wouldn't give them anymore breathing room.

Then, all of them looked to the man as he showed them his hand, flesh growing back into the gap left by Ruby's bullet, although it grew back at slow pace.

 _Even though a White Nail Bullet actually hurt him…_

Ruby narrowed her eyes in frustration, and the man took note of her distraught, laughing to himself.

"What? Did you really think your feeble bullets could do any real damage to me? I admit, you managed to injure me, if only for a brief moment." The man said lowering his hand with a twisted smile, "Which begs the question… How many more of those special bullets do you have exactly? Not too many I would imagine."

She only had five left…

Ruby had hoped the man would have continued being arrogant and let the bullet make contact to trick him into thinking it wouldn't harm him. It worked at first, but the plan fell apart quick when the man reacted fast enough to save himself.

The only way she would even hope to stop him with a White Nail bullet was to catch him totally off guard. But how would they go about that when their opponent moved and reacted quicker than them, and had durable skin that couldn't be cut or shot through by conventional weapons?

"I applaud you, mongrels. You've done well to survive this long against me." The stranger raised up his hand as fire flowed freely, and gathered in the air above him, "As a reward, I'll allow you to die now in a semi-quick manner by turning you all into ash."

A large sphere of flame had formed, its glow vibrant and powerful as RNJR could now feel an intense heat spread out from the area the man stood. It's glow bright enough that everything around them seemed to darken.

As the stranger reared back his arm, he laughed maniacally as he shot his orb of flame forward at them.

Ruby grimaced at the oncoming projectile, sliding a foot back to prepare herself. If she was lucky, that strange power from before was going to activate, and she'd be able to cut through the ball of flame.

If not…

Her body glided forward with her Semblance, feet almost off the ground as she surged forward, feeling the power welling up inside her and moving its way through all corners of her body. Wisps of black encircled her legs as Crescent Rose slowly began to take on its alternate form.

But before it could fully activate, a white and black longsword came down from the heavens with frightening speed, piercing through the sphere of flame and reducing it to mere sparks before Ruby.

And then… he appeared.

Dante suddenly stood in front of Ruby, grabbing the handle of his longsword Anvil and drawing it from the earth as he glared at the draconic man in front of him.

"You bastard..! Who the hell are-?!"

The immortal raised up a hand, then moved it in front of his own face as he pressed his index finger in front of his lips, shushing the stranger, much to his anger.

"You guys okay?" Dante asked, glancing back slightly.

Nora let out a sharp exhale, "He's been kicking our butts for a few minutes, but… We're okay!"

"That so?" The immortal questioned as he looked back to the draconic man.

The man in question scoffed as he stood straight up, crossing his arms as his burning orange eyes glared back at the immortal, seemingly flaring up with a short burst of flame.

"So you're the child they spoke of? This is it?" The man said, "What a disappointment. You don't look to be much, if anything at all. And here I was expecting… well, more."

Dante simply stood were he was, plunging his sword into the ground and resting his arm on the pommel. He had Shadow Skinned his right thumb, and used the pointed claw of his armored finger to dig out the dirt underneath his nail as he waited.

"Listen and listen well mongrels! I am Daelîks!" The man announced, "And you are nothing before me but dirt on the ground!"

The immortal rolled his eyes and head as he continued cleaning the dirt from underneath his fingers.

"I give you the honor of dying by my hand and you reject me?! You fools! None may dismiss a dragon! None!"

The immortal finished with his nails, raising them up in front of his face as he examined his work.

It was then he remembered he should try out those spa techniques he learned when he once went to a resort for three days.

 _Maybe Ruby and Inuba would appreciate a manicure and pedicure…_

"You should be kissing the very earth I walk on wherever I tread!"

Dante let out an annoyed sigh as he scratched the back of his head, looking back at the man, as Ruby and the others shared concerned glances with one another.

"Bow down before me and surrender your lives, you worthless-!"

The immortal's hand found itself completely clasping Daelîk's mouth shut, much to the so called dragon's surprise as his eyes lit up in shock while watching Dante rear back his head before forcefully slamming it forward.

"FUCK OFF!" Were the only words the teen spoke as his forehead made contact with the dragon man's face, launching him with incredible force into a rock wall nearby as it collapsed on top of him.

The ground trembled for a few moments, but settled down shortly after as Dante sighed and shook off his hand. He looked back, and saw the shocked faces of Ruby and the others as they stood there in awe.

"What?" The immortal questioned as he took up his sword again, "He talked too much."

A spire of orange flame shot up from the rocks were the man had been buried underneath, drawing everyone's attention as the rocks began turning into glowing, molten slag.

"Well he's going to be a joy to handle…" Dante said taking a few steps forward.

A hand shot out to stop him, and he turned to see Ruby was the one who held him back with a serious and determined gaze.

"What's wr-?"

"You can't!" She said loud enough for him to hear her over the roaring flames.

"Can't what?" Dante asked with a confused glance.

"I'm not letting you do this by yourself!" Ruby said, glancing back to Jaune, Nora and Ren, "We're not letting you do this by yourself!"

Dante's eyes lit up slightly at her words, before he glanced over to the others, who shared equally determined glances about them.

The immortal chuckled to himself as he pulled Ruby towards him into a hug, surprising her for a brief moment before she relaxed herself and reciprocated the gesture, wrapping her arms around him tightly and burying her face into him.

"Who said anything about me doing all the work, you lazy bums?" He spoke as he poked Ruby in the forehead, getting a small and cute squeak out of her, "I was actually going to ask you all if you got enough of a breather so we can cook this oversized gecko."

"Who said anything about us being lazy?" Jaune asked as he took the chance to stand up with Ren and Nora, and walk over to Dante and Ruby.

"Don't think I need to tell you all to be careful with this one." The immortal stated as he sling his sword on his shoulder.

"No worries! We'll break his legs all the same!"

The teen laughed at that as the five of them began to move forward, watching the flames die down and seeing Daelîk step out, his suit torn and filthy, and his expression filled with rage.

"You filthy mongrel! You dare touch me with your disgusting hands?!"

Dante didn't give him the pleasure of a response, and instead surged forward with Ruby at his side as they met the stranger first.

Daelîk raised up his hands and caught their sword and scythe in his palm as he was forced back onto his heels, skidding in the dirt as Dante and Ruby kept pushing him. Their initial strike didn't scratch him at all, but by now, their blades began cutting into his hands and drew blood.

He forced them away, but barely saw Jaune and Ren zooming in to deliver deft slashes to the man's body, passing by him as they did. They only left shallows cuts, but they were enough to forcefully spin him around before he felt a crushing force smash into his lower back, completely knocking the wind out of him.

Daelîk could only then watch as Dante's blade came down and left a deep cut across his body, and as he ducked down, Ruby leapt over the immortal and dug the soles of both her boots into the draconic man's face to send him flying into the dirt.

The man angrily roared as he picked himself up off the ground and spun around, lashing out with a wave of flame that crashed into Jaune's shield and dispersed immediately. With that, Jaune's blade moved in front of him as he thrusted it into the man, actually managing to pierce his flesh.

Daelîk stood still with his head bowed lowed, and Jaune kept a cautious glance as went to draw his sword and found it not budging an inch. The man had grabbed hold of the white blade as his other hand glowed bright orange and came down upon the knight. Jaune had successfully blocked the attack, but was quickly being overpowered, the man's flaming hand reaching ever closer to his face.

A hand grabbed the back of the man's neck as he was pulled away from Jaune, spun around and stabbed in the stomach by Dante's sword. The immortal moved himself and the dragon away from Jaune as he kept firm hold of his throat. The man's hand sank deep into the flesh of the immortal's hand that had a firm grasp around his neck, but he didn't so much as flinch.

Dante only pushed his blade deeper into the man's stomach and held him in place despite his struggling.

Without having to say a word, Ruby had already quickly ran up behind the man, fired off Crescent Rose to give her swing more momentum and pierced her scythe blade into the man's back. While it didn't go in too deep, it still went in deep enough.

"You're through, you oversized lizard." Dante spoke to the man.

A silent and weakened chuckle escaped the man's lips as his head lifted up to met Dante's gaze.

"Am I..?"

Burning orange eyes and black slit pupils flared up with flame, and Dante's eyes went wide. He spun the man around, quickly grabbed hold of Ruby and tossed her away as the man's body brimmed with flame.

A radial blast of hellfire burst forth from the man's body, consuming both him and Dante while blasting away the others.

The immortal emerged from the flames, tumbling and rolling in the dirt as the fires went out, showing his charred skin that quickly began to heal up. Looking behind him, he saw RNJR had survived the blast, but also saw their Aura shimmer around their bodies in crackles before flickering out.

Try as they did, they couldn't stand anymore. The blast had been too much for them to handle.

"Damn it…" Dante said shaking his head as he stumbled up.

The teen turned around, and from the billowing smoke, saw Daelîk walk out of the flame, his cut up body slowly healing its wounds as he removed his coat and tossed aside.

"You filthy, disgusting, worthless trash!"

He blurred out of sight and delivered a powerful round kick to Dante's face to send him flying back towards the others. The teen rolled a bit, but was on his feet once again shortly after.

"How dare you raise your lowly hands against me! Do you have any idea who I am?!"

"You're an asshole! That's what!" Dante shouted back as he stood up straight and exhaled, "And I'm going to kick your ass."

"You? Fight me? With what power?" The man laughed, "Not even your little mongrel humans benefited you in any way. Why any of them made a fuss over you, I will never know for the life of me."

"So… You think I can't kill you… is that it?" Dante replied as he started stretching himself out, "Sorry pal, but you couldn't be any more wrong than you are now."

"What?"

"Truth is… I haven't fully adjusted yet… so I was still working out some kinks…"

"Kinks?" Daelîk asked asked with a scoff.

"That's right." Dante said as he cracked his neck by moving it side to side, "But know I've fully adjusted."

In that moment, when the two met each other's gazes, the man saw the teen's eyes change; the whites of his eyes turned pitch black, and his irises a glowing white color.

Despite how mighty Daelîk presented himself, it would have been a lie to say he didn't feel a single ounce of fear when he saw the immortal staring back at him with those eyes.

Even so, the dragon took strides forward towards the teen, as Dante did the same, both stopping just mere inches away from the other and furiously staring at the other, Daelîk towering over Dante as the the veins near his face seemed to pop almost.

"Don't get so full of yourself, you worthless trash..! I don't care what that good for nothing Aizûr or anyone else says! You and your little mongrels are nothing but worms to me! You're-!"

Dante's fist quickly found itself buried deep into Daelîk's stomach and blew him away into the stone wall once again with a thunderous, echoing crack.

"You seriously talk too fucking much… I'm actually annoyed for once."

Dante's entire right arm had been covered in the twisted, segmented armor of his Shadow Skin, his blackened armored knuckles brimming with smoke before it all vanished a moment later. The immortal stared at his hand briefly and clenched it.

 _I've got far more control over it than I did before… I didn't even need to put much effort into conjuring it… That… and it formed quicker than it ever has…_

The immortal let out an exhale as he lowered his hand and glanced back at the wall he sent the man into.

 _It actually might have been a good idea to unlock the Door after all…_

The smoke had cleared, and Daelîk removed his embedded form from the stone wall, touching the ground with his feet as he stood up straight, touching his stomach as he did.

"You're the first group of human mongrels I've ever faced to actually be able to injure me… And you're the only one to ever be able to do this much damage to me…"

Dante stood where he was, rolling his eyes as he looked at his longsword briefly before smashing his fists together. Within an instant, the sword broke itself down to mere fragments and spread out to cover his arms up to his elbows and his legs up to his knees.

The white and black greaves and gauntlets bore a similar design to his Shadow Skinned arms and legs with the design of the segmented armor, only now, they each bore three vertical black lines from his backhands and spread out more when they reached his forearms, eventually wrapping around the edges near his elbows.

It was more or less the same for the greaves; the three black lines began from the top of his feet near his toes and traveled up towards his knees, spreading out the further they traveled as they too wrapped around the edges.

 _It's been a while since I used these… Let's get the rust out of my system and see if I still got it…_

Dante slid a foot back and raised up his hands to take a stance, readying himself for Daelîk's next assault.

"Prepare yourself… human! I'll break you into hundreds of pieces!"

The man surged forward, orange Aura cloaking his entire body like a brilliant flame as he lead with his right hand and shot it forward with such intensity, the air shuddered from the mighty blow. Dante raised up his left arm to block the powerful punch as the ground tore apart around him.

The man laughed loudly before he slowly started up with one or two punches before breaking out into a rapid series of blindingly quick punches. Dante moved his arms just as quickly as his opponent's, matching each powerful and lightning fast punch with equal power and speed as flashes of his black and white Aura burned brightly, If but for a brief moment, with each attack.

Daelîk stopped his onslaught of brutal punches, and for a moment, his form seemingly split into three total images before becoming one again and striking Dante with a thunderous punch. Even if he defended against it, the immortal was sent flying backwards, but he never lost his bearings. Instead, he backflipped in the air once and let his feet touch the ground, skidding back on them as the man continued his attack.

The teen's opponent kicked at him, but he used his armored legs to take the blow, this time launching him high up into the air. Their battle took them into the sky for a brief moment as both brutally assaulted the other with their fists, their bodies darting about in the air until they started coming close to the ground.

It was then that they both kicked the other away, forcefully pushing them back and making their bodies crash through the old and colossal trees that stood rooted in their paths. Even then they gave no pause, and immediately lunged for the other through the smoke as theirs fists tore through the air.

Their knuckles collided together, sending out a powerful shockwave and effectively stopping each other in place. Dante didn't end the exchange there, and immediately used his free hand to make it pointed and plunged it into the upper arm of the man, the white, clawed, armored fingertips tearing through the flesh in an instant with another flash of his Aura.

The man surprisingly didn't let out a shout of pain, and instead winced as he watched Dante flip around the arm he tore off, holding it at the base of the injury. Then, he swung it at the man's face, using the hand of Daelîk's own severed arm to slap him across the face and send him flying on the back of his heels.

The draconic man let out a silent growl as blood spurted from the stump that used to be his right arm, and he turned to glare at Dante.

"Even though I decided to take you a little more seriously… To think a mongrel like you could injure me this much… I'd be impressed if I wasn't so furious right now…"

"That so?" Dante replied simply as he tossed Daelîk's ripped off arm away into a river stream that lead to the lake behind them.

The man scoffed at his remark before he stood up straight, the blood leaking from his arm coming to a halt.

This told the immortal one of two things. One, he had superb control over his body to constrict his own muscles and blood vessels together to stop the bleeding. Or two, he had an ability to heal.

"Answer me this mongrel…" Daelîk began, "The way you move, the way you endure my blows as if they mean nothing… You're not like the other worthless mongrels groveling in the dirt behind you. In fact, you're nothing like them at all."

"Don't know what you're trying to imply…"

"You know full well what I mean… You aren't a human like the rest of them. Nor are you a Faunus. And you're certainly not one of us, otherwise I'd have smelled you out. What manner of non-human are you then?"

Dante stared at the ground a brief moment, his mind going over the different answers he had given over the years. More importantly, he was preoccupied with counting the droplets of blood on the floor, just in case they proved to be acidic or explosive.

"Don't really know the answer myself. Never bothered to really know either. Sure, it'd be nice to know one day, if that'll ever happen, but I don't care about it all too much. All I know is that I exist, and that I can kill pretty much anything and anyone if I set my mind to it. Other than that, anything else is extra."

The immortal raised up his hands once again to take a stance, and the man laughed to himself.

"A freak of nature then… No matter… You'll die all the same along with your little friends."

The man let out a stiffled groan as the stump on his arm quivered briefly before unleashing a mass of inky black tendrils. What looked like white boned began to grow with the tendrils as they continuously expanded and coiled together to form a hand. When the deed was done, the inky blackness dripped away like viscous sludge to reveal a new hand.

"I was right then… You can heal." Dante commented, "The fact that I and everyone else cut you up and crushed you to a considerable extent should have crippled and slowed you down a great deal. But I'm guessing you seared up the cuts and stabs with your flames to give them time to heal, and healed your fractures shortly after."

"Correct. Do you now finally realize just how pointless this fight is? This will only end in one way." Daelîk stated with an arrogant smile as he flexed his new arm around.

"Is that it?" Dante asked.

"What..?" The man said said as he glared at Dante.

"I'm asking you if that's it. So? Is that the only special thing you can do besides creating sparks?" Dante asked with a scoff, "You're wasting my time…"

"You… You damn bastard!"

Daelîk left behind any reservations he had and charged Dante immediately, punching at the teen with such speed that his arms were like blurs. The immortal remained as he was, calm and collected, and did as did before, matching the intensity of his foe with equal speed and force. Daelîk didn't know if this was the teen's own way of mocking him, but it infuriated him all the same that a simple boy was able to do this much against him.

He was supposed to be the one winning!

Their fight moved from being a simple exchange of punches to darting around the field in stream of their Aura. For the others, all they could see was streams of white and black violently clashing with jets of furious orange flames as they moved about the field. Ruby however, could see it all. And she was hoping that like usual, Dante would win.

The devil and the dragon came to another thunderous and deadly exchange of blows, forcing each other back with each blow but immediately returning to attack the other once again without pause. Daelîk won the exchange this time, and delivered a powerful round kick to Dante's side to send him crashing through a line of trees. The dragon did not let up and gave chase, letting his blazing fist lead the way as he buried it deep into the teen's stomach.

The immortal was sent flying yet again, his body crashing through one, two, three trees until his back made harsh contact with the stone cliffside behind the spires of wood and leaves. Daelîk left a literal blazing trail behind him as he sprinted towards Dante, eventually leaping up towards the immortal and letting both his feet lead the way as he propelled forward like a tank shell.

As soon as his feet came into close proximity of one of the large, falling trees, the air around his body was so hot that on approach, the center of the large tree began to melt under the intense heat of his approaching body. His initial expectation was that he was going to turn Dante's body into molten slag, but he knew better than that now.

Instead, Daelîk's now bare feet crashed into Dante's armored forearms as smoke and ash blanketed the crash site. From the smoke, Dante ran up the immense cliffside with his attacker following behind him, leaving a molten trail of stone as he chased down the immortal.

Eventually, the chase ended with the two kicking off the cliffside and meeting each other in the air, exchanging another series of devastating punches and kicks as flashes of white and black threatened to consume the bursts of orange flame. Eventually, they pushed each other away once again to put distance between as both their feet touched the rocky floor beneath them, with Dante's back facing the massive lake behind him.

"Heh heh… Hahahahaha! Yes! It's been forever since I've been able to fight this furiously! You may be an irritating opponent, but my blood boils excitedly with each passing second having found a worthy opponent! Now..! Begone mongrel!"

The dragon's body was lit aflame with a large burst of fire as it expanded outwards, scorching the stones he stood upon. Daelîk reared back his right hand as it became consumed in flame, his eyes wide open and his smile long and wide as he bared his sharp fangs.

"MEGA..! FLARE!"

The released his arm and shot it forward with all his might, and with it, followed a great and enormous, cone shaped sea of flame that instantly traveled forward and consumed Dante within the blink of an eye.

Ruby, watching from the distance, let out a gasp of surprise. She willed herself forward, but her weakened and exhausted legs would not carry her any longer.

But her worry soon vanished when she watched a powerful and violent torrent of white and black Aura tear through the flames from the inside, and completely tore them asunder as both began to dissipate.

Dante for the most part remained unharmed. Parts of his white and black coat had been burnt and torn away, the sleeves no longer present and the tails almost entirely burned away and still smoldering with smoke. The winds were strong enough that they blew the coat off of Dante's body, revealing the sleeveless, black shirt he wore underneath, and his bare, toned upper arms.

The silver zipper that was unzipped until the center of his chest had slightly been melted, but certainly charred black. One of the black lapels of his collar was still smoking a fair a bit. His white hair had traces of black soot and ash in it, where as some strands still glowed a bright orange at the tips before they burned out.

Even after all that… He was still alright…

Ruby let out a breath of relief as she relaxed her tensed up body, shutting her eyes briefly before opening them once again to see she wasn't dreaming.

And she was joyous indeed to see Dante still standing exactly as he was.

As for the immortal, he lowered his arms from the defensive stance he took, and his eyes quickly set to work scanning the area for his opponent. Raging fires had littered various areas of the shores around him, with only a few bushes and trees burning from the intense fires that touched them.

Before Dante could think any further, he felt an immense force crash itself against the back of his skull, moving his body forward a few yards, but the immortal's feet remained ever firmly rooted to the ground as they left deep streaks in the earth, his body leaning over sideways in the direction it had been forced to.

The sheer power of Daelîk's strike had sent out a shockwave powerful enough to extinguish his own flames that littered shore, and even cleared away the billowing smoke that blanketed the area.

"Do you see now how pointless it is?! You can fight all you like, you can struggle all you will to save yourself and your little mongrels, but it will never be enough! You can never stand against me, a dragon! You-!"

"Shut up already."

Dante's voice reached the man. But it felt… different. The teen did not shout, no, but his voice… his voice seemed so loud and so powerful with that one sentence that Daelîk could not help but remain where he was, silent as a mouse before a larger presence,

"Talk talk talk talk talk… That's all idiots like you have ever done over the years when you think you've got the upper hand." Dante said as he shook his head in annoyance, "You done yet?"

Daelîk didn't understand what it was that he felt next, but when he met Dante's gaze once again, his blood ran colder than it ever had in all his years of living. That cold, unimpressed look of indifference on the teen's face chilled him to his very bones, so much so that flames that broiled within him felt as cold as ice.

Anger, soon took over yet again, those raging fires within blazing furiously once more as he pushed his power through his body.

He wasn't about to let a child speak to him that way, much less have the upper hand in this fight.

"YOU DAMN BRAT!" The dragon yelled as flames began to coat his entire body, slowly transforming it, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN A SUCH AN ARROGANT TONE! I'LL BURN YOUR DAMN SOUL!"

Winds rushed past Dante as he watched Daelîk's body change. The flames retracted from his opponent's body, revealing his body to be covered from neck to toe in black scales. Small protrusions of bone plated his chest, feet, and hands, but in regards to his appendages, the hands formed sharp, long claws while his toes formed together into three large digits with one large digit on each of his heels. Each digit had bone-like, razor sharp, curved, talons that dug deep into earth.

A long, black, scaly tail had grown from his tailbone, and whipped about slightly, revealing the segments of white that armored the topside of his tail. From his back grew large, powerful, black draconic wings, the tips of them sharpened with white bone and the webbing crimson red like blood.

His head was covered in white bone resembling the skull of a Grimm-like dragon, and had numerous long horns jutting out from the sides and coiled together, some of the horns sticking out like thorns. The red markings on the mask glowed with a vibrant red color, and the glowing red eyes from the eye sockets burned furiously.

"Tch… This is going to be a problem…" Dante commented silently to himself as his greaves and gauntlets dissolved and formed together to remake his longsword, now held in his right hand.

He turned his head away from his opponent to look behind him, and spotted Ruby and the others watching him earnestly from distance.

It was that moment when Ruby's eyes met Dante that he could feel her worry for him. In truth, even with Ruby knowing Dante would find a way to beat him, she was worried. She always worried.

A part of her always wanted to tell him to run so he can be saved. But she knew better than to think he would ever run and leave her behind. She knew he'd never leave anyone behind.

The immortal's eyes trailed to the ground as he looked away from them, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

[Boku no Hero Academia - You Say Run (Season 1 + 2)]

 _Despite me opening the Door again, I still don't have all too much Aura left in me. I'm nearly spent as it is, and he hasn't been making it easier. That… and they can't fight anymore for now. Even so… I'm not going to call it quits here and cut my losses. I will beat him, no matter what. Because…_

The immortal's grip on his weapon tightened as he lifted his head, his black sclerae and glowing white irises now present and glowing brightly as he glared back at the man.

 _I promised I would keep them safe, no matter the cost! And I will keep that promise..! By any means necessary!_

(0:22)

Dante glided forward over the ground with frightening speed as his white and black Aura blazed around him, his Shadow Eyes burning furious holes into his opponent as he too charged forward at the teen. Sword clashed against bone-like claws in rapid and intense bouts, sparks flying around both dragon and devil as they furiously swung at one another without pause or rest.

They went at each other like inhuman madman, tearing the earth asunder and raising the waters of the lake they stood in with each mighty strike. Their furious battle came to a brief pause as they back away from each other, Daelîk swiping his claws at Dante and unleashing streaks of menacing flame that screeched violently with their approach.

The immortal in turn swung his sword, unleashing a massive, violent, arcing torrent of white and black Aura that shrieked and howled with an unheard, unholy ferocity as they met the flames head on.

Draconic fire and twisted, devilish Aura made contact with the other in an explosive, powerful burst, each threatening to devour the other as they forcefully fought the other, if only for brief moments before both had destroyed themselves in brilliant explosions of power.

From the billowing smoke and intense gusts of winds, Dante and Daelîk's emerged, the immortal running along the water's surface with Aura coating his feet, and Daelîk using his great wings to fly over them.

The dragon swiped his deadly claws at the teen as they made a pass for one another, but Dante ducked under the attack and dragged his longsword as forcefully as he could against the surface of the scales covering Daelîk's side.

When they passed one another, a good amount of distance had been put between them, but the two warriors immediately spun around and rushed for each other yet again, as claws and blade collided with each other yet again, creating yet another brilliant gout of sparks.

Daelîk managed to win their clash this time, and brutally assaulted Dante with untold ferocity, punching and kicking him with all the force his body allowed him until he landed a solid blow to the teen's face to send him flying.

The dragon had suffered enough at the boy's hands. He was as good as dead now.

So it made no difference if he killed the others now.

Daelîk clapped his palms together as raging fire emerged from between them, and as he pulled his hands apart, a deadly lance of flame formed in front of him as he took hold of it, reared it back, and threw it as quickly as he could at Ruby, making sure to hit her first before it killed the others behind her.

The flaming lance bolted over the lake as Ruby felt the rush of heat quickly approaching her.

But the lance never managed to make it even remotely close to her. Dante had split the thing in two with a swing of his sword, the bolts spreading out and flying into the distant sky.

Ruby couldn't see his face, but she felt the immortal's silent rage from the intense pressure his Aura exuded as he strode forward towards the dragon.

Daelîk let out an angry growl as another lance quickly formed in his hands and was just as quickly tossed at the immortal.

(2:04)

Dante swung his sword, and like with the last lance, cut it out of existence. It was what seemed to be little effort on the teen's part that drove the dragon up the wall as he furiously unleashed lance after lance at Dante without pause, all while the immortal slowly walked forward and sliced everyone of them apart.

Only one of the lances proved too much as it forced back Dante's arm, allowing the other lances to crash around the immortal in explosive bursts.

From the smoke soon emerged nine long white, black tipped fox tails, each of the tips of the nine tails holding one sheathed katana, each of similar design, save for one. From the smoke emerged the rest of Dante, his entire form bathed in white with glowing white, black tipped fox ears resting atop his head as black and white Aura blazed brilliantly around his body.

His glowing white face remained featureless for the most part, save for the black zigzag across where his mouth was, and the red sclerae, black iris, white slit pupil fox eyes that furiously stared back at the dragon. In his hand was no longer a longsword, but a jet black katana that had a glowing white guard and handle, the blade crackling with black and white flame as Dante have pause to his approach.

Dakini no Ikari (Wrath of Great Goddess Dakini) was on approach to claim the dragons life.

The dragon, unnerved as he was still shot a lance forward, but Dante effortlessly moved his body out of its path and began running straight at the man.

(2:22)

Daelîk used his powerful wings to push himself backwards and into the air before they folded against his form, flames violently surging from his wings as he readied himself to unleash his devastating attack.

"NOVA..! FLARE!"

Hundreds of trailing bolts of flame emerged the moment the dragon spanned his wings with explosive force, the bolts soaring through the air furiously like guided missiles as they tried to shred and obliterate the transformed Dante.

But the immortal kept up his sprint, his glowing white body blurring in and out of sight along with his magnificent nine tails, easily avoiding the explosive bolts as the blurs became quicker and quicker. The bolts eventually constrained their spread ahead of where Dante ran, raising the earth in front of the teen, and still he ran up the raised chunk of earth and leapt off it.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, the bolts closed in with deadly precision from various angles, and seemingly destroyed Dante on the spot. But from the smoke and ash, the teen surged forward, now wielding two katanas as he rapidly swung them around his person with frightening speed, cutting apart any flaming bolt that dared come near him out of existence entirely as he continued running, unhindered by the dragons efforts.

(2:45)

Dante had gotten close enough to Daelîk where he leapt high above him and swung his blades down upon the dragon with inhuman strength, the dragon crossing his plated forearms together to stop the blades. But they wouldn't hold, for the immortal's blades already began to cut through the bone white armor, and very shortly, the black scales underneath.

The man let out a desperate shout as flames gathered at his arms, and when he swung them outwards, launched Dante away from him in an explosive sea of flame that crashed at the very top of the immense and seemingly endless cliffside. The whole area trembled and quaked as the top of the cliffside had been shattered entirely, large chunks of debris now loose and falling towards the lake the dragon flew over.

(2:51)

Yet again the immortal proved his indomitable resilience as he leapt out from the smoke and onto the nearest chunk of debris, allowing him to look down and prey upon the foolish dragon below.

Sparing no time, Daelîk began yet another volley of flaming lances in the hopes it would kill Dante, but the immortal was too quick. He kept leaping from one falling chunk of debris to the next, avoiding the flaming lances that both nearly pierced him in the air and through the rocks he kept leaping off, getting ever closer to the dragon.

Dante finally landed in a low squat on one of the first chunks of the cliffside to touch the water, and immediately leapt off towards the side as soon as a lance came his way.

Daelîk fearfully spun himself around and unleashed a fresh wave of flaming bolts, fewer this time than the last, but larger by comparison as they sought out the immortal from different angles.

The teen gracefully flew through the air above the lake's surface in a slow arc around the edges of the cliffside, weaving in between each bolt to avoid them as they clumsy collided with each other to set off a chain reaction of explosions. The dragon, fearful as he was, did not rest. He angrily roared and shot out his hands in a rapid, unrelenting pace as lance after flaming lance angrily screeched forward, hoping to blast the immortal out of the sky.

All to no avail.

The dragon shielded himself with his arms from an oncoming, furious torrent of black and white Aura, letting it crash against his body painfully as he took the full brunt of the attack. When he opened his eyes, Dante was no longer at the far end of the lake, but had instantly closed the gap between them, katana extended outwards from his body as the sharp edge of the black screeched forward towards the dragon's body in a seemingly menacing howl.

But he could now no longer do anything after leaving himself clumsily exposed.

(3:36)

With a loud, unearthly, distorted roar, Dante smashed the sharp edge of his katana into Daelîk's body as a violent torrent of black and white Aura burst forth from the blade. All the dragon could do was cry out in fear as Dante swung both his and his opponent's body around, and followed through with his swing to unleashing a colossal, devastating arcing wave of his Aura that carried both the dragon and his maddening screams away from.

The blast of Aura quickly traveled across the lake, parting the waves as it moved towards the cliffside before finally making impact with the stone. At first, the sheer, raw power of the Aura wave tore through the cliffside and took to the skies until it finally imploded, and unleashed a wave of devastation like no other as black and white Aura consumed the entire area, enveloping all within the immediate area.

(End Song)

* * *

The violently earthquakes seemed endless at this point for how long they continued, but Ruby felt them slowly die down until they ceased entirely. It was then she decided to open her eyes, but once she did… She didn't quite understand what she was seeing.

Everything around her was nothing but a mixed void of white and black. In that void, it seemed like all was silent now in the world, almost as if sound had never existed in the first place. Despite the strange setting she now found herself in, she couldn't help but… feel everything around her. And the feeling of the void of white and black was so painfully familiar. It took her a few moments, but it hit her soon after what this void was.

It was Dante's. All of it. This void was his Aura filling the space of reality. It was all so disorienting. Ruby couldn't tell if she felt like she was wading through something like smoke, or something like water, but she could very clearly see how her hands "waded" through the ocean of Aura that did her no harm. She didn't exactly know why, but… it made her smile, laugh even as she bore witness to something so incredible.

Her smile soon vanished when she realized something. The Aura… It wasn't like she expected it to be. She always thought of Dante's Aura being warm in some regard, but this… it had no feeling to it.

It was all cold, almost… lifeless…

Before she could continue her thoughts, she noticed the ocean of Aura begin to drag itself upwards into the sky, slowly pulling itself apart like streams of static as sound had begun to return as part of Ruby's senses.

And with the return of the idea of sound that had seemingly departed from this world, the void had soon faded out of existence. Ruby glanced over herself, seeing she remained totally unhurt, save for the injuries she sustained from the fights before now.

Hearing the surprised gasps of Jaune, Ren and Nora, her head immediately spun around to see them safe and sound. They were all in rough condition like, but safe and alive all the same.

"Everyone… Everyone else saw and felt that… right?" Jaune asked taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"What… What was that?!" Nora asked.

"It… It almost felt like…"

Ren almost spoke his mind, but for once, he was totally taken aback, still trying to make sense of what had just transpired.

The three, managing to recover in some way from their shock, quickly focused their attention ahead of them, causing Ruby to look back in the direction her body faced to see what they were all staring at.

In the distance, they could all see Dante, still in his Dakini form, but hunched over, and letting out hollowed, echoing breathes of exhaustion as he slowly reverted to his normal form.

His longsword Anvil appeared in his hand once again, its tip dipping into the lake's surface as Dante took his time to recover.

Shimmers on the surface of the water, however, drew his attention ahead of him.

Amid the cracking stone and falling debris from the utterly shattered cliffside, Daelîk weakly stood on his feet as his sections of his body struggled immensely to regenerate. His body was heavily damaged and cut apart, and certain sections of his person were almost too gruesome to stare at.

All the same, he still drew breath, much to the immortal's displeasure as he clutched his right arm, now flaring up with intense pain.

"Still alive after all that… Damn lizard refuses to die…" the immortal commented to himself as he stood up and let out a heavy exhale.

He couldn't see Daelîk's face, but he knew exactly what he was feeling at the moment. It was something he knew too well, and recognized far too often in most of his enemies over the years.

Utter fear and total bewilderment.

But that sense of fear, changed as soon as both had met each other's gaze. Daelîk's eyes that went wide with pure shock and terror narrowed angrily in Dante's direction. And like a rabid animal, he used his broken wings to surge forward as quickly as he could and swipe at Dante.

The immortal let out a pained grunt as he avoided the pitiful swipe and stepped back a few paces, keeping his eyes locked onto his still living opponent as he slowly looked back at Dante.

Then teen knew what was slowing the dragon down, and it wasn't until moments later he realized it himself. His once proud wings were now broken and in ruin.

Dead weight in a sense.

He shuddered for a few brief moments before the man raised up both his hands behind his back, and quickly tore off one of his wings right out of its socket with a loud, pained roar.

It didn't take him long to do the same with his other wing.

Dante couldn't help but grimace at the sight of his foe literally tearing himself apart just to stay in the fight, not because he found the act disgusting, but because for a brief moment… he imagined just how excruciatingly painful it must have been to perform such an act.

Now free from his burden, Daelîk rushed Dante again, quicker than his last feeble attempt and began rapidly striking Dante with a series of flaming punches, desperate in his attempt to absolutely murder the teen.

A deft and heavy punch to his chest from Dante seemingly stopped his heart beating for a few moments as he vomited blood and was sent skidding on his heels, flailing his arms around to stop him from moving any further back. He was hunched over, blood pouring from his mouth as his breathes grew heavy and uncontrolled.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO INJURE ME YOU LOWLY CUR?! I'LL BURN YOUR BONES TO ASH YOU-!"

It all happened in a rapid blur.

Dante's sword hand moved at near invisible speeds, slashing at Daelîk's body from numerous directions and angles all seemingly within an instant as he spoke the words "Issen Renjin (Flash Sword Dance)."

At that moment, dozens upon dozens of cuts appeared all over the dragon's body as pieces of him flew away in small chunks. All that remained of him was very little of his torso, right arm, and half his head.

Despite this, flame still gathered in that single remaining hand and began forming into a lance.

That hand had immediately been erased, and soon enough, the head belonging to the being that used what small ounces of life it had left to try and take revenge on Dante.

The chunks fell at Dante's feet, and sank beneath the surface of lake, disappearing into the depths below.

And yet, in spite of the burning pain in his arm, he waited. One moment. Two moments. A full minute.

Nothing.

Dante let out a sigh of relief now that he knew his opponent was truly dead this time.

It was over.

* * *

Ruby was the first to move, stumbling over herself briefly before she activated her Semblance and rushed forward, leaving a trail of petals in her wake.

Dante had already stepped out of the lake and onto land, dragging his sword behind him through the dirt the further away he got from the shore.

It was the strangest of things. He had a slight smile about him concerning the situation. For once in his entire life, his body had felt so weak that Dante's own sword seemingly felt too heavy for him to normally carry

And he even made the damn weapon as light as possible.

The immortal heard a sudden shift in the wind, quickly looking up with a surprised hum as he saw the reaper in red bolting for him. He raised up a hand and tried to speak, but Ruby had already delivered her love tackle and took them both to the ground.

With Dante on the ground, and Ruby sitting atop him, a long, loving hug soon turned into a quick pat down and inspection, with the girl looking over Dante from every corner she could from her position, even going as far as lifting his shirt over the immortal's head to ensure he wasn't in any dire straits.

"I'm fine! Thank you!" Dante said in a muffled voice through his shirt.

Ruby pulled his shirt back down, allowing the teen to take a breath of relaxation before it was halted once more as soon as he felt both of Ruby's soft hands on his cheeks, smushing them together ever so slightly as she stared deep into his eyes.

He only just stared back at her calmly.

Dante then let out a sigh and pressed his forehead against Ruby's, surprising her briefly as she went rigid.

"I told you, I'm fine. See?" The teen said gazing into her silver eyes.

He moved his face in closer, with Ruby doing the same, albeit slowly. And just when it seemed they were about to kiss…

A smug giggle from Nora off to the side stopped them from moving closer, as both of them gave the hammer wielding girl an irritated glance before moving their faces away from each other.

"You okay Dante? That guy seriously unloaded into you…" Jaune stated as he approached with Ren.

The immortal gave the blond a light chuckle, "Been a while since I had to go all out on a guy like him. He put up a damn difficult fight…"

"That technique you spoke about earlier before, the one you mentioned that you weren't certain would work quite yet… Was that the ocean of your Aura we witnessed?" Ren asked.

"That it was. You guys know firsthand just how destructive my Aura is, especially when it hits people. Thing is, I never built in a safety measure to stop it from hurting allies that would have gotten caught up in the blast if they were near me. So while I was on my adventure with partner and siblings, I worked on it for a long time and used it here successfully." Dante said stretching his neck, "So, what'd you guys think?"

"It was… certainly a new experience…" Ren commented.

"Totally! It was like we were in an ocean, but not really in one! It was the weirdest thing ever!" Nora commented eagerly.

"I thought we were goners for a second…" Jaune said.

"What? You guys don't think I'm crazy enough to set off one of my Aura Wave attacks at full blast with you guys in the area?" Dante asked, looking among them, "Right?"

They all exchanged nervous glances between each other, and Dante let out another sigh.

"Guess I can be unreliable once in a while…"

"It's nothing like that! Just… well… You said it yourself, you know?" Jaune said, giving the immortal a shrug, "At least you've got a safety built in now so we won't get hurt or anything."

"Yeah…" the immortal said slumping down a bit to relax himself.

Rest… He wanted to actually rest… His body felt so weak, like it had become one huge immovable weight.

Dante was actually just about ready to ask Nora if she could just drag him back with a rope tied around his feet.

"You're not thinking of leaving so soon, are you?"

All five of the teens stiffened at the sound of the new voice, and quickly turned their heads towards the source of the new voice.

A man stood a good distance away from them, standing just at the edge of the shore where the water couldn't touch his feet. He wore a black form-fitting coat, where the tight sleeves covered his entire hands like gloves, the long tail coats split into two and fluttering in the breeze that passed through. The man wore equally form-fitting black pants with dark grey knee high boots that sported thin armor plating of bone.

On the sides of his hips he had two hook-like closable notches, and contained in them where bladed whips coiled together within their respective "holsters". Each of the individual bladed segments of the whips had jagged, serrated edges, and were colored pitch black. The flexible cords that ran through the bladed segments were blood red, and resembled muscle fibers that were coiled together into single strands.

The man himself had pale skin, a stark contrast to his messy, chin length, blood red hair. His eyes were a golden color with black slit pupils, and on his face, he sported a pair of black, rectangular rimmed glasses that looked to be crafted from bone.

"We can't have that now can we? Afterall…" The man spoke as he pushed up his glasses, which gave off a small shine from the evening sun that was about ready to set, "There is still more data to collect from all of you."

Dante narrowed his eyes in frustration as he let out a silent growl.

 _Another one of them…_

He had his doubts that this one was anywhere near as strong as the last. Regardless, he was one of them, and that alone made him dangerous.

By now, the immortal was completely spent. Using Dakini no Ikari's passive ability, which allowed him to absorb all types of energy and convert it into Aura, did restore some of his Aura Reserves, but not nearly enough to fight effectively.

The immortal saw himself as more of a detriment at this point if anything, and that infuriated him a great deal despite the calm expression he had on his face.

"It's a shame really… Daelîk was one of our strongest despite how young he was. But a suppose some dragons are just agonizingly more arrogant than the rest." The man said shaking his head, "But his defeat at your hands wasn't so much of a surprise." He said looking straight at Dante.

"And why's that?"

"Well, because it's you, obviously!" The man said answering Dante's question in such a condescending manner, "The most dangerous man Remnant has ever seen since the time of the Warrior King of Vale… It's not exactly shocking to see how destructive and competent you are combat wise. But regardless, there is still so much to learn about you!"

That wasn't something Dante was going to allow to happen.

"Daelîk made a very interesting comment earlier. So please, answer me truthfully… Are you really a human?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Truthfully, I don't much care to answer your damn questions. So can you screw off? I don't feel like killing a fourth one of you bastards today…"

"Four of us in one sitting? Now that's impressive. But… I can't help but wonder…" the man said as he brought a hand under his chin, wearing his ever devious smile, "Are you still able to fight? Or are you just putting on a brave face to try and scare me off?"

 _Damn him… He knows I have basically nothing left right now..!_

"Why don't we find out?"

The man snapped his fingers, and at his side, a large circular mass of black opened up on the ground, spilling out an inky black substance. A massive, armored hand shout out from the mass along with another arm, the creature quickly pulling itself out of the inky depths to reveal itself.

It looked like one of the Minotaur Grimm Dante slew earlier, but it was changed. It was slightly larger than the last and definitely had much more muscle. But what was more intimidating was the fact it's entire body was heavily plated in bone white armor from head to toe.

 _So there are alpha variants of the Minotaur Grimm… This is bad…_

Dante's eyes moved from Ruby to Jaune, Ren and Nora, noting their bruises, cuts, and exhausted bodies that just barely seemed to move about.

 _We're not in any condition to fight this thing… Not unless..!_

The immortal's teeth were gritted together so tightly that one would imagine he'd be able to chew through a steel bar.

If he had enough juice to activate Dakini no Ikari and tank a few blows… He could..!

"I don't suppose you or your little friends have any last words?" The man asked.

 _Fuck off. That's all I have to say to you._

The man raised up his hand, and the Alpha Minotaur took slow strides forward with its imposing form, the ground shaking ever so slightly under each step of its colossal form.

Dante's body tensed up as he was ready to move…

But his eyes widened.

He felt something. Actually felt it. The immortal's Aura Sensing had always been terrible and limited to a short range. The only exception is when there was an overwhelming presence in the vicinity strong enough to give off such a powerful "ping". And this presence… It was indeed overwhelmingly powerful, so much so it sent a brief shiver down Dante's spine.

But this presence…

…

It was one he recognized..! And judging how vibrantly and furiously the flow of Aura was, the person possessing this overwhelming Aura Signature was very irritated.

As soon as it was within a decent enough range, everyone could feel the air tremor and quake violently from the intense pressure of the Aura Signature. It was enough to scare everyone out of their mind, even the new arrival who kept that smile on his arrogant face.

Everyone looked to Dante with well merited concern, but when they saw him smiling with that huge grin on his face, they were utterly confused.

"What..?! What is this?!"

"Your death." The immortal replied simply as the tremors continued.

"What are you talking about? What does this mean?!"

"It means… you're now absolutely screwed!" Dante said with a heavy bite in his tone, making sure the stranger caught it as the tremors finally came to a halt.

The man let out a low growl as he looked to the Grimm under his command, "Don't just stand there you imbecile! Kill them already!"

The Alpha Minotaur outstretched its arms as it let out an ear piercing roar, then began charging at the groups of exhausted teens.

Jaune moved in front with Ren and Nora, extending his shield as the Grimm sprinted closer and closer.

But it wouldn't get anywhere near them.

A tremendous blast of white flame descended from the heavens, crashing into the Alpha Minotaur and easily blowing it away as it flew backwards towards the man.

The stranger sidestepped the huge hulking creature, allowing it to fly past him as he watched the body move past him in shock. His eyes focused back to front, spotting someone new that now stood in front of the group of teens.

It took them a brief moment, but RNJR had relaxed themselves as soon as they observed who stood before them.

Dante had a wide grin on his face, standing up on his feet with help from Ruby, who used her body to help support his.

"Took your time! I was beginning to think you weren't going to show!" The immortal stated to the person in front of him.

"My apologies for arriving late…" she spoke in return, her flaming white Aura dying down as her fox ears fluttered a brief moment, "Inuba Kitsukami, now present and ready to fight, Master!"

* * *

Skyla's Reckoning 7

«»

"Cold?" Skyla asked, lightly clasping her hands around Irene's ankles. The small girl's skin felt a little chilled, but a "hmph" of denial came from the faunus on the brunette's shoulders.

"She's definitely cold," Ciel's voice spoke out, bringing a confirming nod to Skyla's head.

Irene tried to deny it again but jumped when Skyla huffed a buzzing heat into the air. The snow of the tall mountaintop sizzled and shined, bursting in a glaze of heat. A gale of who knows how much hot wind swept into the air and cracked the ground, but Skyla's gem-like gaze just turned up to cast a stare to Irene.

"Better?" she asked.

Irene just huddled up a little on her shoulders and rested her hands down in her brown hair, giving her a pouty look.

Skyla giggled at that. "Don't give me that look. I was cold too."

"You know, you're smoother than you let on," Ciel said.

Sky glanced back down to spot out a slender boot stepping forward and in front of her, Ciel dipping down into her path to lean up and playfully grin at her. "It's almost like your mind's set on others all the time."

"Really?" Skyla slowed in her hiking, but stepped around Ciel when the blocking girl lightheartedly didn't move out of her way. "I don't know… I'm pretty selfish. I mean, we're going up to the peak of this mountain because of me."

"Don't think of it like that. I wanted to come," Ciel countered, her voice growing closer just before Skyla cast a side glance to the white-haired girl jumping in line with her. "Musashi wanted to handle dinner this time, so I figured this would be a good way to pass the time too."

Skyla's eyes stayed on Ciel for a few long seconds as they walked, giving her a pensive look. But a pointed "hmph" drew her out of her thoughts. Mostly, anyway.

"So…" Ciel continued, breaking that silence as she leaned into Skyla's personal space to poke at her. "Why are we going to the top of this mountain?"

Irene poked back, but Skyla finally shook her head to clear it out and look up the path ahead of them. It wasn't that far now.

"I wanted to cross an item off my bucket list," the girl explained, looking up to Irene as she said it. Irene's curious gaze turned down to meet hers and wonder why she was looking up at her, flicking her ears with her growing curiosity.

Skyla reached up and played with them as soon as she saw them flutter.

"Not even a little hint?" Ciel asked.

The brunette gave her a cheeky smile and shook her head. "Nope."

"Fine. But you'll tell me when we reach the top, right?" Ciel asked with a sigh, tilting her head to stare Skyla's way. Only for the girl to cheekily smile at her and turn her attention back to Irene. "Riiight?"

"You really want to know that much, huh?" Skyla wondered aloud.

"Of course I do!" Ciel exclaimed, throwing her hands down out of habit as she stared at Skyla in their mountainous ascent.

"Not telling!" Skyla replied just as loudly, and instead of keeping the conversation going, the girl took a tighter hold of Irene's cutely bobbing feet and took off up the steep slope.

Ciel followed, and they were at the peak in a few moments.

"Skyla! Don't make me try to guess!" Ciel's voice echoed out from the mountaintop, Skyla sliding to a stop just at a rocky ridge overlooking a glimmering valley. The girl thought it was weird, but with the lake down in the basin of flowing autumn-shaken trees, she figured it was a pretty enough sight to do what she wanted.

"Here we are…" Skyla murmured, ignoring the harsh steps skidding to a stop just behind her. The air seemed to descend into a quiet, eastward breeze over the mountains as the brunette cast a smile back at Ciel. "Still curious?"

Ciel breathed in a huff of air to calm down, moving up to Skyla's side to give her an annoyed but curious look. "Yes."

"Well, it's pretty stupid, but…" Skyla reached up and plucked Irene off her shoulders, turning her around to dangle her cute little gently kicking legs toward the ground. Irene's face gave her the most confused look yet as Skyla stared at her intently. "It's something I've been wanting to do."

With Irene's ears perked in an attentive state, Skyla gave the girl an apologetic, but not so apologetic, look. Then stole a kiss from her adorable cheek.

Irene's ears immediately stood on end in a startle and stared at Skyla in a stupor as the brunette leaned back.

"There! I've always wanted to kiss a cute girl at the top of the world," Skyla mused with a content tone, smiling dumbly. Sure, it wasn't exactly following the rules… but she was okay with it. She figured this was better than nothing.

Irene huffed in an embarrassed "hmph" and crossed her arms, her dangling legs tightening up with her bunching tail.

Skyla just laughed at the cute sight. "Don't play the victim card with me! You're too cute for that!"

"So this was what this was all about…" Ciel spoke out with a drawn-out sigh, catching Skyla's attention. The immortal girl leaned over again and brought Skyla into a confused blink, Ciel giving the brunette a strange… adoring look.

What was that look for?

"You know what, I don't think it was stupid. Know why?" Ciel asked, her hands clasping behind her back as she leaned toward Skyla with a closing step between them.

Skyla just stared confusedly at the approach and reflexively took a shuffled step away, but Ciel just smiled at that.

"Because I get to cross something off my bucket list too." Without clearing up any of the brunette's growing confusion, Ciel's smile grew before stunning Skyla with a quick kiss to her cheek. "There. Now I kissed a cute girl at the top of the world."

Skyla felt cheated… And Irene's relentless giggling wasn't helping! Skyla shot the wolf girl an embarrassed glare and tried to shut her up, but it only made the faunus' eyes sparkle with amusement.

"Knew this idea… was stupid…" Skyla murmured to herself, turning her gaze to Ciel. "You're so unfair, you know that?"

"I know," Ciel remarked cheekily, leaning away with a cunningly sweet and sinister smile. "Now come on, I think Musashi should be done soon. Dinner's gonna get cold."

"Yeah…"

It was just a stupid idea.

* * *

Semblance Encyclopedia 17

«»

Ciel and Leo cautiously looked out into the stands, making sure a certain someone wasn't in the crowd. And when they were absolutely certain, they gave each other a nod.

"Y-Yo! So we're back again!" Ciel stated nervously.

"Y-Yes! It would seem we are! Quite a show brother out on, yes?" Leo said just as nervously.

"Totally! Now that Foxy's on scene, she's gonna kick all sorts of ass! But, we've got more important things to do! Like today's segment!"

"Yes… As you can already possibly imagine, this week's segment will be on… The Dragon Masked man known as Aizûr…" Leo said with baited breath, "But given that we know almost nothing about his Semblance, this will be rather… difficult to cover."

"It would seem to be a good thing I'm here then."

Both of the siblings jumped at the sound of Aizûr's voice when they heard him directly behind them, and leapt back towards the edge of the stage.

"H-How the hell did you get in here?!" Ciel asked pointing a finger.

"How you ask? I just walked through the front door like everyone else." He answered simply.

"But we closed off the area to prevent you from entering! And even sealed the doors as well after making sure you weren't present!" Leo affirmed.

"Isn't that against one of your human fire codes or something?"

Leo went rigid for a moment, letting out a silent groan.

"He's actually right…"

"That still doesn't explain how you got in here!" Ciel pointed out.

"But I just told you didn't I? I simply walked in." He said with a shrug.

Both siblings were stunned at the simplicity of his answers. And how calmly he was answering them.

It was no longer a wonder why their older brother was always so outstandingly annoyed whenever he came face to face with Aizûr.

"Now then, I believe you're doing a segment on me today?" The dragon masked man asked, leaning in towards the projector screen with interest.

"It would seem that way…. But as we pointed out, we have next to nothing on your Semblance."

"Semblance? Oh! Those funny abilities Huntsmen and Huntresses use!"

"He's only now just realizing this?" Ciel asked silently.

"Considering you're here, you can tell us yourself now. Have we ever seen you use it?" Leo asked.

Aizûr raised a hand to his chin, humming as he thought about his answer.

"Sort of."

The siblings stood in silence.

"Sort of?" Asked Ciel.

"Mhm. Sort of."

"Dude, what the fu-"

"Then you've partially demonstrated it?" Leo asked interrupting Ciel, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"In a manner of speaking."

The siblings let out another sigh.

"Now now, don't be so angry with me. Blame the author for wanting to keep my abilities as hidden as possible."

"What?"

"Oh nothing." Aizûr said with a shrug to Ciel's question, "But I suppose I'll give you some insight at the very least. It involves me touching things."

"Touching things?" Leo asked.

"Yes."

"And what happens to these things when you touch them?" Leo asked, trying to contain his frustration.

"Something magical!" Aizûr said raising his hands in the air and spreading them out as small crackles of blue electricity came to life between his hands briefly.

…

"I genuinely want to kill him." Ciel said.

"The feeling is mutual…" Leo whispered back.

"Now now, no need to be upset. Let's sit down and have some tea instead and something good to eat."

"You can have tea or whatever afterwards dude! We're running a segment!" Ciel stated a little more frustrated than her usual self.

Aizûr let out a happy chuckle, satisfied with his teasing quota for the day, "If you must know, it involves turning inorganic or non-living matter into dust."

"Magic crystal elements Dust or achoo dust?" Ciel asked.

"Normal dust I'm afraid. It's very useful for when I wish to slip into cover or throw something at my enemies. For example, if I throw an object I touched at someone after activating the primary phase of my Semblance, the second I activate the secondary stage, it'll instantly turn into dust while retaining its kinetic momentum. When I deactivate my Semblance…"

"The object will become solid once again and crash into your target…" Leo finished.

"Quite so." Aizûr stated with a simple nod.

"So there anything else special about your Semblance? Seems pretty simple and basic…"

"If only you knew of the other ways it could be used my dear…"

"Then share with us some more insight." Leo stated.

"What? And spoil everything so soon?"

"Ugh…" both of the siblings sounded out.

"Well, at least he gave us something… right?" Ciel shrugged.

"Yes… I suppose so…" Leo said clearing his throat, "I suppose that for now we will have to conclude this week's Semblance Encyclopedia on our… very interesting subject."

Aizûr simply waved at the audience from where he stood, now suddenly holding a porcelain cup of tea with a few strands of steam rising up.

"Yeah… So, see you next week everyone! Bye!"

"Bye bye!" Aizûr waved with Ciel, much to her annoyance.

* * *

 **Volume 6 is here! Woo! I loved the first episode! Won't say anything though, you'll have to see for yourself. I'm pressed for time, so I can't say anything clever this time, only to look forward to next time. With that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	41. Chapter 41: The Gaping Divide

**Chapter 41: The Gaping Divide**

«»

Inuba remained where she was, her white fox ears fluttering briefly as she smiled at Dante, then turned her head towards the man with the glasses, glaring daggers at him.

He stared back, keeping himself calm and focused as he heard the Alpha Minotaur in the process of raising itself up from the ground.

"Now just who exactly might you be?"

"I announced myself just recently, degenerate." The kitsune snapped back coldly.

"I heard your name, fox. I was more or less referring to the specifics about you." The man stated as he relaxed himself slightly, "I have bits of data in reference to the young man that you're protecting, but you… I know nothing of you."

 _It's better that way…_

Dante let out a small exhale, and made to stand up and join his partner before his weakened body pulled him to his hands and knees once again, quickly prompting Ruby to catch and help hold him up.

"I'll give you the opportunity to leave now. If not, then I will not hesitate to cut you down." Inuba warned.

"Leave now? Just after I got here? Oh no no no no no, we can't have that. You see, I've much more to learn about the young man before I even think of leaving. And now that you are present, I've much to learn about you as well."

"Then I'm afraid you will learn nothing from this encounter." Inuba warned.

"And why is that?"

"Because I will end this quicker than you will be able to make your notations."

Inuba glanced back at Dante slightly, giving him an earnest glance of ' _How did I do?!'_

The immortal chuckled to himself and gave her a thumbs up, Inuba giving a pleased smile before turning her attention back at the enemy ahead of them.

The Minotaur had risen, and joined its manipulator's side as it let out heavy huffs. It's body hadn't suffered all too much damage given all the bone armor that covered its body.

This only told Inuba that she needed to increase the intensity of her flames to do more damage.

Dante realized this as well, but he didn't want to show Inuba's strength for as long as he could manage, especially since they didn't know anything about just how strong she actually was.

In that case…

"Hey partner!" Dante called out with a smile on his face.

Inuba spun around hearing Dante's call, and saw him sheath Anvil as he raised up the longsword.

"Kick his ass the old fashioned way."

Speaking his words, he threw the longsword in Inuba's direction, the kitsune catching the sheathed weapon in the air and staring at it briefly. One last look in the immortal's direction and she gave him a nod.

The entry point of the scabbard clicked, and Inuba drew the longsword, glancing at the pristine white blade momentarily before smashing her fists together. Small blasts of white fire emerged from the collision of her knuckles, and both sword and scabbard warped within an instant to cover both her arms and legs, forming the greaves and gauntlets Dante wore earlier.

Inuba took slow steps forward as she moved her arms in a circular motion, soon leaning slightly back into a stance as the gauntlets and greaves flickered with wisps of white flame.

"My fight wasn't with you originally, fox. But at the very least I'll learn about you to some extent before the beast defeats you… among other things…" the glasses wearing man spoke with a wicked smile on his face.

The kitsune kept a hardened stare, keeping her feelings of disgust inside as she waited for the lumbering beast to make the first move.

"Do what you will." The man spoke.

The Alpha Minotaur let out an ear piercing roar before it charged forward at the kitsune. It raised up its fist, and swung it down as hard as it could, thinking that it overpowered the girl an defeated her then and there. After all, how could a small and frail looking humanoid possibly stand a match?

With the dust settling, the Grimm raised up its head, and to its surprise, saw the kitsune crouching on its massive arm before she shrugged forward with blinding speed and dealt a powerful, flaming punch to the beast's face. A thunderous crack sounded throughout the colossal ravine as the creature reeled back from the sudden attack.

Inuba began her assault now that her enemy was staggered, and began delivering a series of powerful and flaming round kicks and back spinning heel kicks, continuing the combination of kicks. Each kick was accompanied with large bursts of flame that seemingly took on the shape of large cuts for the duration of the kick. After the twelfth kick, Inuba faced her target once more as it feel to its knees and drove the top of her armored foot into the bottom of the creature's chin with a devastating blast of flame.

Blinded, the Alpha Minotaur raised a hand to its face in roaring agony, flailing its other arm wildly, but entirely missing the kitsune high above its head. Inuba then folded her left leg in and stuck her right out, and used the white flames she shot out of her palms to spin herself vertically with frightening speed, turning the armored foot she kept stuck out into a blazing white saw blade.

The spinning, cutting kick worked at the heavily plated skull with a loud shredding noise, white dust flying around her kick that was soon followed with small spurts of black blood. Her spin slowed down until the back of her heel rested on the top section of its massive head she cut into. It yet again flailed about wildly, swinging it's arm upwards in the hope it might have caught the kitsune.

Like the last time, it's attempts at a counter failed as Inuba twisted her body around, gracefully spinning over its tree-sized arm before landing on the ground. The beast still stood, prompting Inuba to continue her furious attack without pause as her fists rapidly moved like bolts of lightning, each punch delivering devastating blows and cracking under the intense force of her pure white fire and punches.

The Minotaur slammed both fists into the ground, thinking its massive body was advantage enough to keep the kitsune corralled within its grasp, however frantic and frail that grasp now was.

Inuba had taken note of its attempt and already leapt back to avoid the the destructive slam of the create, leaving a small crater as proof of its immense brute force.

Yet again the kitsune took advantage of its slow recovery after as heavy attack, and glided forward with another blazing punch. This time, her punch had a much more devastating effect, blowing away almost all of the beast's mask with a satisfying crunch.

It's hideous face now revealed, it let out another bellowing roar at the kitsune, showing her its vicious maw of teeth.

Inuba knocked out most of those teeth within the next second after she delivered a flaming round kick to its face.

The vicious looking, bone-like armor that plated a vast majority of the Alpha Minotaur's body was either completely destroyed or slowly falling apart.

But with distance now between them, the Grimm reared back it's head, mouth billowing with flame before a stream of surging fire escaped from its maw with a ghastly roar, torching anything in its path, turning the rocks on the ground a scorching red.

Inuba once again took the sky above the beast and dealt it a wicked right cross as she moved past it, making it cease its useless spewing of fire. It was wounded, and weakened, but that didn't stop the girl from devastating it further when it swung its arm at the girl.

The kitsune ducked under the feeble blow and delivered yet another devastating blow in the form of an uppercut. As soon as her blazing, armored fist made contact with the hulking arm, the blackened, muscly appendage easily bent inward against Inuba's punch, simply because she willed it so.

It's right arm useless, the creature had been seriously injured to the point of minimal function, but it wasn't completely harmless. And it wouldn't be so until it stopped breathing.

Inuba moved now to put an end to the creature, avoiding the pathetic, hooved kick it tried to hit her with. A swift downward drop of her elbow forced its leg down into, and while spinning around, the girl reared back her arm as it blazed brilliantly with flame.

With a loud cry, the kitsune let loose her destructive fist and smashed it into the chest of the Minotaur, it's body caving in from the destructive force of her punch. A few moments later, the Grimm's body quickly expanded until its entire top half was erased within a second, a large gust of wind strongly moving through the valley with a powerful eruption of flame.

The kitsune swiped her right hand off to her side, the greaves and gauntlets she wore immediately breaking down and coming together to form her master's longsword, while the scabbard appeared in her left hand. Giving the white blade two quick twirls, Inuba soon sheathed the blade back into its place of rest, the only surviving portion of the creature falling down with a heavy thud before it too vanished into nothing.

* * *

Shock. Total shock and awe. That's what the man felt right now from the events he just witnessed.

A strong Aura Signature is surely nothing to scoff at. But that Alpha Minotaur the kitsune brutally destroyed… That creature alone had killed dozens of Huntsmen and Huntresses with strong Aura Signatures over the few dozen years it existed. All boasted they would kill it. And all before now had failed.

While the beautiful display of destructive power Inuba showed left him terrified, it left him mesmerized as well.

It was a new subject to study and learn from.

"Are you next to fall?"

Inuba's question snapped him back to reality as he saw the kitsune resume her glare that seemingly burned holes through his body and soul.

He actually felt fear for the first time years! But with that fear came a sense of excitement as well, along with many more questions to ask and have answered.

"An impressive display, truly." He said trying to hide his bewilderment, "But who's to say you aren't hiding the fact you spent all your energy fighting the beast?"

"If that's what you think, you're a lot dumber than I thought." Dante said, finally standing up and staggering forward slightly, "She's got more than enough fuel in the tank to charbroil your ass too."

That… was a problem then.

If she had more than enough energy and Aura to take him on, even after fighting an Alpha Minotaur of all things…

Just who was she? What was she that she was this unbearably powerful?

"Normally I wouldn't let you run away in the slightest. But because my partner gave you the option, and still is, I will too. So hit the road. While you still can."

The man clenched his hands behind his back tightly, so much so that it felt like he was about the crush the fingers he was grasping.

Him retreating? That's a first if anything.

But he had nowhere near enough data to take them on. His set on the immortal was far from complete, and with the kitsune, he only had what he just witnessed to go off of. Who's to say she won't entirely overwhelm him? That wasn't a chance he was about to take at the moment.

He was content with making contact and learning as much as he could for now. Even if it meant he would leave without fighting either of them.

"Very well then. I'll take your suggestion for now."

Shadows gathered at the man's feet as he slowly began sinking into it.

"My name... is Seizâr." He said with a bow as his body sank further into the shadow, "And I look forward to our next meeting."

His final words spoken, his whole body vanished within the pit of shadow as it bolted off into shadows of the clearing.

Inuba made to move, but Dante's hand stopped her as she looked to him.

He only shook his head, "We've got more important things to focus on. We don't need to go chasing after him."

The kitsune glanced off into the distance briefly, making sure no one else would attack them before she followed Dante back to where RNJR sat in rest.

"Alright you misfits. Let's get you all healed up before we move on. Then…"

Dante paused a moment and turned his head to see a flash of light, watching a familiar girl cloaked in white appear from the flash of white Aura.

"Well well, look who showed up." Dante said as he walked over, "Everything go as planned?"

"Yes, for the most part anyway."

…

That was troubling…

"Most part?"

The girl looked as though she wanted to explained, but she held herself back.

"It'd be better to explain when we're not out in the open. For now, I've already retrieved Qrow Branwen and established a base of operations not too far from here." The girl explained.

"You can make bases out of thin air?" Dante asked with genuine curiosity.

"No you fool! I just… used my abilities to move the home I treated you in to this area. For now, we all need to rest and prepare ourselves. Our journey is far from over."

Dante let out a sigh, "Right… We need to heal up a bit first before you move us. After fighting all day, we need a quick break."

"That's fine. Have everyone healed enough to be transported."

"Yes ma'am…" Dante said with a halfhearted salute, something the girl sighed at.

* * *

He hid deep within the clearing, watching the group of seven tending to each other, unknowing of his presence within the ravine.

The man that wore the Ursa Grimm mask took deep breaths with each step he took, pain wracking his body with even the smallest movements.

He couldn't use his Aura anymore in thanks to Ren, but he still had his chains, and they were currently infused with fire Dust so that he could melt through them once the chains made contact with their bodies.

All of them sat there huddled together. It'd take only one good swing to end them all in the blink of an eye…

"Oh? You're still alive are you?"

The man froze at the sound of the chilling voice behind him, turning his head around to see a black tattered cloak and Grimm-like dragon mask standing behind a small distance.

"A-Aizûr..!"

"Kârûg. They mentioned you were one of the deserters, but I was hoping it wasn't true."

He winced at the sound of that.

"I..! I could not deny him..! Daelîk was too powerful for any of us! He forced me to defect! Some of the others went willingly because they didn't want to follow the rules and kill anyone they wanted!"

"I see… So he forced you into submission then, is what you're saying?"

"Yes..!"

Aizûr let out a small hum as he looked out at the group with Kârûg.

"Daelîk is dead, you know?" Aizûr said, making Kârûg's head jolt up in surprise.

"Then…"

"I suppose considering the circumstances, I can bring you back without too much trouble to come your way. After all, what could you do against someone significantly stronger than you? So with that, we'll be taking our leave n-"

"Not yet!" The man growled as Aizûr turned to leave, "Not until I at least kill those two brats!"

The Dragon Masked man looked back to the group of teens, eyeing Dante among them helping Inuba dress everyone's wounds.

"Now now, we don't need to go that far."

"I can't let this go! I won't allow human brats to defeat me! That's why… I'll kill them now!" Kârûg said as he raised up his weapon.

Aizûr stared at his "ally" blankly for a few moments before he stepped forward a few paces and stood in front of him.

"If you want them dead so much, then allow me." He spoke as he positioned himself in front of the larger man.

"Aizûr… You…"

A silently echoing zing of metal sounded off briefly, and the man looked down to his chest to see something piercing his chest. It looked like a thin blade made purely of blue lighting that pierced through his body.

But the length of the blade of lighting… It was too long to be of normal length. The distance was too great between himself and Aizûr, seeing the lightning blade jutting out from Aizûr's black cloak between where his left arm and the left side of his body supposedly were.

Kârûg coughed up blood as he stared at the wound he was inflicted before looking at the Dragon Masked man.

"I can't have you doing something like that, you know? You should've just dropped it while you had the chance. Oh well…"

The lightning blade retracted itself from the man's chest, allowing his body to fall to the ground dead as the blade disappeared back into Aizûr's cloak.

A deathly zing of metal resembling a silent screech sounded off when Aizûr drew his twisted black longsword from underneath his cloak. The blackened blade resembling sharpened bone gleamed briefly from the rays of sunlight that peeked through the clearing as the man walked over to the fresh body.

As he raised up his blade and pointed it at the corpse, an inky black substance bubbled from the cross guard, coating the entire blade before it expanded outwards into a torrent of black, forming a huge maw of the substance as big as the corpse itself.

Without question, the inky, black, growling maw extended itself from the blade and began to quickly devour Kârûg's body in large chunks, swallowing entire limbs whole before going back to devour what remained.

Five seconds had passed, and nothing remained of corpse, only the blood that was spilt coating the floor in large quantities. The maw that emerged from Aizûr's blade shrank down and faded, returning the sword back to its normal form as the blade briefly gave off a red shine.

Giving his tool of destruction a quick twirl, Aizûr sheathed his weapon back inside his cloak, and just barely caught a glimpse of the seven standing up and vanishing within a large flash of white light.

"Now the game begins. I am placing my bet on you, so I can only hope you will succeed. Even if the chances are low with how you are now. Who's to say really?" Aizûr said with a shrug before he turned around to walk away, "I have been wrong before."

* * *

He walked along the stone steps, ascending the stairs of the red sky world he strode through. A glimpse off to the side reminded him of the dozens upon dozens of ruins that laid amongst the wastes of the black sand that spanned infinitely without seeming end.

All of them had an ancient feel to them… But little would anyone know those ruins alone were from just little over twenty years ago. Some of the rest were just… collateral damage.

Finally ascending the stairs, the man came upon a circular plateau that stood risen above the black sands without any support from below. And on the far end, she sat upon her obsidian throne.

Her long hair was pitch black like her form fitting robes that had stylistic tears near the cuffs of her wide sleeves and hem of the robe, as well as the small chest window. Her pale skin shined under the moonlight of the red skied world.

When she opened her eyes, black sclerae with glowing red irises greeted the world she had dominion over, and the man that approached her as he lowered himself to one knee, respectfully bowing to her.

"Lady Scylix, I have returned."

Scylix let out an amused hum, "So you have, Asher. I assume you have matters to report to me?"

"I do. Firstly, the defectors we brought to our side have perished. Dante and his group of humans managed to defeat them all."

"A shame. And here I thought I would have a chance to study them more in depth. Such is life I suppose. And? What else is there?"

Asher looked up at the Dark Entity, "The purpose of the towers have been fulfilled. The one with cloak destroyed the gateway activator as planned, while the kitsune and the devil siblings destroyed the other towers and released the essence from the Darkness Cores, also as intended. With that…"

The man reached behind him and held out his hand. As he opened up his fingers, a faint red glow peeked through his fingers, soon revealing a small, spherical red gem in his palm. The inside of it swirled and churned with small strands of black energy.

"The last and final Gem of the Ancients has achieved partial reactivation."

Scylix's smile grew wide as she extended her hand, her fingers beckoning the Gem to slowly fly out Asher's hands and into her own. She could feel the faint traces of once ultimate power deep within.

"Even if we were to activate it, it won't be able to reach maximum power or potential to return to its original states. However, it is still presumed that the power within will still be enough to grant your wish, regardless."

"Excellent…" Scylix replied to Asher as she gazed deep into the Gem, "If it has enough power to fulfill my wish, it will be more than enough. All we need now… is him."

"Should I extend an… invitation?"

"No…" Scylix said subtly tilting her head up a brief moment, keeping her eyes on the Gem, "They'll come on their own. That girl is too quick to act, and by now has surely realized the gateway is active. She will be sending young Dante and his allies to us tomorrow I reckon."

"Very well." Asher said, "In addition… Regarding the two Diabolica's we unearthed, we've successfully managed to fully revive and restore one of them. The other has successfully been revived, and can function appropriately, but wasn't able to be fully restored. With your permission, I would have it serve as a gatekeeper."

"Permission is granted. I will keep the other fully restored Diabolica for my personal use as I see fit." Scylix spoke, finally concealing the Gem within her grasp as she looked to the man, "There are final preparations to be made before they come visit us tomorrow. See to it they are finished."

"As you command." Asher said bowing his head before standing and taking his leave.

Scylix briefly watched Asher disappear down the steps, and took a glance at her Gem, chuckling silently to herself.

"Dante… You and your power _will_ realize my wish." She spoke glancing to the side of her throne, "One way or another."

* * *

Dante… didn't know what to feel. Rather, he didn't understand what he should be feeling. Anger? The ones responsible were dead. Sadness? Not likely. They would get better again soon.

…

Possibly…

If anything, he felt like a complete failure at the moment as he finished checking in on his siblings.

Both were in some sort of coma. And for the life of him, he couldn't understand why.

Maybe they were injured too greatly? Maybe they couldn't heal to the extent he could? Maybe…

…

"I haven't the slightest idea what could have happened to them."

The immortal's head turned briefly to glance at the cloaked girl that ascended the stairs.

"They were both like this when I retrieved them after destroying the towers. Perhaps some sort of backlash occurred during the moment the destruction occurred, but… I can't give you the answer you're trying to ascertain."

"Do you know when they might wake up?" Dante asked the girl.

Her hood moved side to side, "I haven't the slightest clue when. We can only hope they'll awaken soon."

"I see…"

The teen turned around to face the girl fully, something forced her to take a step back as she bowed her head.

"Dante, I-"

"Save it. You don't need to apologize. It's… not your fault."

But she wanted to. She brought up the issue of the towers, and she let them split up. Would have not splitting up prevented this? She didn't know. All the girl knew is that she felt responsible for the current mess.

"You are Dante… The eldest sibling…"

Dante turned his head around and saw three people standing behind him in the upstairs area they found themselves in.

Two girls that almost looked like twins, only one of them seemingly wearing a black blindfold, and… a tan skinned Faunus resembling a dragon…

"That's right. And who might you three be?"

"Bailey and Alice Lianna. We were with your brother." The blindfolded girl replied.

"Musashi Ryūjinhōno. I was traveling with your sister for some time." The tan girl replied.

"Friends of sorts then… Well, what insights might you have? Any idea how this happened?" Dante asked.

"We're not sure, but… It happened shortly after Leonard… transformed…"

 _Transformed..?_

Dante's head turned to Musashi, promoting her to speak, "I wouldn't have the slightest idea if Ciel did something similar. I was injured and sent back to my village. After I awoke and forced my recovery to hasten, I gave chase and found her a distance away from the tower."

 _They've never mentioned if they awoke to any "new powers"... Rather, they asked me nonstop about pointers for when it happened and how to handle it… Maybe there was unknown backlash from "transforming"._

"At the very least, you were there with them. So with that, you have my thanks." Dante told the three as he gave them a small bow.

They were… bewildered slightly that he was the bowing to them, but they returned the gesture silently as the immortal looked back to the cloaked girl.

"You mentioned something about a rift?"

"Yes…" The cloaked girl spoke, "Not long after I dismantled the first tower, I felt an unnatural spike in energy not all too far from here. It wasn't until I rushed over that I saw there was an old gateway standing in place of the energy spike."

"No idea where it leads?"

"None. For all well know, it could be an old gateway system established ages ago when magic was far more… prominent."

Dante let out a sigh, "And we're to go on through and find out…"

"Just to ensure if action needs to be taken to close the gate in the event of danger. If not, we can see if it can be sealed and come back to it another time to explore it in depth."

"Then I'll take Ruby, Inuba, and the others with me."

"You don't want our help?" Alice asked from her couch seat further away.

"Best you three stay here and hold down the fort just in case. If we all go, who's going to take care of them?" Dante said, nodding to the closed doors of the rooms his siblings were resting in, "We'll go in the morning after everyone's rested up."

"You would do well to rest yourself. As Inuba no doubt made you aware of, your Aura Reserves were dangerously low from overuse, stress and improper rest."

"Resting out there might have meant death at any minute if we weren't careful. If you saw some of the crazies we did a few days before, you wouldn't have had the courage to close your eyes. I know I didn't." Dante stated.

"You are _safe_ here. Go and rest. You need it more than anyone else." The girl nodded towards the stairs leading down.

The immortal closed his eyes briefly, letting out a short exhale as he walked past them, touching a hand to the wooden railing as he walked down the homey, wooden steps.

"He seems to take things… a bit extreme." Musashi said to the cloaked girl.

"Because he can afford to. He's always been able to afford to. What others might consider extreme or overextending, he considers natural given how he's always worked. Never resting when faced we a possible threat. Never giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit weakness."

"He takes the stresses that would normally affect others and places it upon himself, so that they don't have to be burdened by it. A method that's of no real cost to others besides himself." Bailey noted from her own analysis.

"It's a situation of great irony… While there are no consequences to tie him down, he's always more troubled with consequences inflicted upon others instead." The cloaked girl mentioned, "Sometimes… I believe there is far greater pain inflicted upon him than what he makes any of us aware of…"

* * *

The the log cabin sort of house seemed… much larger than it originally was, and had more of a mansion-like aesthetic given its increase in size. The house last time was mainly a simple two story house to fit the three of them; Inuba, Dante and the cloaked girl who housed them. But now, it's confines were exaggeratingly larger to hold everyone present, each having their own rooms that were fairly large as was.

Inuba sat in one of those, which had her personal tastes in mind. It almost reminded her of her room back in the Apparition world back home…

Home… How long has it been since she saw home?

The kitsune drew her legs in and cradled them, resting her head atop her chin atop her knees as she glanced off at the side of the mirror.

She left so much behind to be here. She left a great many people behind as well. Her family, her old friends…

All because she…

…

She died.

The kitsune remembered it all. The pain, the fear… Everything. She didn't want to leave the world so soon. Even in the end she couldn't tell the person she cared about that she loved him. And that was what hurt her the most before she faded away, seemingly into the afterlife.

But that wasn't to be.

She awoke in a dark and unfamiliar place, completely enshrouded in shadow and darkness without the faintest traces of light, save for what she produced with her flames when she traversed the dark realm.

But she was alive. And she could feel him.

That alone brought her comfort as she traversed the seemingly infinite dark, following the metaphorical thread between her and Dante until finally...

Light.

And not soon after, their reunion.

The kitsune never would have thought she would have felt so much joy in her life, so much so that she had to restrain much of her true feelings when they were reunited.

The past before Remnant, the past even before Dante lost his memories once again… That was the one thing she held onto all this time.

A hope and a wish, one known to all those in the Apparition World, but no one else.

A memory that seemed so long ago…

…

It was twice now she caused him such anguish.

The first when he gave up his memories to spare her from death. The second…

…

She'd never forget that pained expression he made as she faded away in his arms. He did his best to try and hold himself back, but he couldn't. The kitsune had never seen him so hurt, and the fact that she was the cause filled her with even more regret.

…

…

If she said what she wanted to… would she still be accepted? Would he reject her because of the misfortune she caused him?

Inuba didn't want to think about it at all.

...

But who knew when she would ever have the chance to try? No, she wasn't going to wait any longer.

Inuba raised her head up and got up from the mattress, working to put her shoes on.

She wasn't going to wait any longer and let some other misfortune take away her chance.

The kitsune would tell him what she held herself back from saying for two years now, and would hope for the best.

That… and she would remind him of their past he discarded for her sake.

* * *

Dante stood out on the the third story balcony, looking up at the shattered moon high above him, gleaming its silvery light upon the world.

His very first question when he came to this world was how in the world something like that happened.

For all he knew, those deities Qrow spoke of duked it out on the moon and destroyed most of it.

Maybe even Salem had a hand in it. There were so many uncertainties involved.

If there was one thing the immortal learned long ago, it was to expect anything and everything from supernatural beings or deities. They'd go to any extent to accomplish a goal they have in mind.

Even if…

…

Deities and celestial were no longer his concern.

Hopefully.

What mattered now was getting to Mistral and trying to piece together this whole mess. This Salem definitely was the mastermind behind the attack and had to have sent Cinder and her small time lackeys.

Did coming face to face with this Salem scare the immortal? It didn't. But something else terrified him all too well.

They were close. And because they were close, something was bound to go awry. It's how it's always been, and has happened repeatedly without fail.

At least, that's how it went a majority of the time.

The immortal had been defying that fate ever since he decided to wield a sword, and for just as many successes, he had just as many failures.

Failure…

…

It was an ironic thing.

People always assumed he never failed at anything, that he was just generally perfect. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Did he do things well or better than most? Absolutely, but that was because he gave it his full effort and attention, working hard to do something right rather than relying on things like talent or genius.

Yes, his mind worked… differently than a majority, but there was nothing he could do about it except continuing to work hard as per usual.

Like with the current situation for the last few weeks. The immortal dedicated every morsel of his mind and body in ensuring that Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora would make it over his own well being, which really didn't need any sort of consideration.

Until now.

It was too long. Far too long since he knew it, understood it.

What it meant to be weak…

…

With how things were happening recently, it was a reminder that had been stuck in his mind for days now. And it was necessary. If he ever forgot what it meant to be weak, it invited arrogance, and arrogance invited defeat for him or death for everyone else.

It was important to know and understand the concept. Most warriors go along through most of their lives not realizing this, and it's that majority that always falls the hardest.

At least, that's what Dante observed through his years thus far.

"Looks like you're still up."

The immortals head jolted up as he looked off to the side.

"Then again. You don't really ever sleep. Even if you're supposed to!" Ruby said, giving him a harsh poke to the cheek.

Dante silently groaned to himself as he rubbed his cheek, "Give me a break already… It's hard to sleep these days."

"Even if we're safe."

"Safety is-"

"A temporary condition!" Ruby said, deepening her voice slightly to mimic Dante, "I've heard that story one too many times, you know."

"At least someone listens." Dante signed as he leaned on the balcony rail.

Ruby gave him a small giggle, and joined him as they stared out at the landscape.

"Nervous?" Dante asked, "For tomorrow I mean."

"A little. Weird portal thing? Who knows where we'll go. Or what we'll see."

"Right? Kinda scary… Well, I'd imagine it'd be scary for you guys since you've never gone through one." The immortal stated.

"But we'll have you, so it'll be alright! And your partner!" Ruby then suddenly gasped,

"She has a flaming sword right?!"

"It actually doesn't light up because it's a fire sword. That's just her power. I made it to it'd be easier to channel her power through it. And so that it doesn't break."

"Doesn't break..?"

"It's part of the reason I made Anvil." Dante nodded to his weapon leaned against a wall in the corner, "Inuba and I, and our siblings for that matter, have some serious physical strength. So serious in fact that we can't use other melee weapons without them breaking after a few uses."

"Woah…"

"Not so much 'woah' as it is 'oh crap'. It's a problem if we can't use or weapons and have to rely on using something else. So I made the DarkLight Antithesis for Inuba, and Anvil for myself since…"

Dante paused for a moment, remembering the sword he had used for so long back on Primordial. He never had a name for it. Never thought to give it one either. It was something he used, and it never broke or failed him.

It did make him sad to an extent when he couldn't bring it forth any longer, but it made sense.

That power was gone. Or at least, he thought it was.

Maybe his powers were restructured after they were extinguished to better accommodate him? He didn't have the slightest idea. All he knew is what he had currently, and that it worked.

To an extent.

"Since..?"

Dante's head jolted up at Ruby's voice.

"Since I lost my old sword." The teen replied, "We had some good times that sword and I. Been through a lot. It's a shame I lost it."

 _ **Here…**_

Dante's eyes lit up when he heard the whisper, looking around a brief moment.

"A damn shame… So, I'm working with what I got for now." The immortal said in a low whisper as he looked over the railing.

"Dante?"

"Hm?"

Ruby got up close, making sure to give him a serious stare.

"W-What's up..?"

"Are… Are you scared?" Ruby asked.

"Me? Why would I-?"

The infamous cheek smushing technique resurfaced as Dante felt the slight sting of Ruby's hands smushing his cheeks together.

There was also that stare, with those big, shiny silver eyes that seemed to stare right through him. It was… slightly terrifying that someone so small had such power over him with something as simple as this.

It was actually somewhat cute…

But…

"Maybe a little." He admitted, realizing lying was futile as he placed his hands on Ruby's to hold them, "We're just… so close to the end. Usually about this time something bad happens. That's why…"

A surprise came his way when he was pulled forward forcefully and found himself locking lips with Ruby for a few brief moments, until she pulled away slowly, shooting him a smile.

"There! For good luck."

"L-Luck..?!" The immortal sputtered out, "What are you saying… you…"

Dante grumbled at the face of Ruby's forward actions. It was so disarming… Unbelievably so...

It had to be the cuteness. It was her fault for being too cute…

"Let's go to bed. We've got be ready for tomorrow don't we?"

"R-Right… I guess…"

Dante made to leave, but found himself stopped by Ruby once again.

"It'll be alright. Promise."

Promise…

"Then I'll take your word for it." The immortal replied, clutching her hand tightly, "I-I'll try to work on the sleeping thing from now on. And I mean really try this time."

"That's good to hear."

At this point she was practically dragging the immortal away.

"Come on, let's get some-"

Ruby stopped for a moment, thinking she heard a creak, but shook the idea away as she continued downstairs with Dante.

Unbeknownst to them, someone had been briefly present, and had ran off shortly before the duo decided to take their leave for the night.

* * *

" _Qrow Branwen will be fine. We've treated him and he's already well within the recovery state. The only thing you need to worry about now… is what might or might not be on the other side. I will remain on the outside after the entry to make sure nothing follows you over. In the event of trouble, I'll immediately enter after you to back you up. All I have left to say is… well… I wish you luck."_

Luck… When has it ever really served its purpose? For others, maybe it played some integral role in their successes. But for the immortal… He never experienced such a thing for himself. Luck served him no purpose, and certainly didn't bless him with its merits. Everything he did, everything he gained… All of it was done by his merit and his merit alone.

As per usual, Dante headed the pack, that way if they were attacked, he'd be the first person they would come across. In the event there was an attack from the rear, Inuba had everyone's back covered acting as rearguard. Their safety was all but guaranteed.

…

Still… There was something off with her. She was silent all morning, didn't so much as speak a word. Was something bothering her? There had to be. She'd been avoiding his gaze all day, and… possibly even avoiding him.

Why..?

He turned his head around slightly to see if he could catch a glance, but as soon as his gaze fell on her, she immediately looked in the opposite direction.

And then… he felt it.

A strong pang suddenly jolted through his chest like a powerful bolt, so strong in fact it made him stop in his tracks and fumble forwards a bit.

"H-Hey! Are you alright?!" Ruby asked as she rushed up to catch Dante.

Another pang…

"I'm alright… Just thinking too much and I tripped… I might still be a little tired too though…" Dante offered with a smile as he stood back up, like nothing happened, "I'll be fine."

Ruby gave him a skeptical glance at first, but her attention was soon drawn to a faint glow past the tree line, promoting the others to look as well before they quickly moved up.

Two colossal black spires jutted out from the ground, bending inwards towards each other slightly as black energy with spots of white flowed vibrantly in between, forming the rift.

"Alright… Considering this is everyone else's first time going through one of these… Just close your eyes and clench up. Tension in the muscles will help you avoid the nausea and keeping your eyes closed until you cross over helps in not blinding you for a few seconds. Other than that, don't run ahead. As soon as you get to the other side, open your eyes up as quick as possible and get into a defensive stance."

"Roger that boss man!" Nora quickly saluted as she and everyone else readied their weapons.

Dante gave everyone a pleased smile as they returned the gesture.

All except…

…

The immortal dropped his smile when he tried looking to the silent Inuba once again, seeing her still avoiding his gaze.

Without another thought, he rushed inside the rift, hearing a brief, loud crystalline hum. As he opened his eyes, white light split itself away from his vision, allowing Dante to take in the sigh of the world around him.

Ruins spanned the land far as the eye could under the light of a red moon. Castles, domiciles, homes; all of them were ancient and broken as they laid in waste among the black sands that blanketed the land, seemingly endless, like an ocean.

Shortly after, one by one, RNJR had stepped through the rift, all of them taking deep and heavy breaths to calm themselves as Inuba stepped in last, unhindered like her Master.

All them stood in awe as they looked upon the land as well, the group slowly moving forward to take in their surroundings carefully.

"What is this place..?" Jaune asked.

"An ancient civilization perhaps? Wait…" Ren stopped for a moment, glancing at some of the structures, "These are..!"

"Pieces of the kingdoms… Chunks torn from different ages and periods. That and a few other settlements, I can imagine…" Dante stated, "You guys remember how in Oobleck's class he lectured about settlements and early startups of the four kingdoms, and how some of them just vanished overnight? I think I understand now where they went…"

"But how did they get here?" Ruby asked.

"Don't know… Magic maybe. What I don't understand is, why different chunks from different time periods?" Dante asked.

"If you look at it… All the pieces are gathered together well enough to look like a whole kingdom that's been broken down…" Jaune observed.

He was right. The ruins were all arranged together…

…

Were they trophies..?

The group continued onwards through the eerie realm, keeping their guard up as they wandered through the ruins. Eventually they came upon a large chasm, separating them from the other side.

Calling it a chasm was… generous to say the least. Yes, there was a large divide between them and the other side, but at the center was… something they couldn't quite describe.

It was a void, the same as the rift they passed through where there was pitch black energy sitting around below, spots of white blinking from the river of black that flowed down below.

The more Dante looked at it, the more it reminded him of Oryx and his Taken when he fought the Dark Hive God long ago. Yes, the rift and the energy flowing below were similar, but… they had a different feeling to them. Oryx and his Taken were a collection of all sorts of powerful negative emotions, thoughts, and energy, but this…

The energy below just felt cold. Absent of life.

All of them could all feel it's chill from high above as they glanced at the abyss below, grains of black sand drifting drifting away in the wind over the chasm's edge.

"Maybe we're supposed to get across?" Nora mentioned.

"But how?"

"I could toss a few Aura Swords over to that side and then Shift us all over." Dante answered Jaune, "But something tells me though that might not be possible…"

"How come?"

"Too easy to do. Places like these? Easy option is never an actual option. We probably have to pass some test or trial. Or maybe just kill a gatekeeper."

"Gatekeepers are usually easy, right?" Nora asked.

"Depends really…"

As he said this, the ground quaked violently once. Then again. And again, and again until they grew rapid in paces. A colossal limb shot out from the blackened energy below, rising high above the group of teens as they quickly retreated from the limb.

The massive black, clawed hand slammed down into the earth, imprinting the image of its hand as the other shot out and grabbed hold.

The tremors continued as the behemoth pulled itself out of the dark abyss, revealing its colossal form.

It's arms looked thin but they were at least as thick as a bus, and spanned twenty feet for each limb. The main body had to be around fifty feet tall overall, but all any of them saw was the torso up to the waist.

It's blackened body was smooth, and gave off a slight shine along with the twisted, red swirls that tattooed its entire body. It's face had no eyes, as the red markings swirled around its face, and it's mouth sporting a maw of dozens of black, sharp teeth that were part of its face, each tooth at least the length of a human arm. And it's black horns, they were long and curved like an Ox's.

The form of this terrifying beast towered over them all easily, and as it glanced down at them, it let out an ear piercing roar that seemingly made the air tremble with terror.

"What is that thing?!" Jaune yelled as he covered his ears.

"No clue!" Dante shouted back, only slightly turning his head so that he could keep his eyes on the colossal creature, "But we're gonna kill it!"

"Oh yeah, easier said than done!"

"You have me, and you have Inuba! This'll be a cinch! Plus, experience!"

"In what?!"

"Killing things colossally bigger than you!" The immortal said as he took a few steps forward, hearing a sigh from Jaune now that the beast ceased its shrieking.

Ruby sped alked next to Dante, Crescent Rose drawn and ready, "What's the plan?"

"You and me will be taking a detour to its face. We hit it enough times, I reckon it'll fall over, give everyone else enough of a chance to run up and hack its hands off in case it gets back up. If we need to, I'll Shadow Skin and hit it with an Aura Wave to send it tumbling back into that pit it came from."

Her hand stopped him.

"What's wrong?"

"Are you… Are you sure you're okay?"

Dante paused briefly, and sighed soon after, "I'm fine. Besides, we've literally got bigger things to-"

"Just… Just tell me if you aren't..!"

…

He couldn't say much. All he could do was take her words to heart and give her a nod as he drew his sword.

The beast had to be felled before the could continue.

* * *

 **[Omake: "It's completely normal… right..?", by Xera Stark]**

 **«»**

Ruby had a request.

She didn't know how to ask it, sure. And she didn't quite know how to word it, either… She honestly didn't even know if she had the courage to ask it.

But… she was growing up, so, this kind of thing was normal, right?

Cuddling was a totally normal thing for people who like each other, right? People in a relationship? Everybody cuddled.

So it was perfectly normal to ask Dante to cuddle with her! It had to be!

Because everybody did it!

Still, the girl stood with her hands clasped tightly in front of her, staring down at her socks under the light of a outlaid dark stone fireplace.

Tiny little bounces on her heels swayed her asymmetrical bangs in and out of her peripherals, meek silver gaze peering up through her hair as the seconds ticked by.

Dante just stood there, in front of her. Waiting patiently for her to finally get her words out.

It was like he didn't mind standing there forever, biding his time with her and letting her work out her thoughts.

They were tricky thoughts, okay? She didn't even know how to word them.

The reaper drew in a nervous breath before letting it out, settling down on the balls of her feet just long enough to pass her gaze to Inuba quietly busying herself in the kitchen of the fancy cabin.

"C-Can I ask you something?" Ruby asked in what was probably the meekest voice she'd ever used, in front of him. Her eyes quickly narrowed a little as she tightened her shoulders, head dipping down in the heat of an embarrassed blush.

"Sure thing. You know you can ask me for anything."

The shy girl shuffled her feet and hid her gaze behind her bangs again, her little heart thumping and beating in her chest. It was normal! This was totally normal!

E-Everybody…did this…

Ruby pursed her lips and shifted her weight, almost throwing her short figure off balance as she came up with the next words to say. "W-We've d-done a lot of things together, and… I-I was wondering…"

Her voice grew softer and softer in volume as she pouted in the middle of her sentence, her brow furrowing in a look of embarrassment.

"I-If we can…do something more," she mumbled.

"Okay, like what?"

Ruby's brow furrowed even more in the strain of her internal squeaking and growing fluster.

Her fingers gripped whatever the could of her nightshirt, bunching it up over her pajama pants as she shuffled more awkwardly than she already was.

"I-I wanted to…" she trailed off, lips pressing into another pout as she lost the words she was trying to say. "To…c-cuddle. I-I haven't done it before."

Her last words could barely be called a whisper, but she got them out.

"Cuddle?" He said confusedly.

Ruby squeezed her eyes shut and nodded, freezing in her spot as he repeated what she wanted to do. "We've kissed but… we haven't cuddled before. A-And I've been wondering what it was like."

"Oh, that's it?"

The poor girl flinched and mumbled under her breath. "Y-Yeah, that's it."

Even he thought it was normal…

"Alright. Come here then."

He stood there like a messiah, arms lovingly spread open and waiting.

Ruby peered up at him in a tense moment of holding her breath, her silver gaze trying to look away out of her growing embarrassment.

H-How was he so…calm?

The reaper shuffled her small feet forward, padding in a quiet, almost silent approach in her socks to close the distance between them.

It was normal. Everyone-

Without word or warning, he suddenly swept her up into his arms to carry her despite the squeak jumping out of her, and gently began nuzzling his face against hers.

"Something…like this, I imagine?"

Ruby's squeak turned into an embarrassed whine as she nodded against his face, arms slipping around him to pull herself as tightly against him as she could.

"I'd _imagine_ that it would be when you're sitting down and resting for the night, not standing in place like you are now." A voice spoke up.

The reaper locked up as she heard Inuba make her way over, a red fluster overtaking her cheeks. "T-This is fine! I just wanted-"

"More, I would think." The kitsune quickly replied.

"I-Inuba!" Ruby whined, kicking her legs with the sudden urge to get out of Dante's grip and curl up somewhere.

But she couldn't even budge his arms.

"Is this not normal?" Dante asked.

"On the contrary, it is very normal for couples to do so. Like this."

Inuba herself took steps forward from the front and hugged the both of them, with Ruby slightly being squished in between them, moreso due to Inuba and her… Her…

…

Her large "assets"...

Ruby turned as red as her namesake, but she stopped struggling. If this was a cuddle, then…maybe it was alright to do this tonight.

Or every night.

* * *

 **Weapons** **Illustrated** **18**

 **«»**

"Heya everyone, I'm Dante."

"And I'm Ruby!"

"And we're here for another week of Weapons Illustrated. This week will be… interesting."

"I'll say!" Ruby said with a proud gleam in her eye.

Dante chuckled lightly as he clicked a button on his remote, making the projector screen come to life. On its display was a cute and small cartoonish Ruby, standing as she did now, proudly, with her hands on her hips.

"So for this week, I mentioned we were doing something interesting. As it is, we're not ready to introduce some of the 'new players' and what their weapons can do just yet. So we'll do something different. And for that… we'll be focusing on the upgrades RNJR got recently. And for today, we'll talk about Ruby's upgrade."

Ruby tapped her right foot against the floor twice, and black Aura clung to her feet, crawling up them and covering her legs entirely. The Aura took shape, and dispersed, revealing twisted, elegant black armor protecting her legs, with three inch blades acting as the heels.

The reaper gave a quick twirl, and then struck a pose.

"Her upgrade turns her legs into weapons, in a sense. Using the upgrade makes her overall movement speed as fast as when Ruby is using her Semblance."

She demonstrated so by blurring in between locations on stage, moving around Dante in blurs without usage of her Semblance, and ending her demonstration by tickling his sides before retreating off to his side, giggling.

"If you think that's impressive, you should see when she's actually using her Semblance. Which Ciel and Leo will cover next time. Now, as for the legs themselves…" Dante gave the armored legs a few good taps with his finger, the metal softly singing with each tap, "The armor is very durable. As durable as my Shadow Skin armor I'd reckon, and that alone can take some serious, serious damage."

The immortal took a few steps back, raising up his hand and summoning an Aura Sword. When he gave Ruby a nod, she quickly delivered and blindingly fast round kick to the sword, easily snapping the blade in two

"And as demonstrated, while it is durable, the attack power her armored legs gain is tremendous, as demonstrated by her breaking this sword with one kick. Mind you, this Aura Sword is almost as tough as my own, which is pretty hard to destroy by any means."

Dante summoned another Aura Sword, and nodded to Ruby, who quickly raised up her leg and swung her blades heel down on the blade, cutting it clean in two.

"Safe to say those heels aren't for show either… All in all, the focus of her upgrades is mainly to add extreme movement speed and extreme leg strength. However, this doesn't come without its drawbacks. As a result of using of her 'upgrade' for an extended time, Ruby will experience great exhaustion and fatigue post-use."

"No kidding… My legs were so sore after the first time…"

Dante coughed to himself once, making the little reaper realize the mistaken insinuation behind her words and blush furiously.

"I-In any case, that's all we have to present to you today. Thanks for stopping by." Dante said bowing slightly.

"B-Bye everyone!" Ruby waved back.

* * *

 **Yeah yeah, I know, it took a while. We're at that point again where it's near the end of the semester, so the work load is intense right now. Other than that...**

 **It's beginning folks. The promised day I've been awaiting for more than a year now. And believe me, I will make it worth your while. Yes, I've delayed Volume 5, and now a bit of 6, but come Winter Break, I'll be able to sit down however long I like and write out as much as I can. So in that respect, I should get things done even quicker.**

 **Other than that, keep yourselves tuned in folks. The heat is _rising_ indeed.**

 **That's all I have to say, so with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all** **go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 ** **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it.** With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	42. Chapter 42: Two Kinds of Devils

Chapter 42: Two Kinds of Devils

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Dante leapt out of the way of the creature's fist as it slammed itself into the earth to crush the immortal. He decided to stay on the ground, letting Ruby hop onto its arm so she can work her way up, leaving Dante to distract the colossal beast as he drew its sight away from the small reaper running up its limb.

It's mouth glowed with bright with blood red energy before it shot out one small burst spherical shot. No room to dodge simply, Dante took up his sword with both hands and lashed out at the orb, sending a white and black Aura Wave out with his slice to meet the orb. The two energies collided, and ripped into each other with intense ferocity before exploding.

The beast opened its mouth, but instead of shooting out an orb, the red energy glowing inside its mouth built and charged up, then as it leaned forward towards Dante, the creature let out a continuous beam of blood red energy that trailed the ground wherever he moved. This wouldn't be an attack he could counter directly, so the teen continued to sprint as fast he could, ducking under and leaping over the beam whenever it came close to touching his body.

By now, Ruby had reached her intended destination, then leapt off the creature's shoulder into the air, readying her weapon. With a swing and pull of Crescent Rose's trigger, Ruby surged forward with intense speed, letting her right foot guide the way as her legs immediately were cloaked in black Aura, allowing her to don her armored leggings once more.

Like a comet streaking through the sky, Ruby was like an intense blast of red as her black armored foot crashed into the side of the beast's head, making it screech out in pain as it's head bobbed side to side. In the next moment, its body leaned forward, and the monster fell into the earth face first.

"Now!" Ruby shouted as she landed on the ground.

Her black armored legs dissolved from her limbs, Ruby used her Semblance to surge forward, and then sliced at the right wrist of the creature to leave a deep slash. The others had rushed in, Jaune transforming his sword and shield into its greatsword form and running past with a slash, deepening the cut as Ren also moved past with a quick slice.

Nora had leapt up, readying Magnhild up above her before smashing atop the creature's hand to keep it in place. Inuba was the last to move, coming in from the opposite direction of where everyone made their cuts and served the hand entirely with a blazing cut that Nora helped keep in place.

The massive monster let out another shrill roar as it reared backwards, waving its stump of an arm around wildly before it looked down on the teens. As quick as its large body allowed it to, the creature repeatedly slammed its injured limb into the ground in an attempt to crush the teens, almost succeeding had Inuba not quickly coated her katana in white flame and unleashed a massive blast of pure white fire that forced it back.

Dante was on his return trip, leaping onto the top of a ruined building and leaping high up into the air. The beast noticed him, and looked up at the teen currently flying towards him, firing off quick blasts of its blood red energy to shoot the immortal out of the sky. The teen dodged everything that came his way, barely dodging one of the blasts as he leaned backwards, the energy almost grazing his chin as he moved past it and flipped in the air once to reorient himself.

It's left hand now made its way towards Dante, palm ready to smack him out of the sky. The teen, confident he could overpower its smack, straight tossed his sword at the creature's palm, his body vanishing in a stream of white and back as that same stream immediately appeared at his sword. The momentum of his thrown sword, along with the blast of white and black Aura that surged out, propelled him with great force.

The two made contact, and after a few brief moments, the creature forced its hand downwards, and sent the immortal crashing into the ground. His body cracked the ground on the first impact, and cracked the ground once more after he bounced, sending him into a roll until his used his sword to stop him.

Dante staggered up unto his feet, slashing his sword outwards of him before sheathing it. The sheath expanded, and transformed Dante's longsword into an Ultra Greatsword, removing it from behind him as he readied it at his side.

The creature's palm crashed down on the teen, but he swung at its hand with a loud roar. Putting some more force after collision, Dante forced away the massive hand, watching the beast ready itself to slam its fist down while the immortal brought his Ultra Greatsword across his body, ready for another counter.

The colossal black and red fist heavily slammed down on the teen, unable to move the hand in spite of his struggle. His arms soon were cloaked in black Aura, forming the twisted black armor of his Shadow Skin around his limbs to give him the extra force he needed to push the arm back.

The teen then moved his sword to his back, attaching it to his back and transforming it back into a sheath as he drew his longsword out, leaping high up onto the hand he had forced back. The beast noticed Dante, and used it's stumped hand to slam it atop its upper arm and quickly drag it down, trying to bush the immortal away.

When the limb was close enough, Dante leapt onto the stump and kicked off it, throwing himself high into the air, but with not enough momentum to carry himself towards the creature's head like he needed.

It was then he heard loud gunshots, looking below him to see a blur of red dart up from the ground, a hand reaching and grabbing hold of his. The blur of white carried the blur of white, and together in unison, spun and spiraled higher up towards the creature's face. The blurs stopped, showing Ruby still holding onto the immortal before she spun around and tossed him towards the creature's face.

A jet of white and black Aura flowed from the tip of the teen's sword as he surged forward with a battle cry, tearing back his blade until he closed in and stabbed the creature in the forehead.

Having a good hold, Dante planted his feet onto the forehead of the creature, then placed his left hand atop the cross guard of his longsword to deliver the finishing blow.

"Devouring Light!"

Calling out his technique, the immortal's blade shot out a massive torrent of his white and black Aura, the tore through the creature's head and exited out the back of its skull in a thunderous howl of screeching energy.

Noting the creature about to fall back into the chasm below, Dante ripped his sword free from its flesh and leapt up into the air, straight tossing his longsword back down to the earth a safe distance away. Dante appeared shortly after in a stream of his white and black Aura, standing back up and exhaling as he took up his sword and watched the colossal body fall back into the abyss.

"We..! We did it!" Jaune exclaimed.

"Yeah! Knocked 'em right out of the park!" Nora yelled victoriously.

Dante flashed them a brief smile before glancing over to Inuba, his smile soon vanishing as his gaze wandered down to the ground before moving towards the distance.

A crackles of bright blue light shone in constrained, jagged rectangular shapes, soon fully filling out and disapatting moments after to reveal glossy, black stone. More crackles appeared one after the other in rapid succession, building a bridge of the shining obsidian stone all the way across to the other side.

"I suppose that means we're able to cross now… It seems you were right Dante." Ren commented.

"Yeah… Seems like it…"

All of RNJR looked at Dante in confusion as he stood ahead of them, overlooking the distance.

His response… wasn't like the usual.

"Let's, uh… Let's keep going ahead. Before anything tries to stop us." The immortal mentioned as he took the first few steps across the small obsidian bridge.

Ruby folded up Crescent Rose and jogged forward until she was close enough behind Dante to continue walking without bumping into him. Jaune, Ren and Nora did the same, catching up to Ruby as they kept watch all around them.

The small reaper glanced back at the kitsune trailing behind them, seeing her crimson eyes that once shone with life, now dull, and trailing the ground as she went, remaining ever silent.

What was wrong with them? They were partners… weren't they?

Why won't they talk to each other?

"Dante-"

The immortal's hand blocked her as she saw him glance around quickly before quickly walking forward, the rest moving up silently with the same speed as they crossed the bridge.

More ruins amidst the black sands, this time larger than the last and… at the very least, somewhat whole.

Suddenly, the ground shifted beneath their feet as a flat, rectangular outcrop of black stone rose from the ground between Ruby and Dante to try and separate them. Had Dante not pushed Ruby back, she surely would have been struck by the stone.

More outcrops rose from where Inuba stood, forcing her forwards towards Dante's position until she was practically at his side. Taking a moment, they both watched as more black walls of stone rose from the ground, forming higher and higher into the red skies. They soon stopped, and a shine of purple energy crackled through the stone walls, coating the wall entirely.

* * *

Dante raised up his longsword, quickly charging it with a torrent of his white and black Aura and striking the wall, as hard as his could. Instead of shattering the wall, his blade bounced off of the black stone like rubber, his Aura quickly fading away as he staggered backwards.

The immortal walked forward hurriedly, touching his hand against the wall before smashing the bottom part of his fist against the stone, knocking on it loudly.

Nothing.

"Damn it! They cut us off!" The teen angrily shouted as he slammed his hand against the wall.

He pushed himself off the wall, and walked forward towards the ruins. There'd likely be no way for either side to force their way through, so the only option now was to move forward and defeat the person who put up the wall in the first place.

With Inuba here, it'd be…

…

It would have been easy, but…

"Come on. We have to find whoever set this up and defeat them." Dante spoke up as he quickly moved ahead, only to realize Inuba wasn't following after him.

He turned to look at her, seeing how her gaze was focused on the ground.

"Look, whatever problem you have right now, we can talk about it later." The immortal said as he approached the kitsune and reached out, "Right now, we-"

As soon as he got close enough, she backed away from him, bringing her hands up to her chest as her head tilted further down to the black sands beneath them, making sure their eyes wouldn't meet.

"I… I realize now… there's nothing more to speak about at this point…" she spoke silently.

A painful throb ran through his chest, more terrible than last as he clutched as his chest tightly.

Why… Why did something like that hurt him so much..? Today, since the moment this started, he felt so terribly injured, as I'd a deathly sickness had been plaguing him.

He'd never felt so terrible before in his life…

And all he could do really was let her pass him by as he stared on in awe.

…

…

Why did everything feel so wrong..?

* * *

It was all too quiet. The only thing that could be heard as the two walked was their own footsteps making slight crunching noises in the black sand, and the slight breeze that ran through the area.

Dante's entire body had never felt heavier as he traversed the wasteland, slowly moving behind Inuba as she kept a steadier pace ahead.

It wasn't the day his monthly sickness was to kick in, for if that were the case, he would have taken the day to tough it out before coming here.

So then… what was it that was crippling him?

Inuba stopped suddenly, making the immortal halt his own tracks before he took large strides forward to look ahead.

He saw then what exactly she was looking at.

Yards away from them stood a man with a black, purple trimmed, open coat that had long split tails reaching to his ankles, the sleeves were tucked into fancifully plated black gauntlets with numerous wavy patterns spanning the metal, the fingertips clawed and sharp. Underneath that coat, he wore a dark purple shirt with long, tattered lapels that flared outwards. He also wore black dress pants with a silvery colored belt, the pant legs also tucked into a pair of knee high plated greaves sporting the same design and black color as his gauntlets.

He looked young, about their age, and had pale skin and messy black hair that almost reached his shoulders, a few strands of his bangs loosely falling between his eyes. The eyes themselves were of an ultraviolet color, with black slit pupils, just like…

…

Like a Dark Entity…

...

All he hand in his hands was a segmented black rod that he held in his left hand.

"My Mistress bids you welcome, White Swordsman, and his most loyal partner the White Fox. We've been expecting you for some time now. I trust the towers weren't too troublesome to dismantle?"

Dante took steps forward ahead of his partner, "So it was you then… You raised those towers across the continent."

"Technically speaking, we did no such thing. We simply… commanded that they be raised." The teen spoke, waving his hand.

The immortal was doing his best to control his breathing, but the sickness he felt persisted regardless of how he tried to bring it under control.

"And? Who the hell might you be?"

"I am no one of any importance. But if you really must know…" the teen raised a hand to his chest to give a respectful bow, "I am Asher. Attendant to my mistress, Scylix."

 _Scylix… That sounds like a Dark Entity name sure enough… And here I thought Raum was the only one of his kind here… Did more of them spill out to this World? Or maybe… somebody had just enough hate in them to blacken their body and soul._

"And you, White Swordsman Dante, will grant my mistress's wish."

"Her wish?" Dante questioned.

"Yes. That is the only reason you are here." Asher spoke as he raised up his small black rod that crackled to life with ultraviolet colored Aura, forming a transparent halberd in his hands, "And you will fulfill it."

"Sorry pal, but I'm not here to grant anyone's wishes."

"Who said anything about you specifically granting it? All we need is the power of your soul."

"My soul, huh?"

"Yes. The power of a Rebellious Soul seeped with strength and power beyond imagination. For that reason alone, we will use it's power to grant the wish of my mistress."

"If you drew us all the way here just for something so stupid, then you'll be disappointed." Dante answered as he drew his longsword from the sheath on his back, raising it up and pointing it at the teen, "Besides… I'm not going to let you have your way just because you're asking."

Asher made to move, but a pale hand touching his shoulder stopped him from doing so, immediately forcing him to stand up straight at attention.

"Asher… You should know better than that."

A woman seemingly stepped out of thin air from behind the teen as she glanced to him briefly before her eyes met Dante's.

Black sclerae, blood red irises, and black slit pupils stared back at cautious, bright sky blue eyes.

"We meet at last." Scylix spoke, her lips curling into a smile.

"Preferably never, if Creation was any kinder to me." The immortal bit back coldly.

"Feisty as well… I see your observations weren't wrong, Asher."

"You give me too much praise, mistress."

"I don't give a damn about clowns like you or your observations. You're either letting us out of here or your own accord… or we're beating you into submission until you do. Simple as that."

"Simple, you say…" Scylix spoke with a chuckle as she took a few steps forward, "Your countless victories give you the impression you can simply waltz out of any situation simply because you will it to be so… I will be the first to tell you that this time… this shall not be the case. The only way you will ever leave from this place, is if I and I alone allow it."

"We'll see about that."

Dante glanced to Inuba briefly to see that she had readied herself at least by having her sword drawn, but… he had his doubts that her head was in the right place at moment.

"Very well then. Asher, I will allow you to take the lead for now."

"Understood, my Mistress."

* * *

Asher and Dante were the first to move, surging forward as they glided over the black sands before coming to their first clash. Dante's sword struck the shaft of Asher's halberd, and the black haired teen pushed back to force away the immortal. He began his counter with a powerful twirl with the blade edge of his weapon, twirled it again, on the final twirl struck with enough force to send Dante sliding on his heels.

The immortal stopped, looking up to see his enemy already above him to slam his halberd down. Dante sidestepped the powerful downwards swing and gave a spinning slash of his own, which when Asher blocked, it threw him off balance, allowing Dante to transition from his spin directly into a stab. The black haired teen forcefully raised up his halberd to push the stab up, and went for a quick right cross to the immortal, who used his left hand to catch the punch as they head butted one another.

"Not so bad..!" Dante commented in a strained voice.

Shortly after, his longsword was cloaked in a torrent of his white and black Aura, slowly overpowering the Asher until he finally swiped down and unleashed a small wave of Aura to send his opponent back on his heels.

The black haired teen struggled until the wave of Aura exploded, creating a small enough smoke screen to obscure his entire person.

 _He's keeping up better than I expected…_

The immortal looked on towards Scylix behind Asher, who simply stood where she was, waiting patiently.

 _Either she has no intention of fighting, or she's waiting for the right moment to take advantage of an opening. Either of them could have targeted Inuba as well, but her lackey's been solely focused on me._

Dante looked behind him briefly to take in his partner's status.

Still with that blank stare of hers…

 _At least she has her guard up…_

The immortal looked forward, hearing a whipping noise through the air and seeing three ultraviolet arrows quickly speeding out of of the smoke. Dante cut the first two out of the sky and grabbed the third one out of the air that made to move past him, snapping it in two.

The dust settled, and Asher stood where he was in a stance, an ultraviolet bow now in place of his halberd, right arm raised and ready to draw on the glowing string of Aura.

With incredible speed, Asher tugged on the string of his bow as ultraviolet arrows formed one after another with each rapid tug, Dante moving as quickly as possible to destroy the arrows as they came. The black haired teen glided over the field, bowstring drawn and charging up with a bright burst of ultraviolet Aura, that when released, loosed a massive arrows shaped blast of his Aura.

The immortal raised his sword up to his center to block the arrow, struggling to push it away against the constant propelling force as he noted Asher moving past him towards Inuba.

The black haired teen twirled his bow around to transform it back into its halberd form, and took a swing at the kitsune. She blocked it just in time, but was struggling to push back.

Inuba could have easily overpowered him, surely, but she couldn't. She was strictly on defense.

Dante swung the powershot arrow away from himself, staggering backwards slightly as he turned and rushed forward, towards the black haired teen, seeing him breaking Inuba's guard with an upwards swing. He had almost finished his attack chain with a downward strike, but Dante grabbed hold of the shaft near the blade head of the weapon, stopping him entirely.

The immortal suddenly felt something squeezing his right arm tightly, turning to see three black serrated chains with small bladed points wrapped tightly around his forearm and wrist. As his eyes quickly followed the source of the chains, he saw that they came from within the wide cuff of Scylix's right sleeve, whose hand was extended towards the white haired teen.

Dante looked back to Asher and just barely reared his head back in time to avoid the spike at the tip of his enemy's halberd. The serrated edges began to tear through the sleeve of Dante's coat and began tearing into his flesh, prompting him to pull Asher forward, lift him up in the air and toss the teen away from him and Inuba.

The three chains biting into the immortal unraveled themselves and quickly slithered like snakes back into Scylix's sleeves, as Asher stood near her.

"Come on partner, focus up! This isn't the time to-!"

Dante turned his head back around to block a crushing blow from Asher, watching Scylix surge past him straight for Inuba.

As much as he tried, Dante couldn't force away Asher. He stuck to the immortal as close as he could, and didn't allow him to try and assist Inuba, currently under assault from Scylix. Six of the woman's chains were extended from her back, each one quickly striking at Inuba rapidly from all directions. While the kitsune was blocking most of the whipping chains, a few of them still manage to break past her guard to leave small cuts on her body.

Why wasn't she using her flames?!

"Get out of my way!" Dante shouted.

"You'll have to kill me first if you wish to fight my mistress." Asher stated in a strained voice, doing his best to keep Dante in place.

"SHUT UP! AND MOVE!"

Dante's Aura flared up, slowly pushing Asher closer into the ground until his own ultraviolet Aura flared up as well to give enough of a push back.

The immortal wasn't going to waste time any longer.

Dante spun around Asher and forced him back, causing the black haired teen to force his body backwards. He couldn't see Dante's hand grab hold of the shaft of his halberd, and when he did, he saw it was changed, layered in twisted, black, segmented Armor.

Asher's eyes widened when he saw Dante fully Shadow Skinned, and he struggled to just even free his weapon from Dante's grasp as he let out a hollow, echoing roar.

"Let go!" Asher shouted.

The immortal kept his grip despite Asher's pulling, rearing back his right arm as his longsword flowed with a violent torrent of black and white Aura, tearing into the ground behind him. His Aura grew in mass, seemingly screeching like an angry devil as Asher struggled to reobtain his weapon.

In the next moment, Dante quickly let go of his sword and grabbed it again backhand style, "Devouring..!"

Asher's right hand brimmed with ultraviolet Aura, making to strike at Dante's head, but he was far too late to strike.

"Light!"

Dante swung his sword upwards into Asher with as much force as he could muster, unleashing the contained energy of his Aura as it violently surged outwards with the strike, consuming the black haired teen as the wave quickly traveled across the plane of black sand, Asher's screams growing quieter and quieter the further the colossal wave of Aura traveled.

The immortal immediately spun around and found three chains wrapping around his armored neck, making the transformed teen bring hand up to grasp at the chains. While pressure on Inuba's end was alleviated, she still struggled to defend, much less gain an opportunity to attack.

Dante managed to dig his armored hand underneath the chains covering his throat, and after a few forceful tugs, managed to loosen up the chains as they scraped around his armored neck with sparks. The immortal made sure to have a tight hold of the chains, giving them two quick pulls before the third pull forced Scylix away from Inuba, and flew over the immortals head.

Landing opposite of him, Scylix immediately shot forward, all six of her black, serrated chains present and whipping about rapidly.

The teen raised up his blade to block the first set of chains, unable to block the next set as they wrapped around his body to restrain him. Despite his struggling, The transformed teen couldn't break free of chains, watching Scylix glide forward towards Inuba.

Reaching into her sleeve, Scylix had begun to draw a silvery sword from within her sleeve. It had a silver handle that looked like strands twisted together, a silver colored guard with no branch that sported feather-like embossing in the metal, and a long, black, double edged blade.

Dante's eyes widened when he saw the blade being produced, making him struggle panickedly to get free of the accursed bindings holding him in place.

Inuba, still on her knees recovering from the onslaught, was unaware of the approaching blade about to strike her.

Giving up on simply breaking free, Dante forced his arm back as far as he could in one swift motion, and straight tossed his sword towards the two behind him.

The kitsune looked up in that moment, watching the black inching in closer to stab her as she made to stand up.

The blade however, would never reach her.

Something appeared directly in front of her, crashing into the kitsune to push her away from the oncoming sword as she heard metal being torn through, and flesh being dug into a moment after.

Inuba hesitated a moment, but soon opened her eyes to find herself on her hands and knees, staring at the black sands. She touched her chest briefly, finding no blade had pierced her.

The kitsune's eyes widened as her head shot up, looking to see Dante's armored back facing her.

And piercing him through his stomach, the same black blade Scylix had held.

* * *

The twisted black armor surrounding Dante's body had immediately broken down, and blasted away from his entire body like a short storm of black ash, Inuba not so much as blinking as she stared on in shock.

The immortal's hand shot out and grabbed hold of Scylix's wrist, squeezing hard enough to make her let go of the weapon she dug into Dante's body as she retreated. The teen's body crackled with brief sparks of white and black as he took a staggering step forward, hanging his head low as he exhaled.

Inuba remained as she was, silently staring at her Master in awe as she began to quiver.

"So… That's how it is then…" the teen said with a chuckle, slowly turning around to face Inuba.

The kitsune gasped when she saw blood dripping down from the corners of his mouth.

And then, he did the strangest of things.

He gently patted her head, resting it there a moment as Inuba's fox ears instinctively folded against her head.

"It's alright… It's… alright…" he spoke in a quiet voice, struggling to even smile, "Whatever happens after this… Know that it isn't your fault… It'll never be."

Inuba's crimson red eyes narrowed slowly, trying to stop herself from crying. But she didn't even manage a word out before her entire body quickly vanished in a stream of white and black Aura.

Dante's hand fell to his side as he let out another breath, looking down at the sword still piercing his stomach.

 _Yeah… This is definitely..._

The immortal weakly reached a hand for the silvery handle of the sword, and after a few struggling tugs, he managed to remove the blade from his body, now holding it in his hand as he stared at it to confirm his fears.

He then turned around slowly, facing Scylix once more as she sported a big smile on her face.

"You know what that is, don't you?" She asked.

"Yes…" The teen answered, "This… This is the Eos Blade… The one thing in the entire whole of Creation that can undo any force, any powerful magic, regardless of what it is."

"Then you understand what's currently happening to you?"

Dante's eyes trailed the ground for a moment, still coming to grips with the reality he was now facing.

"I'm dying… I'm… actually dying…"

"Yes. What was once impossible, has now become genuine reality."

"Where did you find this?"

"It was certainly difficult, that much I assure you." Scylix spoke as she waved a hand, a darkwood grain chair forming behind her out of her black and purple Aura as she took a seat, "But it was here, all along, surprisingly enough. All that was needed in the end was a little 'foresight'."

 _Foresight…_

"When did you know?" Dante asked, gripping the sword tightly.

"About you? Ever since you stepped foot onto this world. I've been waiting a long time for someone like you to arrive. Just when I thought I'd have to leave this wretched world, lo and behold, you come here."

"Why not come after me from the start if you knew I was here?"

"Surely you must be joking." Scylix scoffed, "Do you honestly believe you'd be of any use to me if you were in such a weakened state? No, I waited and bided my time. Of course, I did send the occasional enemy your way to help you along."

"Then you're saying…"

"Yes… Your growth is partly due to my efforts, all to help build you up to become even stronger for just this moment. Everything else though was all through your own merit. I must say, it has been rather impressive seeing you always brandish triumph out of a hopeless outcome."

"A speciality of mine…" Dante replied.

Scylix chuckled at his comment, "A speciality no longer, I'm afraid. This time... there won't be any chance miracles. No tricks to pull out from your sleeve to save the day because you will it so."

The teen never believed in miracles anyway. Belief in something was a concept he always viewed with contempt as a terrible, wasteful thing.

In all of his battles, the only thing he ever believed in was his own power. His own abilities. His own people.

Nothing else.

"You went through all this trouble to make me mortal… I suppose then, you'll be the lucky person to finally take me down when no one else could?"

Scylix's smile vanished as she sighed, crossing one leg over the other and resting her cheek against her hand.

"Seeing as I have what I want, personally, I'd let you live knowing Death was now a reality for someone like you." She said with a shrug, "But a deal is a deal, afterall. You more than anyone understand how our word as Dark Entities is our bond. Oaths, deals, promises… We keep those far more strictly than any other living being in the whole of Creation."

There was truth to her words. Even with how wretched some Dark Entities were, their deals and oaths were always something they kept to, even if they hated it with a passion.

Scylix brought up her other hand as her black and purple Aura flared around it. A pit of a viscous, black substance formed from beneath the sands near Scylix, and from that pit…

A Beowolf emerged, dragging itself out of the mass as it snarled when glancing at Dante.

The Grimm's head then jolted towards Scylix, slowly walking towards her on all fours before nuzzling it's bone plated head underneath the woman's hand.

"Fascinating creatures these Grimm… With how they're made, one would think of them similar to Lesser Dark Entities, those mindless creatures we create to serve as our foot soldiers."

"Are you-?"

"Their maker? No, far from it. I simply… made a bargain with the original proprietor to share with me her secret of creating these beasts. In exchange, I take care of you, the second biggest problem after that man, Ozpin."

 _Borrowed power then…_

"A shame… And here I thought I was face to face with the maker of the Grimm."

"What? You thought to end the threat of the Grimm once for all?"

"Maybe. Kill the maker, and they might stop being so inumerable." Dante stated.

"Keyword being maybe."

The teen nodded silently at the comment, glancing at the Eos Sword briefly before he raised it up. Black Aura began to consume the blade slowly, struggling to span itself across the metal, but with some more time, the blade was completely engulfed.

Shortly after, it died out with the Aura, disintegrating completely into nothingness.

"A wise decision. Had you not destroyed the Eos Blade, and your siblings decided to take vengeance, I may have very well used it against them too. But I suppose that was the first thought you had once you realized it could wash away your immortality."

Scylix snapped her fingers, and the Beowolf next to her dissolved into black dust and sank back into the black sands.

"No matter. I already achieved my goal. The only thing that remains now…" Scylix spoke, standing from her chair as it vanished in a burst of her Aura, "is keeping my end of the bargain."

As she spoke, her chains chains materialized from behind her, branching overhead of her person as she took slow strides forward.

Dante slowly took steps backwards from the woman, his breathing heavy and unsteady as he clutched the wound on his stomach closing up very slowly.

He never felt cornered in his life. Not like he did now.

His body was weak, and that dreadful feeling still gripped him tightly. He tried to force his Shadow Skin on, but gained nothing but small crackles of his Aura. The same happened when he tried to activate Dakini no Ikari.

...

There was really nothing to be done…

...

It was then Dante felt a small weight in his pocket, realizing what exactly it was once he glanced down to his left hand.

 _H gave that to me… Said it held the key to everything. If that's so…_

Dante reached into his coat pocket, feeling around until he his fingers touched cold steel.

 _Then there might be a chance after all…_

"The world as you know it… will come to a close soon enough in the next few hours. Best to send you off now to spare you the pain of what's to come."

As Scylix spoke, she raised up her hands, her serrated chains ceasing their whipping about and remaining still as their small, dagger-like points locked onto Dante. When she flicked her hand down, the chains shot forward with frightening speed, ready to tear into the now mortal Dante.

The teens hand quickly left his pocket, lifting the item clutched between his fingers up into full view.

Scylix's chains did something odd then.

They stopped short of Dante, and regardless of how hard they pressed, some force kept them at bay from moving any further.

The woman squinted her eyes at the sight of the object, a small sense of shock taking her as she saw what it was that stopped her weapons.

A ring.

It had a rectangular obsidian stone set in the metal band, that had numerous diamond shaped patterns cut into the edges of the stone. In the center of the stone was a small white metal shield crest with a black background that had the letter "A" in white colored metal etched into the black background of the shield crest. The rectangular metal surrounding the ring stone, as well as the metal band, was colored pure black with intricate white colored etchings carved into the band.

What was this ring that it stopped her chains.

"I don't give a damn about the World… Never have, never will… You can do whatever the hell you want with it… Burn it for all I care…" Dante spoke.

Scylix brought her chains back to her, glaring at the teen with caution as he clutched the ring in his palm.

"However… I refuse to let you hurt those I care about most… the people I love the most in this… screwed up Creation..!"

Thoughts of Inuba, Ruby, his siblings, and his friends, both new and old popped into his mind one after the other.

"I made a vow when I came here… I vowed… that I would never let anyone else take from me..! Not my sanity, not my body, not my soul, not the people I cherish most! I will never let people like you take them away from me!" The teen shouted as he began to stand up straight.

It would have been a lie if Scylix said she wasn't taken aback. She expected… an entirely different scenario. Fear, dread, anything at the loss of Dante's immortality. Yet he stood where he was, making his declaration as if nothing happened.

"I don't care if I was immortal..! And I don't care that now I can die! My immortality didn't define who I was or what I could do! Even if I can die now..!" Dante said, grasping his ring tightly, "Even if I'm to turn into some terrible beast..! Even if it now costs me my own life to save what I love..!"

 _He couldn't possibly…_

Scylix took a step back, defensively raising her chains in front of her as she watched Dante raise up the ring in front of him.

"I WILL, pay any price!"

Dante's declaration echoed over the plains of black sand as he slotted the ring on his left index finger, black and white Aura shining like a bright light from the ring.

Pain flared throughout Dante's entire body as he fell to his knees screaming in pain, clutching his head with both hands as his black and white Aura flared around his entire body in a brilliant blaze.

The Aura began forming a cluster on the right side of his head, soon solidifying into a black horn that was a foot and a half tall, moving outwards slightly before curving inwards near the base and straightening out to be completely parallel with the top of his head.

His arms were only partially covered in broken, twisted, segmented black armor up to his forearms.

The teen's hand slowly reached out and grabbed hold of his longsword, using it to prop himself before finally standing on his own two feet again.

When Scylix locked eyes with the teen, she saw the teen's sclerae were a pitch black color, and his irises a glowing white color with a slight blaze shimmering in them.

As the teen rose to his feet fully, he stretched out his arms and let out a hollow, echoing battle cry that made Scylix flinch.

( **FFXV** , **Episode** **Ignis** **OST -** **Fate** **of** **the** **Chosen** # **1** )

The Dark Entity shot her hand forward, and with it, her chains surged forward like bullets. Dante moved his head to the side and grabbed hold of the chains with his hand, wrapping them around in his hand twice as he pulled the woman forward.

Scylix could do nothing as she moved forwards towards the teen, using her three other chains to take the slashing cut meant for her body. Blocking the attack, she countered by whipping her three chains across Dante's body to launch him backwards, letting go of the other chains as he flew backwards.

Spinning his body around, Dante landed on his feet and thrusted his sword forward to shoot out a pointed blast of his black and white Aura, Scylix easily crushing it to pieces with her chains.

The teen quickly lashed his sword outwards in three quick cuts, each time unleashing a thinner wave of his Aura that moved with blinding speed.

The Dark Entity yet again encircled herself with her chains, blocking each small yet powerful wave until the last one broke her guard. She looked off to her side, seeing Dante instantly appear in a stream of his Aura to deliver a heavy two handed strike to her chains. She blocked the attack, but she couldn't push back, and shot forward two chains into his body. They made contact, but only barely pierced into him.

Unfazed, the teen began striking at her repeatedly, giving no pause to his attacks as he kept swinging, each slash accompanied with a trail of his blazing Aura. Dante's onslaught of slashes came to an end when Scylix broke her defensive formation and whipped all six of her chains outwards to just slightly cut Dante, but forcing him back nonetheless.

With enough distance between them, Scylix leapt backwards for good measure, bringing her chains in front of her with both hands as her black and purple Aura charged up at the tips of her chains. The Aura condensed itself into a sphere, and grew larger by the second until it shot forward like a large beam.

Dante raised his longsword up to take the beam head on, parts of it splitting off as soon as it made contact. The teen dug his feet into the earth, pushing back as hard as he could and pushing his shoulder into his blade, slowly moving forward until he sidestepped out of the beam. Avoiding a cross lash from his enemy's chains with a quick back dash, Dante dashed right back in like a powerful gust of wind and lashed out his sword in an upwards slice, letting loose a short torrent of Aura that Scylix blocked.

Bits of the violent Aura broke through her guard and cut up her forearms slightly, but the cuts already healed a moment after. Scylix moved each of her chains individually with varying times and motions, attacking Dante repeatedly in an onslaught of her own, striking with lightning fast speeds until she found the chance to wrap all six of them around the teen.

Dante struggled in spite of the Dark Entity slowly pulling him forward, eventually finding enough strength to forcibly loosen the chains by spreading out his arms. This in turn allowed him to quickly grab hold of them once more, pulling it with enough force to move the woman off her feet and overhead in the air, where the teen made to slam her back down into the ground.

Scylix managed to land on her feet as intended, but that didn't stop Dante from being the one to move her, spinning her around rapidly until her body found itself crashing into the wall of some ruins. Her chains took most of the impact, but she still took some damage from the attack.

Dante made for another pull and slam, but Scylix freed her chains again by sending a shock of her black and purple Aura through them to surge through Dante with a powerful shock, electrocuting the teen as he cried out in pain and let go of the chains. As quick as he looked up, the same chains whipped across his face to bat the teen away and send him crashing into the ground.

( **End** **Song** )

Dante found himself on his hands and knees once again, breathing heavily and bleeding from numerous cuts on his body as the partial, broken armor began to slowly chip and fade away.

 _No… No… It's not enough… I… I need more time…_

Scylix slowly walked towards Dante, keeping her guard up in the event it was a ploy. Knowing the teen, feigning injury would definitely be a strategy of his to catch an enemy off guard.

But this was real. His wounds weren't healing nearly as fast they used to, and were still bleeding.

 _Please… Give me just enough…_

( **FFXV** , **Episode** **Ignis** **OST** \- **Fate** **of** **the** **Chosen** # **2** )

His Aura that was flickering faintly soon blazed furiously once again, more brilliantly than ever as pain wracked his entire body yet again, making the teen scream in pain.

The armor on his hand reformed, become only slightly more complete and covering his entire arms up to his elbows as various segments of armor covered his wounds to stop the bleeding. Another mass of black formed at the left side of Dante's head, creating another horn similar to the one on the right.

Yet again the teen rose to his feet weakly glaring at Scylix as he let out heavy breathes and raised up his sword.

 _ **Go…**_

At the behest of the voice in his mind, Dante pointed his sword at Scylix as dozens upon dozens of black and white Aura Swords phased into existence around him, pointing towards Scylix. With a downwards swipe of his longsword, all of the Aura Swords floating near Dante shot forward with ear piercing blasts. The Dark Entity's chains took on a spherical shape around her, and began rotating rapidly, constantly shifting positions to account for the numerous swords trying to pierce her.

One after the other, the Aura Swords shattered like glass when they made contact with the woman's chains as she kept them spinning around her. The slightest absence of focus would have given Dante an advantage she certainly didn't want him to have.

All the while, the teen kept walking forward, his left hand leading in front of him as he conjured blazing Aura Swords one after another without pause, wincing as pain burned in his arm. He then leaned forward and blurred out of sight, disappearing and reappearing around Scylix's now fixed position to attack her from all sides, conjuring swords that shot out rapidly with each of his strikes.

Dante phased backwards out of a multidirectional attack from all six chains at once, rearing his sword back as it glazed with his Aura. Once charged, the teen rapidly slashed away at Scylix, discharging wave after wave of his Aura with blindingly fast cuts. Each wave explosively impacted the chains, forcing Scylix to take steps back in order to reposition herself until the onslaught of slicing Aura waves came to a halt.

Dante flicked his longsword downwards as dozens upon dozens of Aura Swords phased into existence all around him within seconds, and shit forward. These did not break when crashing against Sclyix's chains, only scraping by and leaving a trails of sparks before all of them suddenly halted their movement, and began moving around in separate directions to create a tempest of swords, rapidly flying around with intense force.

The swords warped the defensive sphere around Scylix from the constant attacks, so much so that her chains where enclosed in a tighter formation to completely obscure her body. When the storm of swords ended, she peeked out through her chains to look for Dante, but was too late to see him high above her, sword flowing with a violent torrent of his Aura as he bolted downwards and struck at the chains.

White and black Aura worked to devour the black serrated chains that stood in its path. Underneath them, Scylix kept her feet planted in the ground, slowly but surely cracking apart the earth underneath her as the torrent of Aura kept increasing with force. From underneath her chains, all Scylix could see was Dante, roaring behind his blaze of Aura as it spread out in an explosive blast, consuming both Scylix and everything around her for hundreds of yards, eventually reaching high up into the red skies above.

( **End** **Song** )

* * *

Dante's Aura slowly died down to flickers, slowly vanishing from sight as embers filled the air around him. Given the red skies around him already, the orange glow from the trails of flames where minuscule by comparison.

The armor on his arms began to chip apart and fade away once they fell. His blackened horns too slowly faded away, only, they fell apart slowly like dust, and scattered in the wind until they completely vanished.

The teen stumbled forwards, plunging his sword in the ground to stop him from falling forward as he panted heavily, arms and legs too heavy to move.

 _It's done…_

Dante let out a slow sigh, bowing his head down and closing his eyes as he calmed his breathing down. When he opened his eyes, he caught a glimpse of the ring on his left index finger, seeing a small shine pass through it.

He heard the shifting of stone further ahead, and slowly lifted his head up as a figure rose from beneath the ruble.

"That's not..!"

The billowing smoke shifted, revealing a mostly unscathed Scylix as she dusted down herself. Her hands moved towards the tattered sleeves that now reached up to her elbows, calmly brushing them down with her pale hands.

When she finished, both Dante and the Dark Entity met glances for a few silent moments, the woman flashing him a small smile.

"If I were a few moments too late, I may have actually died… A good effort on your part, regardless of the outcome."

The teen's hands tightened around the handle of his sword, frustration washing over him as his eye trailed the ground once again.

Scylix ceased her smiling, calmly glancing at the teen once more before she spoke.

"I have a question for you, if you don't mind."

"A question..?"

"You may as well answer it before you depart."

Dante chuckled out of spite for the woman as he raised up his head to glare at her.

"Why do this? All this time, all these tragedies you've experienced and invited upon yourself to save others from it… Why do what you've done for so many years now?"

Why..?

Why…

…

…

 _No lies or jokes this time…_

"People like you have asked me that question so many times throughout the years… Now that I think about it, each time I've given a different answer. I think for once… I might just tell the real truth…" Dante spoke, a defiant smile forming on his face, "The reason why I've done what I did for so many years now… The reason is…"

Scylix watched the teen's lips move as he spoke his words, her eyes lighting up in shock as she stood where she was in disbelief.

 _A reason like that…_

Her gaze softened as her own eyes looked down to the ground a few brief moments, soon looking back up at the once immortal across the way with a slightly troubled expression.

"You look so surprised…" Dante said as he kept up his forced smile, "You've been watching me closely this entire time right? Then… you should know from watching me that I'm telling the truth."

"Such a reason…" Scylix stopped herself mid-sentence, letting out a sigh as her gaze shifted from the ground to the teen, "No… If anything, your behavior perfectly correlates with your reason. Even if…"

The woman lowered her hands to her sides, narrowing her eyes at the teen across the desert of black sand.

"You're completely beaten. Surrender your-"

"Beaten?" Dante said laughing as he stood up straight, raising up his sword, "You must have bad eyes then… I'm still standing aren't I?"

 _This boy…_

"You took my immortality away… Something no one has ever been able to do. But like I said before… that doesn't matter. Regardless… I'm determined to see this through to the end. That's why I won't give it up!"

Scylix closed her eyes and took a deep inhale, exhaling moments after whilst opening her eyes, her blood red irises shimmering with a brief blaze of purple Aura as she glared at the teen.

"Have it your way then. I'll be as quick as possible."

Her words spoken, Scylix became a blur of black, surging forward towards the battered and wounded Dante, taking his stance and readying himself to attack.

* * *

After what was a few minutes of concentrated fire and strikes at a single point in the wall, Ruby and the others barely managed to make even the slightest.

"Why isn't this working?!" Jaune shouted as he swung at the wall again, his weapon in greatsword form giving the stone wall a small scratch, "We've been putting everything into this thing!"

"It has to have been reinforced with magic." Ren pointed out, reloading his guns as Nora slotted more grenade canisters into her launcher, "Wasn't there a shimmer covering the wall earlier?"

"I think it glowed purple or something…" Nora stated.

One of Ruby's ammo clips fell from Crescent Rose, and when she reached behind her, she could could feel the custom ammo clip containing the very few White Nail bullets Dante made for her.

Maybe they could penetrate the wall. Maybe they couldn't. Either way, she was hesitant to use them on something she wasn't sure was going to work.

Even so, Dante was on the other side, and that was reason enough to make her want to try.

As Ruby tried to grab the clip out of her ammo pouch, she felt a small vibration on her right arm, looking it over to see an Aura Dagger clinging to her arm before it detached itself.

Then, in a flashing stream of white and black Aura, Inuba appeared from thin air and landed on her back, surprising the group as they looked to one in other in awe, Ruby being the only one to keep her eyes on Inuba.

"No no no no!" The kitsune said as she scrambled in the dirt, quickly getting up and running at the wall.

She threw her shoulder into the wall with a shout, a thunderous crack echoing through the planes as dust blew off from the stone. A few more pushes still did nothing to help, so the kitsune backed away and drew her sword, and began striking at the stone wall repeatedly, shouting as she did.

The others just stared on in awe as Inuba kept cracking away at the wall, eventually striking hard enough that her own sword recoiled from the intense shock and flew out of her hands.

Inuba fell to her knees, her breathing quick and heavy, voice quivering before she began sobbing.

Ruby quickly folded up her weapon and placed it in her holster, running over to Inuba

"What happened?!" The reaper asked as she slid in the sand onto her knees, shaking Inuba, "What happened?! Where's Dante?!"

"I failed..!" Inuba spoke softly, tears streaming down her face, "Because I failed, he..! He's all alone now..!"

"Hey!" Ruby said firmly, shaking the kitsune to bring her to her senses, "Hey! What. Happened?!"

Inuba wouldn't even look the girl in the eye as her breathing calmed down.

"I… I just couldn't… This time… I couldn't just sit and… forget about it…"

 _Forget about it..?_

Ruby sat there with the kitsune, trying to discern what she meant.

"I just… can't do it anymore… I've sat and watched each time, thinking it'll be okay… But it's never okay..! It..! It hurts worse and worse each time I see him..!"

He..? Was she talking about Dante..? What did she mean when by..?

Ruby's eyes widened in surprise when she realized what Inuba meant.

"I just couldn't stop thinking about it… I've never stopped thinking about it, but I never let it get in the way… Not like I did today… I just… couldn't take more of it…"

The kitsune quickly covered her eyes, Ruby slowly bringing the girl closer to give her a hug.

"I'm sorry..! I'm so sorry..! I couldn't handle myself, and now he's all alone and..!"

"It's okay." Ruby said, trying to comfort her, "It's ok… If anything, I think I should be the one saying sorry. I… can't imagine how hard it must have been for you all this time…"

The reaper in red moved back, holding Inuba's shoulder as the two locked eyes.

"You… really love him that much, huh?"

Inuba's eyes widened upon hearing those words, raising her hands to her mouth as she quickly looked away and shut her eyes.

"No! It's… okay. Really." Ruby said, trying to reassure the kitsune, "It just… kind of makes sense now that I think about it. He kinda talks about you a lot, like how proud he is to have a partner like you. Though mostly we hear 'My partner can kick anyone's ass easily', or stuff like that from him."

Inuba meekly looked up to Ruby, seeing her smile happily with an understanding look in her eyes.

"A-And you know… The way you were around him kind of made it obvious…"

Shame spelled out Inuba's next expression as she looked off to the side.

"Inuba… I… I want us after all this to sit down and just… talk. Just to figure things out between us and Dante. I want to do at least that much. Do you think you can do the same?"

"I… I think I can manage that much at the least…" Inuba stated, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Okay. Right now, we need to figure out how to get past this wall and to help Dante."

As Inuba gave the girl a nod, the air suddenly thickened, and began to quake violently under an immense pressure, causing the two to quickly stand up and glance around with their comrades. Everyone kept a tight formation, quickly looking around for the source of the immense pressure.

"Look! Uptop!"

Everyone's eyes shifted up the wall, where Nora pointed out the figure above, standing atop the blackened stone as it shifted back down into the dirt, remaining still a few dozen yards above the group as Scylix looked down upon them all, smile wide across her face.

"I would have imagined the Grimm I had sent here would have been enough to end you, but you humans are seemingly more resilient than I originally gave credit for. I congratulate you for surviving."

"Where's Dante?!" Ruby shouted to the woman up high, the shifting of the black sands beneath their feet dying down with the immense pressure of Aura Scylix gave off.

"Where indeed?"

"Do not play your games with us sorceress! Where is he?!" Inuba shouted, drawing her katana as the others readied their own weapons.

The woman up above gave a sigh, "If you really must know, I left him behind so he won't interfere here. Fighting him alone is trouble enough, but fighting both you and him along with your human friends… That would be far too much trouble than I'd like."

Inuba and Ruby glared daggers at Scylix, and action the woman chuckled at as she took a step forward and gently glided down to the black sands below, her bare feet stepping on the grains of dark sand and leaving footprints behind.

"Instead… the six of us shall our own fun instead. With that… let us draw the curtain back… so that the true main event can begin at last."

* * *

 **Three weeks, I know. It's been... slightly rough. Also why there's no omake or anything extra this week. Kind of been pressed for time. In addition, finals are next week, so I won't be posting anything then. Maybe the monday after next week.**

 **Now, most of you by the end of this will be going "WTF just happened" or "Is this real", and the answer is yes, this is real and genuine. You aren't imagining it. There is no trickery, no fabrication, no curtain to pull back and show "This didn't really happen". This is the way things are now.**

 **You might also be wondering why. Well, to be truthful, this has kind of been the plan from the start, the only things that remained was the exectuion, who, and how. My memory is a bit faulty these days, but I'm fairly certain I introduced the idea of the Eos Blade existing, but never mentioned it in name, therefore it isn't just random addition for the sake of it. In any case, I've waited patiently for what's been two years now** **to get this point. And finally we're here.**

 **To clarify, no, Dante's immortality is never coming back ever. Now, as of this chapter, it's gone forever and is never returning. Again, this is no trick or trap. I am being 1000% genuine with you all without any sleights or trickery.**

 **As for Dante himself... well... See for yourselves what his fate is to be in the next chapter.**

 **That's all I have to say, so with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	43. Chapter 43: The Reckoning

Chapter 43: The Reckoning

«»

 _How long have I been here, I wonder?_

 _A year? Three years? Seven years?_

 _No, I remember now. It's been… ten years now, yes… Ten long years…_

 _And all I could ever do… All I've been, is but a mere ghost. Out of sight. Out of mind. Unheard. Unseen._

 _All except for the few rare instances were I managed to… slip on through, even if but for mere moments._

 _Those moments have always been more than enough to make up for the lost time._

 _But… I don't want this anymore. I don't want to be here anymore. I want to be out there._

 _I want to be with…_

 _I need to get out. I need to get back. I can feel it. Even here, I can feel the pain and despair._

 _I am needed now more than ever. And I WILL leave._

 _I will be "me"... once again. Whole… and complete…_

 _And… He and I will be..._

* * *

 _"_ Where is he?!" Inuba shouted from the sands below, her White Aura flaring around her in a blaze.

"I already told you, he's been removed from the equation. There's no need to be worried about him any longer." Scylix stated, raising her hand up as her six chains phased into existence out of clusters of black smoke.

Both the kitsune and Dark Entity became blurs, appearing a few feet away from where Inuba stood as her white katana dragged across the chains, leaving a trail of sparks in her wake as she passed by.

In thanks to Scylix being able to extend her chains over large distances, she kept Inuba away as far as she could. Given how quickly the chains moved at her, and that they outnumbered her, it was difficult for Inuba to gain ground, much less take the time to attack.

The woman seemed so much stronger all of a sudden…

Ruby blurred in from behind, and swung Crescent Rose for Scylix's neck, only to find two chains blocking the name of her neck, a third quickly whipping into the girl's stomach to launch her away.

Ren and Jaune flanked the sides, but they too were blocked by the chains, only, they made sure to keep her in place, entwining their weapons in their enemy's chains. This in turn gave Nora the chance to leap up overhead from behind and bring her hammer down in an explosive burst.

The Dark Entity woman raised a hand up above, cloaking it in her purple and black Aura as it absorbed the impact entirely, much to the Valkyrie's surprise before she was forcibly flung away into the stone wall.

Distracted for but a moment, Ren and Jaune were yanked forward, with Scylix moving back to allow the two teens to crash into each other and topple the other over. With the two of them downed, Scylix's chains coiled around their bodies to wrap them up to their necks, and slung them along the wall where Nora was, the chains shifting outwards to wrap the girl up entirely as well.

With three opponents subdued, the woman unlinked her three chains from the wrapped up teens, which formed more chains links out of her Aura, the dagger-like tips forming shortly after as she faced Ruby and Inuba. The six chains whipped around her body slowly like entrancing serpents as she took steps forward, the kitsune and reaper in red resuming their stances.

"It's useless."

Scylix forced her hands forward after her comment, shooting her six chains forward like bullets as Inuba and Ruby valiantly fought back against the seemingly endless flurry of whipping chains.

What really started to drive the kitsune up the wall was how much force was placed behind the chains in spite of how little effort they thrashed about.

For Scylix, she had difficulty deciding how to effectively wear them both down and subdue them. Clearly Inuba was the bigger threat by far, but Ruby wasn't by any means totally ineffective.

Where as Inuba dominated in both brute force, speed, and intelligence, Ruby also dominated in speed, and to an extent, had great combat sense to her from what Scylix observed. Both had superb instincts to them; treating either of them as lesser beings would quickly lead her to defeat.

With the kitsune, Scylix used her three chains mainly to counter or stop her from moving forward, whereas with Ruby, she focused on containing the little reaper, using two chains for attack and a third to guide its way into her intended path of travel, preventing her from effectively using her Semblance to escape the flurry of chains and get close.

Even with her spectacular method of defense and countering, Scylix still couldn't completely stop the duo from advancing entirely. It was actually intimidating how well they were working together, despite having no previous experiences in working together, at least, from what was observable.

Was it him driving them forward so relentlessly?

That had to be the case. After all, they both shared intense feelings for Dante. It would make sense for them to desperately drive Scylix off.

She had all but forgotten how intense love could emotionally full someone to complete madness.

These two obviously had no regard for the consequences.

Scylix would show them the error of their recklessness.

Just as Ruby and Inuba went for a cross slash, their weapons were stopped by the serrated black chains, entirely kept in place as katana and scythe were enshrouded by the chains.

Scylix tossed the two girls around like toys, smashing them into the nearby ruins and dragging them through the black sands as their cries echoed across the planes. Ruby was the only one to be thrown into the wall soon after, chains wrapping around her arms and body to tie her up like Jaune and the others as she fell down into dirt.

Inuba was the last one standing, and still she was being thrashed about by Scylix effortlessly. The kitsune unclasped her left hand from the handle of her sword, pointing a finger over the guard as the tip of her finger sparked with white flame in the shape of sphere. The sphere grew larger, and just as Inuba was about to discharge a bolt of her flaming Aura, chains wrapped around her left hand clamped down tightly, digging its teeth into her flesh as she cried out and was slammed into the ground.

As the cloud of black sand kicked up from the impact, Scylix pulled back her chains before they dived back in to give the kitsune a harsh lashing, kicking up more of the sand as she cried out from the shroud of dust.

The woman's chains pulled away towards her, and hung menacingly overhead like serpents, slowly whipping about as they kept their dagger-like tips focused on the downed kitsune.

Black sand clouds were kicked up into air once again, but not before a colossal, cone shaped torrent wave of white flame shot out of the dust with intense speed, projecting forward into a continuous beam that reached high into crimson skies.

"I have no patience for your crude games!" A voice called out from the sands, a small inferno of white flame spreading out in the area.

Inuba stood at the epicenter, only now she was slightly changed.

Her hair was longer, virtually waist length with her long bangs cascading over her shoulders. Tufts of her snow white hair danced about from the immense force her flames, the black sand beneath her feet quickly hardening into glass as she took slow strides forward. Her crimson eyes remained the same, only now, she had black slit pupils instead of her normal ones.

And most importantly… nine long white tails thrashed about behind her as the inferno seemingly only grew with intensity, reciprocating an intense rage the kitsune almost never showed.

"Where is my Master, you harlot?!"

Scylix stood atop her shortened wall, her smiling growing wide as she gazed at the kitsune from on high.

"Let's see… When you talk about 'your Master', do you mean the fierce and lively fellow that creates miracles out of thin air?"

The woman's hand reached behind her grabbing hold of something as she slowly brought it into view.

"Or the pitiful, dead fellow in my hand?"

Inuba's eyes widened as she gasped, all breath seemingly leaving her body as she looked at the what Scylix held on to. Slowly as she raised it into view, the inferno quickly died down as the kitsune fell to her knees in disbelief, struggling to catch a breath.

It was Dante. Surely, she thought it couldn't have been him…

But it was. This was no trick, no form of craft to deceive her senses as she looked on in silent horror.

Whatever spark of life that once resides within the immortal… was now gone. It stung at her like thousands of needles biting into her entire body simultaneously once Inuba realized all Inuba could feel from him…

Was cold death.

"I'll admit, he put on quite the final performance. Struggling and defiant all the way to the very end. So very like him." Scylix spoke out as she held the lifeless teen by the back of his neck and raised him up, "Look closely, Little fox. This was the man to whom you entrusted all your hopes, dreams and desires. And now… he is no more. Completely undone from life. All to protect you."

No matter how hard Inuba tried, she couldn't force out any form of words as tears flowed, her hands reaching for her neck and tightening. Perhaps she was trying to shock herself out of her speechless state.

Or perhaps… the pain was so great and terrible, she tried to still it.

(Peter Gabriel - My Body is a cage)

The inferno of white flame quickly sprung to life once more, far more intense and violent than before as raging, red tints accompanied the flames. Little by little, Inuba's voice returned as she choked out breaths, those breaths turning into silent cries, and then agonizing screams as the inferno quickly spread out further and further across the black planes, turning the ground she stood on into glass.

Her cries rang out painfully and fiercely, so much so that one would think it was a cry that could be heard around every corner of the world, a cry that was accompanied with a roaring inferno.

But those cries of agony steadily changed into angry, wrathful shouts. When the heartbroken kitsune locked eyes with Scylix, they underwent change once more. Red sclerae burned ferociously as they encompassed pitch black irises, and white slit pupils, Inuba's cries of ultimate fury growing louder by the second as her inferno spread further and burned hotter.

All while Scylix stood above her wall, a twisted expression among her face as she giggled ominously to herself.

"Exactly what I was waiting for..!"

Speaking her words, the Dark Entity stretched out her arm that held Dante, dangling his body over the wall as Inuba looked on from below, her glare so deathly and terrifying it would kill any other man that dared gaze into her eyes.

And then… Scylix dropped him.

Inuba's eyes went wide for but a moment until she narrowed them in a sharp gaze and lunged forward with intense force, shattering the field of glass behind her. Her yell carried out across the planes once more until the kitsune caught her Master, and kicked off the wall to land on the ground.

All within a second, Inuba's entire body was enshrouded with white flame, tightening around her body like a glowing white layer of second skin. Her feet and hands became clawed and sharp, and the second layer of skin near the mouth formed a long maw of sharp, ephemeral teeth.

The kitsune's eyes were cloaked in burning red flame, like the inner part of the mouth that opened and let out a ear piercing, distorted roar that shook the very earth from the sheer volume and unfathomable pressure from the blazing inferno of Aura.

With Dante's body in her grasp, unharmed by her flaming hands, Inuba's flaming white tails expanded and grew to large proportions, then folded forward, tips pointing into one another as a sphere of white flame formed and expanded.

Scylix watched from above, laughing silently to herself as the sphere grew larger by the second.

(2:30)

The ball of flame grew to three times of the transformed Inuba's size, then five, ten, and further up to twenty times her size before the sphere discharged into a colossal beam of glowing white fire.

The woman blurred out of sight as the titanic, cannon-like laser of flame shot out immediately like a beam of light out into the red veil that was the sky. Winds blew through the area with intense force as the darkness of the planes was filled with the angry, burning flames.

Ruby and the others, free from their bonds that turned into black ash, gathered themselves as the watched, utterly speechless at the sight of the beam of flame breaking through the sky. As it finally died down, they all saw a gaping hole in the sky, cracks surrounding the epicenter until it all finally fell apart, revealing a vast emptiness of space now instead of red skies. And in the distance… their home.

Remnant.

Their attention was drawn to Scylix, who reappeared further along ten breached wall of stone, her laughter carrying out across the black sands.

"Yes! This is the power I was waiting for! Any other incompetent fool would assume Dante to be the one with power to destroy a world, but they would be sorely wrong! The truth is… that you, Inuba Kitsukami, held that power deep inside you! And now… the great, wrathful power of Dakini, and destructive force of Inari, is being released!"

The Dark Entity's gaze lowered upon Inuba once more, her sickening smile ever broader across her face as she relished in her sweet victory.

"Use it! Use the power fueled by your rage and despair at the loss of your Master to destroy the world of Remnant!"

Another earth shattering howl escaped the transformed kitsune as the tips of her tails came together in front of her once more. Instead of taking numerous seconds to charge up a singular destructive blast, the tails loosed a large enough beam within three seconds before splitting away from one another, forming nine separate beams that flailed outwards sporadically.

The beams of white flame easily melted through the sands in Scylix's direction, who shielded herself with her purple and black Aura as the laser-like blasts did her no harm, and trailed off into the distance towards Remnant.

The trails that were made by Inuba's flames suddenly erupted with immense waves of white fire, and Ruby, sitting where she did, watched one of the beams that trailed off into space hit the planet, spotting a tiny speck of white flame erupting from the surface.

"That's it!"

Ruby's eyes quickly darted to Scylix, who now stood high above in the sky where the girl glanced at it.

"One last time sweet fox! Do be sure not to miss!"

(3:43)

The reaper looked on, spotting the raging Inuba in the distance bring her tails forward with another powerful scream, charging up another massive blast to be discharged. With its trajectory…

It was perfectly centered on the planet..!

Ruby horrifyingly realized that if Inuba had shot out that beam… Remnant… Everyone would…

Before she could continue her thoughts, a blur of white rushed past her and the others towards the transformed kitsune, and by carefully trailing the figure, the reaper in red could clearly see a person wrapped in a white cloak above Inuba, hand reaching out and grabbing hold of Dante's body.

The figure brought out another hand as she planted her feet on Inuba's back and the hand on top of the flaming girl's head between her fox ears. Tearing Dante from her grasp, the white cloaked figure kicked off the kitsune's back, strands of black and white Aura materializing shortly after to restrain the transformed girl.

With the restraints layering her entire body, and wrapping around her flaming tails, Inuba's charged beam had been thrown off its original target, the immense blast of flame shooting out into space and barely missing the planet as it harmlessly passed by.

(4:14)

The figure in white audibly blurred behind Ruby, causing the girl to turn her head around as she looked back to see the person laying Dante's body down on a thin veil of light, making sure it wouldn't touch the black sands.

Without a second though, the reaper scrambled to her feet and rushed over, seeing Jaune, Ren and Nora staggering up to their feet as well to go to Dante.

Jaune got there first, and was shaking Dante slightly, probably calling out his name. But Ruby couldn't hear anything. She could see the blonde's lips moving, but she couldn't hear him speak. All that she could hear, was a silent ringing in her ears as she fell down to her knees staring down at the teen who didn't budge.

Her eyes and Jaune's met, and she saw him struggling to form words until his lips finally formed the words she could read.

Tears started welling up in her eyes as she too tried shaking Dante.

He was out cold. Had to be. He was going to get up soon. He had to get up…

He always got back up… Always…

No matter how long she waited expectedly… he didn't move the slightest bit.

The tears were finally too much to hold back for Ruby as she tried to shake him awake, sobbing as she did until Nora stopped her, wrapping the girl in her arms to comfort her. Jaune and Ren moved instinctively, trying to resuscitate their friend to no avail. They tried and tried, but even after repeated attempts, they realized there was nothing that could be done, if anything at all.

The cloaked figure's hood folded in their direction for a few brief moments before looking back at the beast-like Inuba in the distance, quickly breaking free of the bonds that held down her raging form. The figure's fingers clenched together tightly as her head looked down towards the ground at their feet, trying to stop the shaking.

"This… This wasn't supposed to happen… None of this..!"

The four of them couldn't see it, but the figure brought their other hand up to where their head would have been, clutching it tightly.

(End Song)

* * *

Pure white light blinded the pair of eyes that worked to examine their surroundings. But the further they looked, the more it was… white… Just an incandescent space as far as the eye could see.

But as the bright sky blue eyes blinked a few times, the person they belonged to realized just exactly where he was.

Was it true though? Was he really… here of all places? It was just… so hard to believe that he came here without breaking in like he did the last time. He came in the natural way.

He died.

"So… It finally happened, did it..?" Dante asked as he clenched his hands together gently.

Something was strange though. This wasn't the entrance like he remembered it. In fact, he had never seen this before now when he came here last.

The only thing that told him he was in The Beyond currently, or at the very least it's precipice, was the feeling of stillness. Yes, it was a strange thing to call it but… that's exactly what it was.

Stillness. Peace. A place absent of the woes and joys that made Creation what it was.

A place all would come to in the end.

And now he was here, all alone…

Or so he thought.

Dante heard the clacking of heels slowly approaching him from behind, turning and squinting his eyes at the brighter source of light approaching in the form of a person. As the light died down, he had a clearer view of the person standing in front of him now, waiting to greet him.

"Head Honcho Arbitrator sent you down here to get me?" He asked the figure.

"Not so much 'sent' as he asked me to come and see you personally. He figured that having a familiar face to guide you through would… ease the process."

"Ease isn't exactly the word I'd use for… all this." Dante said waving his hands around briefly, "But... I appreciate the sentiment at least, Pyrrha."

"Strange… Here I thought you'd question whether all of this was real or not, or whether it's actually me." Pyrrha offered with a smile.

"I know this is real. And I know you're real too. I've been here before, so I can tell."

"So I've heard. Though, from the story I was told, you broke in the last time."

"A story I've yet to tell everyone else. Except for Ruby of course. She knows the whole deal by now."

Pyrrha's vivid-green eyes moved off to the side briefly as she clutched her right arm with her left, "I… How is-?"

"Jaune's…" Dante let out a sigh as he stared back at the girl, "He's doing better. I don't think he's fully over it yet, but… I don't think anyone can fully get over something like that. He's adjusted though. So have Ren and Nora. They're doing just as good."

"That's… That's good to hear at least. I hope it stays that way."

"Pyrrha…" Dante said, drawing the girl's gaze on him, "What happened to you wasn't fair. It was… unfair crap happening to a good person."

"Dante…"

"Good people shouldn't die because of idiotic acts of chaos on someone's dumb agenda. Broken, terrible idiots like me deserve to die in crappy situations like that. A do-gooder in love like you should walk away clean."

"I thought you didn't do self-pity." The girl asked, giving Dante a half smile.

"I'm branching out from intense self-loathing and extreme self-destruction, for once." Dante said tilting his head slightly, as both he and Pyrrha looked around the empty white space.

"It's sad really… Knowing now for the first time how you truly feel. Otherwise…"

She sighed briefly, taking the time to examine the blank space around her.

"I imagined there'd be a lot more here now instead of this empty place, but… Your World is… completely vacant..."

"What can I say? I'm a minimalist."

Pyrrha shot the teen a quizzical glance at his witty remark, another small smile forming.

"I see your humor hasn't improved all too much."

"Was never good to begin… with…"

Dante looked on in bewilderment at the new sight in front of him. What wasn't there previously, now stood a clear, translucent veil that ebbed and flowed like water, rippling when the teen tapped its surface. As he looked closer, he…

...

The black sands once again… Ruby being held back while Nora tried to comfort her. Ren and Jaune had finally given up after what was seven minutes of nonstop attempts.

But the girl cloaked in white… She, like Ruby, looked so emotionally injured…

Dante couldn't see it before, but now, on the opposite side was a space. And further on the opposite side was another translucent veil, like the one he was currently behind.

"You haven't seen this before, have you?" Pyrrha asked as she walked up next to Dante.

"No… I haven't…"

"Good… Then just like he said, this will be much easier."

"Easier?" Dante asked.

Pyrrha nodded, "You have a choice Dante. One that's afforded only to you because of how special you are. Once… and only once… you get to choose."

Choose…

...

A choice… Perhaps the first real choice he's ever made in his life…

Ironic that it was to choose to live… or to move on and go into The Beyond.

"You understand what this means, don't you?" Pyrrha asked, earning a nod from the the teen, "Then… what will you do?"

"I could stay here with you." Dante answered simply.

"When you really wish to go back?"

The teen's fists clenched together tightly as he bit into his lip. A part of him wanted to go… but so much of him wanted to stay, since…

"Go back to them, Dante." Pyrrha told the teen.

"I can't…" he said shaking his head, voice growing softer.

"How come?"

Dante's right hand moved slowly to his chest, clutching it tightly as tears streamed down his face, something he hadn't had happen to him for the longest of times.

"I don't want to go back… because… It doesn't hurt here… After tens years… it finally doesn't hurt anymore… I don't want to be in constant pain like I've been. I don't want to be miserable everyday. Everyone… Everyone else didn't do anything wrong. They alleviated enough of it to make it manageable but… It doesn't work anymore. The pain comes back worse each time."

There was also…

"And out there… everyday… It's just more and more of the same. People hurting people. I can feel it all. I've always felt it. It's like… knives digging into every corner of my body. It's… too much to bear anymore."

A gloved hand reached out to wipe the tears away from the teen's face before resting on his shoulder, patting it gently.

"Go home Dante."

"Home…" Dante spoke out, sniffling once as he let out a stifled breath, "Sadly Pyrrha… I don't even know where 'home' is…"

A forceful, yet friendly nudge moved the teen forward a few steps until his hand passed through the veil. But instead of moving forward, he stopped, and looked back at Pyrrha, possibly for what would be the last time.

"Tell Jaune… that I said hello… And…" the girl said tearing up, "That I'm sorry."

Dante glanced over his shoulder at Pyrrha for a brief moment before looking back at the veil, giving a brief nod as his body began to slip through.

And as he slipped through… he could feel it again… slowly inching its way back to him.

Pain.

* * *

Jaune and Ren stared down at the body, still in disbelief that what they were seeing was real.

Dante was actually dead. No pulse, no warmth in his body… He was truly gone.

"Ren… What… What do we..?"

"I…" Ren started as he fell backwards, "I don't know Jaune… I don't think there's anything we can do…"

Jaune slammed his fist into the sands, gold and white sinking into the sands as he bowed his head down.

His eyes drifted to Dante's body, seeing his wounded form covered in numerous cuts and bruises, blood splatters dry across his flesh.

But it was then he noticed something odd.

A brief glow of white and black Aura emerged from the wounds, and then, they started to close. They weren't closing at the startling, nearly instantaneous speed that they usually did. Instead, Jaune and Ren could see the flesh of Dante's cuts slowly moving together and sealing up with brief flickers of light. The bruises disappeared as well, like stains removed from sheets of laundry to make his pale skin clear and free. The only thing that stayed was the dried blood.

Ruby moved past Nora and knelt over Dante, patting him down before her hands moved to his face, holding the sides of his cheeks.

Moments after, Dante's body lurched up in a backwards bend as he gasped for air, and then fell back down, opening his eyes just barely as he went into a coughing fit.

Jaune and Ren helped prop up Dante as he pounded his chest, trying to kill his coughs and get it out of his system.

The white haired teen's head turned towards Jaune, his ears still filled with a high pitched ringing in his ears, unable to hear Jaune or anyone else's voice. His sight was still blurry, but the shaggy blonde hair was so clear to him, even in his state, that he knew for sure he was looking at Jaune.

Thinking of the blonde, he had just remembered what she asked him to say, but…

He was going to settle for just a brief excerpt.

"Hello…" Dante groggily stated, as if he had woken from a long sleep.

"Hel… Hello..? That's..?! That's all you have to say?! Hello?!" Jaune shouted.

Dante's already narrowed eyes squinted more as he looked to Jaune in confusion.

"That is still the term, isn't it?"

Vision still blurry. Wires crossed? No wires. Not machine. Body not fully adjusted to… waking. Was dead…

 _Dead..._

Dante suddenly found himself wrapped by a pair of arms, feeling wet cheeks touch the side of his face.

 _Ruby..._

"I… thought…"

"You stopped breathing… And your pulse… Where you..?"

"Dead?" Dante began, answering Jaune, "Absolutely…"

Ruby pulled herself back momentarily, placing both hands on the side of Dante's face, glancing into his dull, tired eyes.

"Hello…" he replied again simply.

"Hi…" she replied with a small smile, sniffling as she leaned her head forward to press their foreheads together.

Ruby looked off towards the girl in the white cloak approaching, and moved her face away from Dante's to allow the girl to kneel next to them and examine Dante.

"It's me…"

"I know it's you… you utter lunatic…" the cloaked girl replied, choking back an angry voice as she continued examining him, "What happened?"

Dante was about to speak up and tell them everything, his eyes glancing to Jaune briefly before looking back at the pitch black space of the cloaked girl's hood.

He wasn't going to say anything about that. Not right now.

"I was… in that place…"

"That place…" the girl whispered silently, her hood quickly folding up as she grabbed Dante by the shoulders, "You were in The Beyond?!"

The teen gave her a small nod as his eyes moved down to the black sands.

"But how did you..?"

"Second chance… Only chance…" Dante replied, realizing someone among them was missing.

When he realized who it was exactly, his eyes widened as he frantically looked about.

"Where is..?"

His hand grabbed hold of the cloaked girl's arm, pulling her closer to him.

"Where is she..?!"

Her hood folded down towards the ground before looking out towards the ramparts, Dante following her trail as he spotted white flashes out in the distance, feeling the earth shake beneath him.

He struggled to stand up at first, but with Ruby and the cloaked girl's help, they brought him to his feet as they helped him walk forward a few steps to see what was causing all of it.

And when he saw it… the pit of his stomach fell so hard it felt like it was ripped out of him entirely.

 _No..._

He fell to his hands and knees once more, eyes never breaking contact with the sight he beheld.

A figure wreathed in a tight body of white flame and nine long fox tails was frantically traversing the field, clawing and swiping at the woman in black with her chains as she struck back, countering the tails that shot forward like spears and claws that would have shredded the woman to pieces.

"Dante… It's clear that you have an understanding of… whatever that is…" The cloaked girl stated, leaning down towards him, "Can you explain what it is to us?"

The day finally came… And seeing it for himself now, he had failed to keep the promise he made seven years ago…

* * *

 **Seven years ago...**

" _That is why you wanted me…" Said a ten year old Dante, sitting across from Kareina Kitsukami._

 _This was the night he had rescued both her and Inuba, and other yōkai from their terrible fates under devious human contracts._

 _This was the night he and Inuba became partners and left together for the CGA. But before Dante had gone to confront the ringleader, he had sat down with the elder kitsune and discussed terms of his partnership with Inuba._

 _But… those terms came with unexpected information. VERY unexpected information._

 _"Yes… Out of every other person I could think of, only you come to mind as being the most capable." Kareina answered._

 _"Why? You barely know me outside of the psychic communications we've had back and forth for the last three days. Outside of that, you know next to nothing of me or my power."_

 _"As I explained, I've been observing you on my own time, carefully gathering bits of information of you. That is why I know enough. That is why I know your power will be enough."_

 _"You overestimate me."_

 _"Quite the opposite. If anything, you assign yourself severely less value than what you're rightly owed."_

 _"For good reason."_

 _"To you, perhaps." Kareina said, taking a sip of her medication, "In any case, that is the state of matters. And officially, I recognize you as the only capable person. That is why I have chosen you, young Dante."_

 _"When the time comes…"_

 _"IF the time comes… I would ask that you save my daughter."_

 _Dante closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he opened them up again to stare at the elder kitsune._

 _"You ask of me a great deal, Lady Kitsukami. A task that even I might not be able to accomplish given the… complexity of the situation. But… if Inuba is to be my partner, and I hers… then this is a responsibility I will gladly accept. I only hope that your faith in me isn't as misplaced like I believe."_

* * *

 _"_ Dante?"

Ruby's voice called back the teen's attention as he stared into her silver eyes, those same eyes looking for some sort of explanation, along with the others.

Holding back information any longer wouldn't be of benefit to anyone. Just as that was true, it was the same for them being unable to do anything about the situation.

They could do nothing.

They couldn't at least.

"Whether it's… a gift or a curse, I still haven't the slightest idea, but… From birth, Inuba has always faced two potentialities. What you're seeing is but one of them. Those two potentialities… are to maybe become either a Deity… or a Divine Beast."

"A Divine Beast?!" The cloaked girl asked in shock.

"Yes… Inuba's family consists of two bloodlines. She's a direct descendant of Great Goddess Inari, who I in recent years helped install as the Supreme Deity of the East for the betterment of yōkai and mankind."

"She's related to a Deity?" Ruby asked.

"That's right. But she's related to another one. One whom I indirectly served for a time as her champion. You all should know her name by now, since you've heard me shout it."

"Dakini no Okami (Great Goddess Dakini)…" The cloaked girl responded, piecing it all together.

"Dakini isn't… like other normal Deities. Before she became a Deity of war, and a Deity that granted wishes for the right price, she was first, and foremost, a Divine Beast."

"What does it mean, to be a Divine Beast?" Ren asked Dante.

"They're essentially mindless creatures bent only on pure destruction of whatever is in sight. Some, as the name implies, resemble beasts or animals, while others like Dakini took on a more humanoid shape, like what you're seeing now. By rare chance, or… complicated circumstances, they can become a Deity. Just as Dakini did."

"How is she related to Inuba?" Jaune asked.

Dante felt a pain in his side, and moved to sit on his rear, letting out a long exhale before he continued his explanation.

"Inuba's father, Tenma, was the direct relation to Dakini, with Kareina, her mother, being related to Inari. The joining of their clans essentially made Dakini and Inari deific sisters of one another by law. So Inuba, and her siblings are now essentially direct descendants of both Deities."

"But what does that have to do with Inuba's current state?" The cloaked girl asked.

This was going to be the hardest part to explain…

"Yōkai, with direct relations to Deities or Divine Beasts, have a chance of becoming one or the other, should the right circumstances be aligned to make them into such beings. As such, these descendants are known as Ascension Candidates. As you've all ascertained maybe, Inuba and her siblings are either or cases." Dante stated, resting his forearms atop his knees.

 _Oh_ _yeah_ … _There's_ _also_ …

"There are exceptions. One of which is that you might not be chosen as a Candidate, and it'll skip you entirely. The other, that among siblings, only one out of the bunch is chosen. Inuba, out of her three siblings, was unfortunate enough to be picked."

 _There's_ _one_ _thing_ _I_ _don't_ _know_ _however_ …

"What… What triggered her change?" The teen asked.

"That woman… Whatever her name is…"

"Scylix." Dante tacked on.

"R-Right…" Ruby stated, as she continued, "She was talking about using Dakini's power or wrath, or something."

 _Wrath_ …

"She… She was holding you up… Dangling you over the wall and…"

Inuba must have seen that. Taking into account her excellent Sensing abilities, she must have also felt his life and Aura had been extinguished.

Seeing something like that had to have absolutely devastated her. With how close they were…

 _It makes sense now. Scylix somehow knew of Inuba beforehand, and planned this all out from the start. Severing my immortality with that sword was just one step, and she must have absorbed… whatever energy might have come with it. Then, to set about destroying Remnant, she needed to trigger Inuba's latent Candidacy as either a Divine Beast or Deity._

Dante closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as he continued his thoughts.

 _Dakini's story as a Divine Beast is all about tragedy before she became a Deity. Her tragedy is tied into her rage aspect as a Divine Beast. She nearly destroyed a whole country back then. When the dust settled, and her tragedy induced rage subsided, she emerged as a Deity. Along with the extreme power she possessed from "rage", she gained a new power when she became a Deity. The power to grant any and all wishes, but only if she was given an appropriate payment equal to the worth of the wish._

The teen's eyes opened slowly, focusing on the battle in the distance as he… watched her move about, angry and frantic.

 _Seeing as Inuba is a direct descendant, she has full access to Dakini's power as a Divine Beast, unlike me, who inherited her power by becoming her Champion. As such… if Inuba where to go into a fit of rage, or witness something terribly tragic, like with Dakini, then it'd tigger her Candidacy as Divine Beast, like now._

His fingers folded together, but the grip was tight, so much so that one might have thought he was going to break his own fingers.

 _All this time… after everything… To think it'd indirectly be me serving as her trigger…_

 _"_ You little fool…" Dante whispered.

"Do you think she'll win against that woman?" Ren asked.

"Without question. The power of a Divine Beast almost matches that of a Deity, Lie Ren." The cloaked girl answered as she walked up next to Dante, overlooking the field, "The question is… what are we going to do about it?"

"Absolutely nothing." The once immortal stated, "There isn't a damn thing any of you can do."

His tone was different.

Callous. Angry.

"W-What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

"It means…" Dante said as he slowly stood back up, wincing silently from the pain he felt all over his body, "That none of you are going to do anything. And… that I have a mess to clean up."

"You can't go-!"

"By myself? Of course I can. And I will." Dante stated to Jaune, searching for his sword and finding it a few steps forward, buried beneath the sand.

He slowly reached down and drew it from the black sands, hearing the grains scraping across the white metal of his blade as he held it up and glance at it.

"Dante, you…"

"Were dead until a few moments ago? Noted." The teen answered Ren.

 _Calm down. It's not their fault. They don't understand. This isn't like all those times before now. This… This is something absolutely beyond them._

Dante let out a sigh before he turned to face them all, "This… is something none of you here can take on. I don't say that because of my mentality to keep you out of harm's way, but… She will absolutely destroy you. She'll shred and tear you to bits, or burn away every single molecule of you to the point not even ash will remain to scatter. There is nothing you can do to help."

The teen finally turned his head towards the cloaked girl, who took a step back when his harsh glance fell on her.

"And you… Don't even bother trying. You? You've been as useful as a brick. Which is practically useless."

"Dante..!" Ruby exclaimed.

"No, do you know just how stupid she actually is?!" The teen pointed towards her, "You could have done so much to actually be of some use, you ridiculous moron!" He said shouting at the cloaked girl.

She was taking steps back from his harsh yelling, bringing a hand up to her chest.

"Allow me to educate you, dumbass. We are so far removed from everything else out there, that if we decided to blow up the freaking planet, they wouldn't be able to pick it up in the slightest. Do you understand? Say you understand."

"I… I didn't know… I just…"

"Was being a stupid coward. Glad your efforts paid off." He said to the girl sarcastically, waving her off and stumbling forward towards the field ahead, where the transformed Inuba and Scylix fought.

Her secrecy had cost them. She could have helped them far better. She could have done something, anything to prevent this, but…

It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that he had to fix the problem.

Even if he had no idea how exactly to do so.

"Make yourself useful for once. Keep them safe while I go and… deal with this nonsense."

"Wait!" Ruby pleaded, stopping Dante in his tracks as she ran up to him, "You can't just go on your own, you-!"

"There is nothing any of you here can do!" The teen said facing her, using a gentler tone than what he did with the cloaked girl, "You will die, and there will be nothing I can do to prevent that if you go out there. You're all stronger now, sure. But this… This is something I'm not going to risk your lives on. There is nothing you can do to convince otherwise either. So please… just take my word for it this once."

Ruby was hesitant to let go as Dante moved forward, and she didn't, even when Dante was still far enough to have his arm tugged on by the girl.

All he did was look at the girl, giving her a half smile.

"I'll be back. Promise."

Their fingers drifted apart as Dante took slow strides forward, dragging his sword behind him in the sands.

He thought about it for a moment. If he was going to see them again, that is. The chances were low. He could die now. Which meant… Inuba as she is was more than likely going to kill him. Something like a Divine Beast… and with how weak he was at the moment… It was almost impossible.

Almost.

But there was still a chance. And he was going to take it.

He owed her that much after all this time.

* * *

Scylix finally managed to ensnare the transformed Inuba within her black chains, fully restraining her. But it wasn't doing all too much in the end. Even if the chains had the ability to drain a target of their Aura and weaken them, they weren't entirely effective in Inuba's case, whose power was already so overwhelming.

Siphoning off the Aura was helping at the least to keep her Aura Reserves topped off and filled, so if she had more time, she had a chance to actually restrain the transformed girl, who let out distorted growls and angry roars in her voice, only now it was hollow, and echoing, ominously transmitting her fearsome voice over the planes.

Still… Six times she managed to break out of the chains. This made it restrain attempt number seven.

"Hmph… You've already discharged a large enough portion of your Aura from those three blasts earlier… But still… to be so strong afterwards… You're a frightening enemy, Inuba Kitsukami."

The beastly girl only roared at the Dark Entity, chains creaking loudly from the immense strain she put on them as she clawed at the earth wildly.

It was taking everything she had to keep repairing them and keeping Inuba restrained.

But then she saw something approaching from the corner of her eye, and what she saw utterly shocked her.

"So… You're still alive somehow…" Scylix said in a strained voice, "I don't know how you managed… to survive Dante… but you should have stayed in the afterlife…"

The teen took a few clumsy steps forward as he aimed a slice for Scylix's head. She easily dodged the strike, but found herself dodging to the side almost immediately as she avoided a wave of white and black Aura that grazed her cheek.

Looking to Dante, she saw him panting heavily, and his Aura was crackling around his body.

It was unstable. The shock to his system as a result from him dying must have thrown things off in his body. The boy's Aura Signature was constantly fluctuating up and down from weak to strong.

Even in his condition…

This was a turn of good fortune actually, now that she thought about it.

"I'll leave you to it then, young man. After all, she is your partner, is she not? Therefore it's your responsibility to take care of this situation." Scylix noted, taking steps back further from Dante before blurring out of sight in a flash of black.

The teen didn't reply to her, and only turned his head in the direction of his now beastly partner, still struggling to break free from her bindings.

He couldn't be angrier with himself, evidenced by how tightly he was gripping his sword.

"So… this is how it's going to be then…"

Dante plunged his sword into the ground, keeping his right hand gripped around the handle as he slowly knelt to the ground. It was going to take another two minutes and thirty seven seconds for Inuba to break free. He was at least going to have some time to prepare himself for what was to come.

"Of all the things I thought that'd possibly kill me one day… I never imagined it would be you of all people. Kind of ironic, isn't it."

Snarls and growls are all that followed to Dante's remark, who let out another slow exhale as the chains began chip and slowly fall apart. The teen plunged his sword into the ground and worked his way to sit in seiza, resting his hands atop his knees.

"Sorry, Ruby… I may have accidentally misspoken."

Two minutes exactly now.

"But… it doesn't mean that I still won't do my best..."

* * *

(Omake: Christmas Cookies)

«»

"You want me to what?" Dante asked, sitting in his chair.

"We would like you to test our cookie batches, since Christmas is coming in just another two days." Inuba stated.

"We want to bake the best cookies that we possibly can! So we want you to act as the judge!" Ruby eagerly stated.

"R-Right… I guess I can do that much." The teen stated.

"Wonderful!" Inuba stated, turning to Ruby as they high fived each other and immediately went to work.

Dante let out a sigh, smiling at their eagerness before looking up at his Scroll for a few moments. His "order" wasn't going to be ready for pick up till tomorrow. Even then, he was still anxious. He wanted it to be as perfect as possible for the both of them. So he went out of his way and found the perfect person for the job at the start of the month and had him work on it.

Thankfully, he was going to have it done by tomorrow, so he would have enough time to sneak out and to grab it.

It took them a few minutes, each working on a different recipe of their own. When Ruby and Inuba had time in between wait periods, they talked between one another, smiling and laughing.

It was a nice sight to see. Especially after the crazy year they had. Things were finally calming down after what seemed like ages of constant stress.

Sitting back and enjoying the small things in life was… pleasant. It was a peace he had never fully known.

And…

"We're finished!"

Dante's head jolted up from his HoloScroll as he saw Inuba and Ruby standing in front of him, each holding a cookie in a piece of baking sheet. They let them cool off for two minutes, and brought him once cookie each.

Inuba's cookie was slightly different than the standard cookie. The crust was golden brown like that of the chocolate chip, but the chips themselves were mixed swirls of black chocolate and white.

When Dante took a bite, he was pleasantly surprised by what he tasted. It tasted almost like a chocolate chip cookie, but it had a very delicious mint flavor to it that you'd only ever really find in chocolate, or other candies. But Inuba managed to mix that delicious flavor into the cookie batter, without sacrificing the normal taste of a cookie or without ruining it.

It was essentially perfect.

The teen then took a bite out of the cookie Ruby presented, and was just as equally delighted by the delicious flavor. Both girls went for making the baked goods from scratch rather than already prepped, store bought dough. But Ruby did something incredible with her batch. Yes, to the common eye, it looked nothing more than a normal chocolate chip cookie.

But it was chocolate chip cookie that had been practically perfected. And part of this had to do with the sugar she used. Compared to Inuba, who had used normal sugar for her batch, Ruby instead used brown, cane sugar instead. When Dante saw the pack earlier, the sugar was clamped together and moldable, almost like the cookie dough itself.

The final product was a normal looking batch of cookies, but a batch that far exceeds normality in a pleasantly, sweet taste that wasn't over-saturated.

It was just perfect.

"So? How are they?" Ruby asked, as both girls waited eagerly.

"Well, how do I put this… Deciding between which one was better is hard to do…"

Both girls were looking a bit pale at the moment.

"It's just… too hard to choose since both are too delicious!"

Their eyes suddenly lit up at the comment as pleasant looks adorned their faces.

"I mean really, I can't say one is better than other! Both are too delicious to assign such meager labels like whose it better. They're perfection!" Dante said, dramatically raising both baked goods in his hands high above his head.

It was almost as if he were praising the two respective cookies as holy objects.

With his praise loud and clear, both had pounced the white haired teen to hug him from both sides.

If Ruby had a pair of fox ears and a tail like Inuba, then surely both tails would have been whipping about frantically with pure joy.

"We're very glad you like them!" Inuba stated.

Dante smiled at the two laughing girls and returned the hug to both of them, making sure not to drop their divine baked goods.

In the distance, from a rooftop outside across the way, two women stood side by side, glaring down at the trio inside the building. One had a hand on her hip, while the other stood with her arms crossed.

"So… they beat us to it…" the first girl announced, her stoic tone as cool as the gentle breeze that passed through.

"Yeah… But don't worry… We'll have our chance on New Years."

Both women turned to one another, and fived the other, signaling their alliance to match, even surpass Ruby and Inuba's powerful baked goods that were too Divine for this earth.

Instead, their baked delights would be devilishly sweet.

* * *

Semblance Encyclopedia 18  
«»

"Whew! We're finally back after all this time! And we are ready… FOR SEMBLANCE ENCYCLOPEDIA!"

Ciel made her excited statements as she pulled a party horn out of one of her rifts, and blew into it as confetti exploded from the ceiling.

"And happy new year! Ish!"

"We have about four more days until the new year, Ciel." Leo commented with a sigh.

"What? It's not wrong to celebrate early. Especially if the author can't get a chapter out by that time. So how is he supposed to wish anyone a happy New Years after its already happened?"

"W-Well…"

Letting out a sigh, Leo did realize Ciel had point.

Even if it was just this once.

"Right then, we've got that of the way, so let's talk shop! Leo!"

"Yes?"

"Who's on the agenda the today?!"

"Ms. Rose, I believe."

"Ooh! Double feature! Alrighty then, today we're gonna talk about Ruby! Again!"

"More specifically, we'll be discussing the upgrades that accompany her Semblance when using her armor."

"The first upgrade we see is of course, an increase to her speed." Leo stated, "Ruby's Semblance already puts her at startling speeds, but with the upgrade to her Semblance, she now moves five times faster than her normal Semblance speed. It's also worth mentioning, that her normal movement speed when using her armor is equivalent to her using her Semblance."

"Her next trick is actually her coolest trick by far! We call it… Rose Garden Storm! Essentially, what happens is that Ruby overclocks her already uberfied Semblance to make herself move at ten times the speed of her normal Semblance!" Ciel explained, waving her hands around to demonstrate her points, "Combined with her upped up physical strength, her durability, and her ridiculously ramped up speed, Ruby charges forward so quickly that it looks like she splits off into five clones or something, and litters the area around her in an inescapable space of thousands of slashes, all done within a matter of five seconds!"

"What's the radius of that attack, if you recall?" Leo asked.

"It think it was a twenty meter radius if I calculated it properly… Point is, Ruby literally shreds everything to thousands of pieces within that twenty meter radius. And all it takes is five seconds. Three seconds for the charge up, two seconds to actually deal all that damage. Now that's a lotta damage!"

Leo sighed at his sister's comment, "Really?" He asked her.

"What? It's still funny. To me at least. Anyway, I think that about covers it for now, right?"

"I believe so. Until we see more in the future, there won't be much else to say about her Semblance, or how much stronger it becomes when using her armor."

"She has those glowy eyes of hers, doesn't she?" Ciel asked.

"Yes, but we still don't know much about them as is. That, and I'm not certain it would be categorized as a Semblance either."

"We could still bring it up in the future, you know?"

"Perhaps. But for now, this will have to do." Leo said, facing the audience next, "With that, the segment ends for today. We hope you've had another pleasant and thought provoking experience here at Semblance Encyclopedia."

Unaware, Ciel was mockingly mimicking his words behind him until he turned to her for her goodbye.

"Ahem! Yep! Educational and all that. All right everyone, have a happy new year! We'll see next time! Buh-bye!"

* * *

 **Kept you waiting long enough huh? Well… It's kinda been a while since I've had the time to fully relax. That, and I got dragged around a lot to different places, etc. But hey, it was fun and all,**

 **Firstly, Shepard, if you're seeing this, I have a confession to make. When I saw your latest review, something evil stirred in me to want to screw with you on inhumane levels, to the point I was going to completely change the story. But I decided against that ultimately, and settled for simply proving your statement wrong.**

 **Now then… Holy crap are things taking a turn for the worse. Dante died, if only temporarily before he was sent back, Inuba is now a Divine Beast, all hope seems pretty lost at the moment.**

 **Whether Dante and co. pull through is yet to be seen.**

 **Like I always say, I'm open to questions, so ask if you need to.**

 **With that said…**

 **I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	44. Chapter 44: Midnight

Chapter 44: Midnight  
«»

Her crimson eyes snapped open, her body shooting up from the black leather couch as she let out a sharp gasp.

"Master!" were the kitsune's first words as she panted heavily, frantically looking around.

But… her surroundings… How was she here?

This was the home back in Primordial… This was Dante's home before he left, and it was her home too when she started living with him.

 _Wait, this isn't right… I was… I was in that place, and..! And…_

Inuba held a hand to her head, calming her breathing down as she got up and looked around. This couldn't be an illusion; everything was solid, and there were no influxes of energy, or at least, not enough of an influx to be noticeable.

…

It was as if… she had never left at all…

Everything was as it was…

When she approached the blackwood grain bookshelf near the holographic tv display, she spotted something on the center shelf, something she would have liked to have brought with her.

A picture of her, Dante, and all their friends… taken a month before… before…

How was this possible?

Inuba quickly scurried around the black wooden floors of the house towards the front door, opening it up and putting slippers on to step outside.

Snow… It was… snowing…

Inuba stepped back inside the house and closed the front door, but noticed a thin, metallic white band around her left wrist that looked like a bracelet. When she raised it up, it brought forth a holographic screen, displaying the weather conditions, temperature, and… the date and time…

 _Wait… the date…_

The date was the 19th of December…

 _This..! This is about two months after..!_

After they defeated Aultus…

What was going on..?

Inuba's fox ears flicked up, hearing the soft sound of a muffled garage door closing as she turned and headed towards the kitchen and large dining room area.

"Oh, you're still here? I thought you were going back home today to visit your family."

 _Master..?_

 _"_ W-What…"

"I just got back." Dante said with a sigh as the door to the garage closed behind him, "Turns out my date to the school dance stood me up, so I decided to just bail and come home. No point in staying really. Unless, well, I dance alone like a moron."

The teen moved past Inuba towards the closet near the front door, opening up to grab a hanger to hang his black coat on it, along with his black tie that he took off.

"Man! I'm actually exhausted for once…" he said vaulting over the back of the couch to sit on its cushions, and melt into them, "Even if I decided to come home early, I still put in the time to help set up and everything. Knowing Blanc, Aiden, and myself, you know we pretty much set it up to be the coolest yet."

The immortal looked back to Inuba, seeing her still keeping an awestruck expression about her.

"What's wrong? You okay?"

"I… I don't understand… What's… happening..? We… We were… And…"

"Still having bad dreams, huh?" Dante asked, "I guess coming close to dying will do that…"

"What do you… mean?"

"You don't remember? Aultus almost killed you. But I managed to pull you out of the way when you pushed me, so it didn't happen. Once he fled, we chased after him and finished him off. Killing him did something weird though. I think it was like… hitting a reset button for the whole month where he caused all those deaths. So we didn't need to go to The Council and plead a case. Then we all just went home and celebrated for a few days."

"That's…"

 _It can't be… This… This has to be wrong somehow…_

Everything in the last year… It couldn't have all been just some… some dream…

…

Could it..?

"Here." Dante said, calling over his partner, "Sit down with me."

"What..?"

"Come on, sit down." He said waving the girl over.

She did so, walking over to the couch from the other side and sitting down, keeping her eyes on Dante.

Then, she quickly shot a hand out, touching his chest and patting him down thoroughly.

 _No injuries…_

 _"_ W-What is it?"

This has to be…

"Must've been a scary dream, huh? Did I die or something in it?"

Inuba's head jerked up slightly, briefly gazing into Dante's puzzled eyes before looking away and pulling back her hand.

But all she did afterwards was nod slightly.

"Well, I'm here now aren't I? So there's nothing to worry about."

 _Nothing to worry about…_

There was nothing… to worry about…

 _Then all of that… That whole year… It was all… just a dream?_

 _"_ Hrmmm… Man… Now that I think about it…" Dante started, getting Inuba's attention, "My luck with women is rotten… That's like what, the sixth unfortunate instance where it didn't work out?"

"S-Sixth?" Inuba asked, almost shocked.

"Yeah… There was the one from when I went to middle school for a month… We both know things didn't exactly work out with Filia… Then there was Satania, two girls from school, and someone I met at the cafe three weeks ago. I swear… it's like I'm cursed or something when it comes to this kind of thing…"

"W-Well, I believe the four out of the six of them couldn't really see just how wonderful it'd be to spend their time with you…"

"I know, right?" Dante said resting his chin in his hand as he let out a sigh, "The two before my date for tonight didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore because 'I looked too good', so they thought I was some sort of playboy or something. My date for tonight, however, told me she asked me out on an impulse because she was mesmerized by how I looked. So, she went with someone that had been planning to ask her out prior."

 _That… really is unfortunate… And irksome to hear… None of them really know what chance they lost..._

 _"_ At this rate, I might actually be alone for life or something…"

"T-That's not true!" Inuba spoke up, inching closer to Dante to encourage him, "T-There's..! Uh… There will be someone eventually! I-I'm sure of it!"

"You're always so encouraging, you know that?" Dante said, smiling at his partner, "But that's definitely one of your best points. Along with a bunch of other things…"

"I-Is that so…" Inuba said, fox tail whipping about slightly.

-(Devilman Crybaby Ep 9 Credits Full)-

A song came to life on the radio, the sweet and soft strumming of a guitar playing in the background drew the attention of duo sitting on the couch.

It was… a pleasant melody.

"Well… I guess I should get my compensation for the night I had planned out for…" Dante said as he stood up from the couch.

Inuba's fox ears folded against her head as she watched her Master stand tall above her, and reach out with his hand.

"It might not be as fancy of an occasion like a school dance, but this'll have to do for now. So… would you like to dance with me, Inuba?"

Her tail came to a halt, and perked up straight along with her fox ears, looking at Dante with a surprised expression.

"Y-You… wish to dance… with me..?"

"I'd like to, if it's alright with you."

"B-But..!"

She wasn't even well dressed like he was, and was just wearing a casual pair of white shorts and a black t-shirt.

"M-Maybe I should put something better on…"

"You're fine as you are." Dante said, gently grabbing hold of Inuba's hand and raising her to her feet, "We don't have all night, you know?"

"I-I… suppose so…" she said, her tail flicking back and forth wildly.

Their hands that held them together slowly interlocked with each other's fingers, Inuba's hand reaching behind to Dante's back as his hand went around her waist.

And thus their dance began.

Their dance went in a slow pace with the song that played on the radio near them, Dante looking to Inuba, even though the kitsune tried her best to keep her eyes glued to the floor.

Even so, her eyes were shifting back and forth occasionally. She was embarrassed, yes… But it was all so pleasant. They never danced like this, not really. Especially not so close to one another.

Their journey thus far… It was long and perilous, and it wasn't without its own personal difficulties… but when the kitsune thought of how much they overcame together, and how that she was still here, with him… it made her really happy.

"You know… I'm really glad I had you with me all this time." Dante suddenly spoke up, garnering his partner's attention, "If I had to be honest… I've always felt alone, for the most part."

 _Alone…_

 _"_ Ironic, considering all the people I've met, and all our friends, but… Even then… I've always felt so disconnected from everything and everyone. But… that changes with you around."

"M-Me..?"

"Whenever you're around, I don't feel even the slightest bit lonely. That void just goes away completely. It's almost like… you're one of the very few people who can truly understand me."

Dante's hand began to gently squeeze tighter, and Inuba's hand did the same instinctively as she slowly pressed her head against Dante's chest. She heard a steady heartbeat at first, but it picked up quite a bit once Inuba's hands wrapped around Dante entirely, the teen doing the same as they hugged one another and continued their slow dance.

It'd be ludicrous to say that the kitsune's own heart wasn't about ready to jump out of her chest as she kept a tight hold of her partner.

"Inuba… Would… Would stay with me forever? And follow me till the end?" Dante asked in a soft voice.

Tears started streaming down Inuba's face, but these were tears of joy, of happiness.

"Yes..!" She replied in an equally soft voice as she kept her face buried into her partner's chest, "I will..!"

Just briefly, they pulled away from the other, still clinging to each other as they locked eyes. Dante's hand was the only one to move, wiping away the kitsune's tears before locking his arm around her again.

It took a few moments, but the two steadily leaned in closer to one another, all while the song slowed and began to fade out towards its end.

-(End Song)-

* * *

Darkness enshrouded the empty space. No light, no life.

All except for the kitsune at the center, her glow being the only shine in this pitch black space.

Even then, her once brilliant shine was now dim and slowly fading. And is it faded, the dark enshrouded her further.

For now, she was living in a pleasant dream. A dream she always wanted to make a reality.

A dream that replaced the horrible memory of events that just occurred.

A dream she'd live in until the final moment, where everything would disappear with her.

"Master…"

Her voice echoed softly throughout the pitch black void, tears flowing down her cheeks from her closed eyes, smiling all the while as she continued living within her temporary dream.

* * *

The chains were slowly snapping apart, coming closer to freeing the trapped Divine Beast held within their jagged grasp.

Dante's eyes opened slowly, flickering briefly between his normal eyes and his Shadow Eyes until they settled into their black sclerae and glowing white irises. He stood back up with the little time he had remaining, keeping his attention focused on the creature all the while.

The teen then glanced off to the side towards his sword plunged into the ground, and reached for it, slowly gripping it tight before he straightened out his arm and yanked the blade free from the black sands.

Two quick twirls and an outwards slice off to the side, the once immortal held his sword normally, waiting for the beast to press the attack as it broke its bindings in a furious blast of white flame and her hollow, echoing roars.

-(Dark Souls 3 OST - Soul of Cinder)-

Once it spotted Dante, it stood where it was, lurching over slightly as it's tails whipped about slowly and menacingly. But it then did something strange, and extended its hand outwards. From the distance, something flew in at high speed, and when Dante saw what it was that was now held in its grasp, he shivered slightly.

DarkLight Antithesis. Inuba's weapon. Shortly after, the katana blazed furiously with white flame and with another roar, she shot forward like a bolt of light, moving too fast for Dante to see.

With no time to react, all he could do was swing in an attempt to strike at her, but her blazing fist was just as quick, smashing itself into the side of Dante's face with a thunderous crack and propelling forward with intense speed.

The teen flew off yelling briefly from the searing pain that shot through his body, and crashed into the sands, rolling. Dante had a brief moment to look up, and saw the transformed kitsune swinging down on Dante with her blazing sword. He raised up his blade with both hands, but the sheer, crushing force off the blows felt like it broke his arms upon impact with violent and painful vibrations that echoed through his bones.

Dante brought his leg in, kicking the beast in the face to send it back, if only slightly. As if nothing happened, the fox creature grabbed hold of the teen's leg that kicked it, and squeezed tightly, flesh giving way and crunching under the forceful grip since his bones wouldn't.

He cried out in pain, but the drawn out cry was silenced once he was slammed into the ground harshly, his body bouncing up from the impact as the Divine Beast kept its vice grip. A punch landed itself into his gut, repeating the bounce once again before the first crushed itself into the teen's face to bury him in the sands.

Dante was then thrown like a simple baseball across the plane, flying over the sands. He heard something fly past him with the sound of a mortar shell until he took a kick to the face that launched him up. A few shattering punches and kicks shot Dante up further and further until the Divine Beast surged up above him and used her nine, flaming tails as massive whips that flung the teen back into with vicious cracks.

The teen plummeted once more into the sands with a harsh thud, and tumbled through the ground until he crashed into a chunk of debris that littered the field.

Dante gasped for air as unimaginable pain wracked his body. Small spasms in his arms and legs were just feeble attempts to rise until the immense shock and vibrations ceased, allowing him to fumble up onto his feet as blood dripped down the sides and front his face.

His blurry vision caught a glimpse of the beast that safely landed a few dozen yards away, gazing at him with its furious eyes as it let out a low growl before darting through the sands like a bolt once again.

Even if it wasn't nearly as strong, Dante managed to swing at her this time, both of the white blades crashing into one another with and loosing a powerful shockwave, blasting the black sands away from them. The blades scraped and bit at one another fiercely, and while Dante was surely being overpowered, he continued to block the blade.

And then, both blades had been cracked, and quickly chipped away at one another until both swords snapped in half completely, launching both combatants away from the other.

Dante tumbled on his back until he managed to get a grip of the ground to slow himself down, staying on the ground a few moments to catch his breath before he looked up and pushed himself off the ground in a strained breath.

The teen looked to his sword, glancing over the pristine white blade to see a third of the whole missing, lowering it shortly after to glance at the Divine Beast in the distance. It rolled around in the black sands like a true animal, frantically and angrily thrashing about as it kicked up the dirt.

The pit in his stomach never left him. Even with the serious and painful beating he had been taking, nothing felt worse than that empty nothingness in his body.

-(2:10)-

Seeing as it was useless to him now, the teen slowly let go of his broken sword, allowing it to fall and plant itself blade first into the ground as he slowly walked onwards towards the blazing white inferno.

His white and black Aura crackled around his body, his Shadow Skin attempting to form around his entire, struggling to form. Pieces of it fell apart as he continued walking forward, but his Aura immediately set to work in repairing the faulty formations.

The usual, proud Shadow Skin armor he wore was cracked, chipped, and slowly falling apart, even with how quickly he was trying to repair it. One of his horns was missing as well, leaving only the right one, which still showed signs of damage and wear.

The creature, looking as though it regained its senses, spotted the broken armored Dante walking towards her, sprawling onto all fours as she let out another angry roar that made the sands quake and shiver like ocean waves as her raging inferno spread out, turning the area around her to glass.

The teen then walked quickly before moving into a sprint, the beast doing the same as she ran at him on all fours.

-(2:42)-

Black and white fists crashed into one another, shattering the black armor around Dante's hand as well as bloodying it. The creature's hand shot forward for the teen's face, but he raised up his other hand, letting her clutch his wrist tightly until the armor had been crushed, pieces of it digging into Dante's arm.

They struggled, pulling one towards the other, but the Divine Beast was still far stronger than he was, and tossed the teen around like a toy, thrashing him into the dirt and nearby debris. She eventually let go, tossing Dante into a broken tower nearby. When he managed to get a grip of himself, he saw nine glowing tails whip into him and shot him through the stone tower.

Once again he tumbled in the dirt, the creature looming above him as it swiped its claws at him. Dante took the chance to dodge, and threw a powerful right kick to its side, but unfazed, the Divine Beast grabbed hold of the base of his leg where his ankle was and squeezed.

Black armor and flesh gave way to the powerful, flaming, crushing force of the creature's grip as blood burst from her tight squeeze, eliciting a loud and painful cry from the teen. The other, flaming fist smashed itself into his face, shattering his armor as well as silencing him briefly when he was partially buried into the dirt before being flung up high into the air, and taking a shattering kick to his face to send him flying once again.

Pain… It was so painful… He could barely stand anymore just from the pain he felt throughout his entire body. It was all so foreign to him.

He didn't know what to do.

Except get back up, however quick he could.

He was battered and beaten, marked with terrible burns, bloodied. And his leg… Even with how mangled it was, he still took his stand and limped forward, dragging his heavily injured leg behind him as the last bits of armor covering his head chipped away with his horns.

The Divine Beast brought its tails forward, a sphere of white flame charging at the tips of her tails before it was discharged moments later, shooting out a large column of flame that consumed the teen entirely.

-(4:32)-

As the blast of fire passed, Dante remained where he was, body heavily heavily burnt and arms raised up in front of him defensively to mitigate as much as the damage he could.

The pain was starting to overwhelm him now. He could barely move a few inches, but he still inched forward as best he could, letting out struggling gasps as he kept eyeing the transformed kitsune.

Without warning, she surged forward and dealt a devastating uppercut to his stomach, forcing him up into the air to deal a few more heavy and quick blows to his body, each strike getting a painful, strained cry out the teen. To seal the deal, the beast spun around after striking Dante once more and delivered a spinning heel kick to his face with a thunderous crack, sending him flying dozens of meters away.

She remained where she was, roaring loudly at the sky as her flaming feet turned the sand to glass, and crushed it beneath her feet.

And all she did was howl up at the red skies, her angry, anguished cries ringing out across the planes.

-(End Song)-

* * *

"This… This is so wrong…" Jaune stated, as he and the others flinched from a thundering echo in the distance, "He can't fight her… He's just…"

The devastating battle down below was brutal, and heartbreaking to watch as their friend was being battered around relentlessly without pause.

"We… We've got to do something… Anything!" Nora started looking amongst them.

"You will do nothing…" the girl cloaked in white said.

"But-!"

"You'll stay where you are and not say another word!" She shouted at Jaune fiercely, clenching her fists tightly as she did.

She wanted to go down there herself. But… She couldn't. She was frozen in place.

He was right about what he said. He was right about it all.

This was the one thing she wasn't going to fail at.

Another blow that sounded like a crack of thunder echoed across the sands, a forceful burst of air pressure coming their way until it shot past them all, crashing into an already ruined wall of stone.

They all got up and ran towards the source of the crash, looking on in horror as they saw a large stain of blood coating the wall, and at its center was Dante, embedded deep within stone.

Ruby moved without thinking, rushing up to the wall in a storm of petals, trying to figure out how to get him down.

"Don't just stand there! Help me!" She shouted at the group, as they ran towards her.

* * *

" _Hello there! Nice to meet you!"_

 _"…"_

 _"What's your name?"_

 _"…"_

 _"Do you have any friends?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Are you… all alone?"_

 _"..."_

 _"Don't worry! If you don't have any friends, then I'll be your friend and stick with you always! No matter what!"_

* * *

Dante's eyes slowly opened, showing that they had reverted to normal. His vision was starting to clear up as he let out a shuddered breath.

Most of his burns had healed up, as well as the open gashes and cuts, but they hadn't fully healed yet.

The pain was the only thing that didn't vanish, and still lingered.

He heard voices, but Ruby's was the only one he could hear more clearly as he felt multiple hands trying to pull him out.

…

Why was he here..?

…

…

 _That's right… I still have… something to do… Can't go yet… until then…_

Dante's fingers twitched briefly before his whole arm started moving, and with a few forceful pulls, he yanked one arm free, the other following suite with his upper body, allowing him to fall out of his embedded shape in the wall.

Ruby and Nora caught the teen to prevent him from falling into the dirt, letting his knees touch the ground as the reaper in red clutched him tightly.

"I've got you…" she whispered to him, trying to hold back her tears, "I've got you…"

Dante's eyes slowly worked their way towards the angry roars in the distance, seeing the Divine Beast that was once Inuba letting out her angry roars under the red skies.

…

…

He made to get up, but Ruby held him down with Jaune to stop him from going any further.

"You can't! You're too injured!" She said to him.

He needed to go. He still had to save his partner.

Even if it meant…

…

…

Dante lowered his head, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath to focus.

 _I know you're there… Please… I need more… I need to-_

 _ **I can't.**_

 _You can! Please! If I don't do this… no one else will be able to..! And she'll be like that forever!_

 _ **Anymore, and you'll-**_

 _I know that! I..! I don't care… Please. I need to do… at least one good thing. For her._

 _ **…**_

 _Even if I will die… Even if you have to turn me into some terrible beast, I don't care… Please..! Give me the strength I need to save Inuba..!_

 _ **…**_

 _ **…**_

 _ **Accepted...**_

Dante's body was slowly being cloaked in pitch black Aura, covering his entire body and forcing Ruby to let go as it consumed his body. That black Aura soon dripped away slowly, revealing grey muscle fibers underneath that completely coated the teen's entire body and clung to him tightly.

His hands were clawed and covered in black armor, the rest of his body layered with jagged fragments of black bone covering the grey muscles fibers like armor. Those piercing black claws of his were unnaturally long and deathly sharp.

When Ruby looked at him entirely with the others, they saw the entire figure of Dante, now lean and ridden with blackened spines and jagged, sharp bones that formed a sort of second skin of bone armor, covering the grey muscle fibers underneath that was his body. His limbs were slender and long, toned by time with an ancient resistance. His faceless, skull-like visage lay beneath two sharp, jagged horns that bent inwards before slightly curving outwards. The only thing present on its black, skeletal head aside from the horns was a dark maw of sharpened teeth, stretching wide into a wicked mouth.

They watched as their transformed friend let out a hollow, echoing breath, his maw opening to let out a cloud of white as he stood, body loudly creaking as he straightened himself out.

He outstretched his clawed hand, and a silent hum sounded through the air as something flew at them. What remained of Anvil, Dante's sword, shot into Dante's hand like a bullet as he grabbed it by the handle, the entire weapon turning pitch black as the missing third of the blade reformed suddenly, sharper than ever.

Once glance of his faceless visage was all he gave them, and then he began walking.

Ruby chased after him, grabbing hold of his arm and digging her heels into the ground, only to be effortlessly dragged off with the transformed Dante.

"Stop!"

He kept moving, paying no heed to the voice.

"Stop!" Ruby shouted again, moving to the front of him and placing both hands on his chest, feeling the thin, jagged black skeletal armor digging into her palms.

The result was the same; he kept walking unhindered by her, despite her struggle to stop him.

"I SAID STOP!" She shouted, slamming the top of her hand onto his head, making him pause entirely and not move so much as a muscle.

The little reaper's hands moved up to the sides of the transformed Dante's, feeling the smooth contours as she placed her forehead against his.

"I know you want to save your partner… We want to save her too… But…"

She pulled her head away, gazing into where his eyes would have been.

"Don't go out there just to die..!"

The strangest thing happened then. His head looked away from her, almost as if done so in shame. But Ruby was quick to orient his head back to face her.

"I've known something was wrong with you for a while… I didn't know what exactly, but I felt it everyday. And it was so frustrating not knowing what it was or what to do about it. But please… I'm begging you…" she said tearfully, "Don't go out there just to die! Win and come back!"

The little reaper looked down to his empty left hand and raised it up, soon interlocking her fingers with his. And slowly, so did he.

He understood.

"Why isn't he saying anything?" Ren asked.

"I've heard about this before… But I've never seen it for myself."

The girl cloaked in white stepped past the others towards Ruby and Dante, standing only inches away from the transformed teen as she laid a hand on his chest.

She couldn't feel a thing from him… Warmth, a pulse, not even his Aura…

"There have been documentations of Dark Entities transcending their limitations for a short while after temporarily sacrificing something."

"W-What did he sacrifice..?" Nora asked, almost afraid to do so.

Dawn continued looking on at him, trying ascertain what she could.

"His ability to speak, for starters. Which is why he hasn't spoken so much as a word. There's a possibility he gave up his sight as well, and is seeing everything and everyone simply through Aura Sensing. Large amounts of his mental faculties must have been given up as well, but he kept enough to be able to have some reasoning and a singular goal, otherwise he would have ignored Ms. Rose completely and walked on unhindered."

"Why give all that up?" Jaune asked.

"You underestimate the power such faculties hold, mr. Arc. By giving up just one of them for a short time, great power can be achieved. You can imagine just how much more powerful one would become if they sacrificed multiple faculties." The cloaked girl spoke, removing her hand.

"What do we do now then? Just let him have at her?" The blonde asked.

"Yes, but… Not alone… Mr. Arc, you made me aware of your newfound powers as group, remember?"

"But Dante made us aware that we still wouldn't be able to effectively be of any help."

"Normally, no. But I have a way. Gather closely, the four of you." The girl asked, dragging Ruby off with her.

"What about Dante?"

"This won't do much for him at all." The cloaked girl replied to Ruby, "But it will do a great deal for you instead."

Positioning RNJR in a row in front of her, the cloaked girl raised her hands up towards them, rays of white Aura shining from one hand as wisps of black Aura sparked from the other.

"From the stars and void of the Cosmos... From the light of the heavens... From the blackened corners of the Dark World... Let these brave warriors know, that their tale is filled with blessings!"

The sparks of black and rays of white Aura spread out across the four in front of her, their own respective Auras shimmering for a few brief moments as they took in the stands of black and white.

Whatever wounds their Aura's were slowly working on healing instantly vanished, and their bodies… They felt stronger.

"I've healed any remaining wounds and refreshed your Aura Reserves, also expanding them a substantial amount for the duration of this spell. Your Aura Shielding is able to take much more punishment now, but I still wouldn't recommend taking a direct hit from her. I've also improved your bodies' physicality fivefold. You'll be faster, stronger, and much more durable naturally."

"We got a super buff!" Nora exclaimed.

"Well… Yes…" The cloaked girl sighed at Nora's simple explanation, "Lastly, I've tampered with your Aura's healing mechanism to heal your injuries at ten times the normal rate, should you take any damage. But again, I wouldn't-"

"Recommend getting hit. Got it." Jaune said.

"Good. Give everything you have and have no fear. I will support you all as you fight."

They all gave affirmative nods before looking in the transformed Dante's direction, who only turned his head towards the distance in response as he walked off, the others chasing after him from behind.

* * *

The beast had calmed itself, letting out hollow and echoing huffs of air until it heard a crackling noise and spun it's head around towards the sound of the noise.

The lean devil walked slowly towards her, blackened sword resting in hand as he approached alone.

Letting out a loud howl, the Divine Beast shot forward like a bolt, the transformed teen doing the same as he lead with his sword. Claw and blade meet together in a furious clash, loosing a sea of sparks that danced around them like little lights as they worked to overpower the other.

The creature struck first, striking the side of Dante's head with her free hand before it was grabbed by his own. Not long after, she quickly spun the both of them around let go of Dante, tossing him away as she bolted past him, waiting on the opposite end with a clawed hand raised and ready to shred him in half.

The transformed teen moved his head out of the way, grabbing hold of the hand that missed him as he dragged the creature off with him, placing her in front of him and using his other hand to grab hold of its head and forced it into the ground. His attempt at restraining her was short lived, for her nine tails wrapped around different areas of his body and pulled. Regardless of how much he resisted, he was eventually torn from her and flung away like a toy.

He made his recovery mid air and landed on both feet as they dug into the black grains of sand beneath. The teen immediately leapt back and continued dodging the frantic swipes from her claws and stabs of her tails, purely slickly to defense the entire time.

Their exchange continued, all Dante ever doing was countering her attacks or dodging them. At the very least, he wasn't being effortlessly thrown around like the last time.

In the distance, RNJR and the girl stood hidden behind a broken down domicile, watching the battle unfold.

"Why isn't he attacking her?" Jaune wondered, whispering to the group.

"I don't know…" Ren replied, "It's almost as if…"

"He's intentionally avoiding hurting her…" the girl spoke.

Of course he'd avoid doing that… Part of his mental faculties is still present after all, and he recognizes that underneath that Divine Beast is still Inuba… Wait… Underneath…

A new thought growing in her mind, the cloaked girl raised up a hand, curling her fingers into a fist save for her index finger and thumb. Pointing her hand forward, a small sphere of white and black Aura formed at her finger tip, growing into the size of a golf ball before shooting out into a thin beam of her Aura.

The beam shot out into a straight, continuous trail, eventually reaching the Divine Beast and piercing through her flesh, but the beast continued battling Dante head on, unfazed by the bolt that ran through her thigh.

While she had the chance, the cloaked girl focused her eyes on the fresh wound she made, and noticed there was no blood, no muscle, nothing. It was like, that whole body was…

"Empty!"

Using the same hand she shot a bolt from, the girl quickly knelt down and stabbed it into the dirt, a trail of her white and black Aura worming through the sands quickly, seeking out her target.

Dante managed another clash with the Divine Beast, keeping her in place as her tails wrapped around him once again, trying to pry him off of her. The bolt the girl had sent out reached his foot and latched on, the transformed teen hearing an echoing voice in his head.

" _Dante! I don't know if you can hear me, but you can attack her with everything you have! Her body is just for show! The real Inuba is being contained deep within a space that's keeping the body together! I promise you, no actual harm will come to her! Attack her with everything you have!"_

A hollow, echoing snarl escaped the teen's maw as he grabbed hold of the beast's other arm, rearing back his head and head butting her with great force, a small shockwave echoing out from the impact. Disoriented, Dante had the chance to run up shank the beast into the stomach a few times before he drew out his sword and landed a solid punch to the face, sending her flying a few dozen yards.

Recovering almost immediately, the creature pounced back onto all fours, seeing Dante approaching her and shot out all of her nine tails like spears as they extended across the plains, homing in on Dante. The teen side stepped them all as they clustered inwards at the last second, and with his window of opportunity, he grabbed a tight hold of all the tails.

Two quick tugs, and the transformed teen yanked the beast towards him overhead, slamming her into the ground opposite of him before spinning her around multiple times. He let go moments after, throwing her yet again, but this time, it wasn't simply to move her out of his way.

It was a precise, calculated throw.

Too late to notice, Ruby had moved past the Divine Beast, completely reaping through its side with one swift slash as she darted past. Disoriented, she tried swinging for the already absent Ruby, failing to dodge Jaune's own slash from the greatsword form of his weapon, and a solid punch to the face from Ren's armored hand. A final blow from Nora's hammer clubbed the beast a few dozens yards into the air like a ball, where Dante remained in wait.

This time, the creature was prepared, spheres of white flame forming at the tips of all nine tails before they quickly discharged into beams of white. Dante spun out of the way of all of them, correcting his trajectory to crash into his target as they both began to plummet.

The transformed teen gave her another headbutt, but she returned it with a wicked left cross that left Dante open, thus giving her the opportunity to grab the teen, spin him around, and toss him into the ground below them, kicking up a large cloud of black sand.

Diving in from above, the Divine Beast lead first with its fist towards the impact zone where Dante fell, her collision unleashing a shockwave of flame the kicked up the sands and froze them in place, turning it a small field of glass.

It's flaming red eyes went wide once it realized Dante wasn't underneath the crushing force of her fist, and looked up too little too late to see the transformed teen swing his foot into its face with a powerful round kick that sent her tumbling through her field of glass.

The enemy was getting too complicated, and in a quick and frantic search, the Divine Beast eyed Ruby from the distance and the girl saw her. When it dashed at the reaper in red, all she did was ready herself in a stance to welcome the beast. But before it got too close, Dante appeared in a black blur in front of Ruby, arm brimming with black Aura before he smashed it into the earth.

Thick, jagged spines shot out from under the earth like spears where the creature's body shadowed, piercing numerous sections of its body as it was held up in the air. Ruby and Dante then dashed beneath their opponent once the spines faded, left long and deep cuts into its body as they passed by, only Dante didn't run off with Ruby.

Instead, he spun around immediately and charged in with Jaune, leaping ahead of the blonde knight to catch the beast's attention as he struck at it. But the beast wasn't unawares of Jaune, and shot her spear-like tails forward. The knight raised up his shield as the tails glanced off the metal in a short cloud of sparks, Jaune spinning around as he sheathed his sword, transforming into its greatsword form once more as he slashed out the creature's leg to make it kneel.

Once the Divine Beast made to stand, a pair of armored fists smashed into its face, Ren and Dante assaulting the creature with a relentless series of punches and kicks that split the air with each strike, and would have presumably shattered its bones, if it had any.

Leaping out the wall of its tails, Ren reatreated just in time for it to miss, Dante remaining where he was as a tail slightly nicked his side. Once he it was open to attack, the teen charged in with an uppercut underneath the Divine Beast's chin to launch it up, and followed through with a shattering blow to its stomach, sending it Nora's direction as she readied her hammer.

As soon as the beast was within striking range, Nora swung her hammer down with all her might, smearing her foe into the ground. She then used her hammer to quickly scoop the creature up in a soft strike that shot it up into the air a bit, and quickly transformed her weapon into its railgun-like form and unloaded a piercing shot that tore the Divine Beast's body, and even temporarily severed two out of its nine tails.

When the beast landed into the black sands, it thrashed around angrily, letting out loud, and shrill roars that let out small blazes of white fire from its body. Most of its superficial wounds had already healed, and the rest had just begun restoration.

Dante and RNJR gathered together in the distance, and were prepared to make their charge until the Divine Beast's body began to spew more and more white flame, causing them all to stop in their tracks.

Soon after, the flames the beast let out grew in mass more and more until finally, they surged outwards in a furious ocean of glowing white flame that spanned for hundreds of meters, quickly consuming the landscape as they traveled.

It was at this moment the girl cloaked in white appeared in front of them, her hands extended outwards to try to form some sort of barrier to protect them, but it wasn't forming quickly enough. Taking note of that, the transformed teen quickly grabbed the girl by the shoulder and forcibly flung her behind him into Jaune and Ren, allowing him to take the frontline on his own as he plunged his sword into the ground and pushed his shoulder into its flat side.

The tidal wave of white flames crashed into the sole person that stood at the front, both he and his black Aura the only thing splitting the flames down the center and protecting those behind him. Even so, they were still too much for him on his own, the cloaked girl taking measures to reset her barrier now while Dante defended them against the encroaching sea of flame.

Everything had soon become consumed in a blinding flash of white light.

As the brightness died down, RNJR opened their eyes to the sea of glowing black glass that surrounded them, looking ahead to see the cloaked girl's barrier falling apart. Ahead of them, they found their mighty friend still standing where he was, bits and pieces of him chipped and significantly damage, the black pieces of his skeletal armor glowing red hot as they slowly cooled down.

The transformed teen's head turned back, finding his allies safe and unharmed by the ocean of flame. For a moment, his face and the cloaked girl's hood locked onto one another, and the girl gave him a small nod, Dante returning the gesture just a briefly as he and the others stood up straight.

As if furious, the Divine Beast let out another earth shattering roar as it's nine tails lit up with flames, and then burst forth with hundreds of very thin beams of white fire, which blanketed the skies like a swarm of arrows as they fell towards the group down below.

Dante was the first to move, leaping up into the skies above and beginning his counterattack. The teen's right arm moved like a blur with his sword in hand, slashing around his body in all directions with lightning fast speed; a large, spherical vortex of thousands slashes filled the air, and shredded the hundreds of bolts of flame into nothing, all within a single instant.

The cloaked girl, now having her opening, rushed in, hands extended outwards as she let out a loud cry. Streams of white and black Aura surrounded the Divine Beast, and formed into chains that tightly wrapped around its entire body to keep it in place.

With their chance of attack all but guaranteed, RNJR rushed in to deliver what they considered to be the final blow. Ruby darted around creature in rapid blurs of red and red rose petals, littering the creature's body with hundreds of cuts. Jaune and Ren rushed in from behind Ruby, the duo relentlessly slashing and beating the beast as quickly as they could before Nora slammed her hammer down onto the creature's head.

As soon as they retreated, the transformed Dante rushed in, blade raised above his head as the Divine Beast finally broke free of its bindings. But by then, it was too late.

Dante had swung down with a harsh and powerful slash, leaving a glowing trail of black down the beast's white body of flame.

It was the end.

Or so they thought.

Moments after Dante had delivered his apparent final blow, and explosion of white flame surged forward yet again from the creature's body, consuming everything in its wake and blinding the world with its majestic glow

* * *

He couldn't see a thing. The glow was too bright, and blinded him entirely. He couldn't hear anything either, except for the small, ringing in his ears as he felt around.

There was also…

...

Nausea? No, anemia. Too much blood had been lost too quickly to completely refill his body within seconds, but the tingling sensations he felt in his entire body signified his blood was working to refill itself by means of his Aura.

It wasn't totally unpleasant, but it didn't feel all too great either.

Dante's armor had been cracked and was chipping away bit by bit with every movement he made. Some of the grey muscle fibers covering the whole body under the layer of armor had been charred black and ripped apart. One slight touch to his head, and he felt that his right horn had been absent, likely destroyed in the blast.

Moments later, his vision started to clear up, and the ringing was slowly subsiding, allowing him to see at last and hear fully.

And when he looked up, he saw the white inferno, it's brilliant white blaze still raging on. The Divine Beast at its center stumbled around aimlessly, roaring all the while as it clawed at the dirt.

It was damaged, however. The beast's pristine white form had dozens of cracks spanning across its entire body, and now, it was just thrashing about aimlessly and loosing fire uncontrollably.

The Divine Beast was on its last legs.

But for Dante, voices were starting to echo through his head, like before.

" _I'll always be on your side! No matter what!"_

Dante shook his head, clutching it with his clawed hand as his mind struggled to remember… a small figure. Very small.

A child…

Someone he knew? Someone he used to know? Why was this popping up now?

…

Why did it feel so extraordinarily relevant?

When Dante's mind focused in on the darkened figure, he could see… and extra pair of ears… and a tail… But they weren't just a simple pair of extra ears and a tail…

They were those of a fox. And… her hair… It was white..!

It was impossible. Had to be. Dante first met Inuba seven years ago. But the memory… The memory suggested he knew her even further back.

What was triggering all this? Was it the close proximity to death? Or was it the intense blasts of Aura he had suffered from her Divine Beast form, her Aura serving as some unintentional catalyst?

Aura is the manifestation of one's soul. It wouldn't absurd to think that when two Auras clashed and collided together so heavily, especially if they had some form of a strong bond between each other, that the Aura would hold memories of another.

It'd be possible that, say, a certain amnesiac would remember lost memories from close contact to a significant other's Aura, especially if they held onto all the memories.

If so… and if she knew him longer than what she let on… why did she never say anything? Why keep it all a secret for so long? What else did she know but never tell him about? There were still gaps in his most recent memories within the past three years. Gaps specifically around the time when he stayed in the Apparition World with Inuba and her family. If Inuba knew about things that he didn't…

Then it was a certainty that everyone else in the Apparition World knew as well, and also said nothing.

Now he understood why they were all careful with their words around him.

The pieces… they were all finally coming together again. And the searing pain he could feel deep within his mind was encouraging him to remember quicker.

But… he still had a job to finish.

-[Nightglow (Honkai Impact 3 OST / Tanya Chua)]-

His body creaked and groaned, like metal under huge strain. Blood spurted from various sections of his limbs and body as the transformed teen rose back up to his feet.

His head focused on the area the Divine Beast mindlessly thrashed about, watching the blazing white inferno expand further in its blind rage.

He wanted to move further, but a jolt that ran up from his spine stopped him in place, a memory slipping through.

It was a dark night atop a cliffside, overlooking a festival down below. The stars were out, the moon was full, and the people were cheerful and happy. Sitting on the edge of the cliff were two youths, overlooking everything from high above, both dressed in traditional garb of sorts.

They were talking, but no words could be heard.

They seemed… very close to one another.

Fireworks suddenly streaked the sky, unleashing a whole series of multicolored sparks in the night sky. And it was at this moment, that the two began leaning in closer to one another.

-(0:53)-

The memory ceased, and the transformed Dante moved forward, leaving streaks of blood behind his trail amidst the black sands.

There wasn't time to think or hesitate. He had to end this terrible battle… and change Inuba's fate as a Divine Beast. A Divine Beast was almost like a god, but not quite. All they had to them was raw power, nothing special like a Deity.

If she was brimming with raw, unimaginable power… then it was going to take a far greater force to completely overwhelm her.

All he needed... was one good strike with everything he had.

He kept walking as far as he could, but his mangled right leg had suffered more damage and was slowing him down, causing him to drag it behind him as he continued walking.

Finally, he had reached the crater where the Divine Beast had stood in, and locked eyes with the beast as it stilled itself, glaring back at the blackened devil.

It let out a loud and angry, but when it tried to dash at him, it only doubled over and crashed into the sands. The raging fires tightened up, compacting itself around the Divine Beast.

It was going to let off one final flare up.

The transformed teen looked to his sword in his right, seeing it had reverted to its original, broken state. Shortly after, it vanished from sight in a flash of white and black Aura, and Dante stood where he was, raising both arms up.

-(1:44)-

The Divine Beast let out an earth shattering, angry roar, white flame explosively flooding the area like an ocean, consuming Dante entirely in its ethereal glow. And yet, instead of melting away like her should have, he stood firm in his place, barely being pushed back as a small burst of his black Aura shielded him from the front.

Hollow, echoing cries of pain came from the teen, but despite the pain flooding his body, he continued pushing back against the inferno.

With an otherworldly roar of his own, the air and ground quaked violently from the overwhelming pressure of his black Aura, which quickly expanded from a small burst to an explosive blast, completely devouring the white flames within an instant, extinguishing every last spark.

The beast stood wide eyed, staring at the teen who had changed once more. His body was now entirely cloaked in pitch black Aura, making him look like a sort of ephemeral black phantom, slanted eyes that brimmed with a glow staring back.

His right hand was soon raised up into the sky.

-(2:22)-

A colossal, violent torrent of black Aura flooded from his arm, spanning for miles high up into the sky, intense gales of wind rushing through the area as the Aura blackened the already dark world.

With one, last roar, he swung his hand down, his massive spire of black Aura quickly following, bearing down upon the Divine Beast. One last attempt of retaliation resulted in another explosive inferno of white flame.

But those flames too were consumed by the overwhelming Dark. Once the spire of black Aura made full contact with the Divine Beast, and crushed it into the sands, a blast of black Aura consumed the entire area, and seemingly the entire world as it instantly spanned out.

It was as if in that moment… any and all light had been extinguished in one, fell swoop.

Midnight had swept over the world in just the blink of an eye, completely consuming all in pitch black Darkness.

-(End Song)-

* * *

It was just like before.

Ruby had found herself in an inescapable void of Aura. But it wasn't vibrant and white like the last time.

It was dark. So Dark that she couldn't even see her own hands in front of her.

And it was cold, terribly so. A deep, dark emptiness had manifested all around her.

Ruby didn't know which hurt worse at the time. The fact that it was just as empty and devoid of life like before…

Or that it felt it was a silent goodbye.

* * *

The Darkness had slowly broken apart from the world, breaking off into pieces and fading away into nothingness, like static from a television.

The teen stood where he was, arm still swung downwards towards where he struck at the Divine Beast. The black Aura that cloaked his entire body faded away from his body, revealing his ghastly, transformed body to the world once more as he stood completely still.

Suddenly he titled forward and fell face first into the sand.

Dante's brain was sending signals, but his limbs weren't responding. The immense strain from that attack he had just used practically shredded every single muscle in his body.

His Aura had also been severely drained to the point where there was barely anything left. Whatever he did have crackled across his entire body, and eventually, restored his ability to move, even if he could just barely move his head.

His vision was blurry once again, but he couldn't mistake the glow of white flames even if he had tried.

A small, protective inferno of white flames sat a few yards away from the armored teen, and its center was the Divine Beast.

But it wasn't moving an inch. It was on its knees, sitting on the back of it's heels and head looking up at the sky, the red glow from its eyes gone as it lay dormant.

Dormant, but not inactive.

…

He hadn't failed yet. There was still time to do something about this situation. He just needed to get closer.

The teen's body was healing up at a slow rate, but it was far too slow since…

…

Since it was focusing on healing his entire body…

…

He didn't need his legs or most of his lower half at the moment. Instead, he forced his Aura to focus on healing his arms, and within seconds, he had regained feeling, clawed fingers digging into the dirt as he struggled to raise himself up. But he felt something strange in the palm of his right hand, and when he propped himself up with his left forearm and looked to his right hand…

Shock had frozen him in place entirely when he stared at the object in his palm.

It was the silver metal charm of a nine tailed fox Inuba bought him, and the one she had carved words into its back.

No… this wasn't his… It was different.

The charm was Inuba's. He could tell just from the feeling of her Aura that coated it, but when he flipped the piece of metal over with his thumb, he saw there was an extra word etched in the metal.

Love.

…

Why…

Why did he always act as the fool? For other people's sake, of course. But… why did he act completely foolish at times?

He had always tried to understand what he was seeing, even with how little he had left in him since the start, but never truly could. So he always blended in as best he could, making himself "acceptable" to others as best as possible. He acted like a shining example, even though in reality he was far from being such a thing.

But his biggest mistake by far… was with Inuba.

He knew. He always knew, right from the start when they met again a year later back on Primordial. But with each passing conflict, each tiring and grueling struggle… he felt like such a thing was completely out of reach. It was like an unattainable dream, one forever out of reach.

Inuba must have felt the same, with how fervently persistent she was in chasing after him. But she never gave up hope until recently. Not like he did, with giving up on such a dream from the start, putting as much distance between them as he could when it came to that dream.

A dream they ironically both shared.

…

Was it so wrong to give up on it from the start?

All his life, Dante had never given up on anything, either from the start or near the conclusion. It wasn't some intense force of will that prevented him from stopping, not always anyway. And it wasn't having the power he had either.

Dante had never given up… because he was never afforded the option to.

There were a lot of times he had just wanted to give up on something, give up fighting. But something like that… Something like that could never be done, not with the expectations people had always placed on his shoulders. Betraying those expectations would have been like betraying those people. Doing something like that would have been terrible, evil even. Therefore… giving up was never an option in the slightest.

The choice to give up… was always removed from the equation entirely, leaving him with no choice at all but to begrudgingly move forward.

…

It wasn't like that this time, though. This time, he didn't want to give up for the slightest moment. He owed Inuba far too much to not save her.

But there was something in him that stirred the more he thought about it. A strong desire that burned up from within him.

Head jolting up towards the dormant Divine Beast, Dante's clawed hand tightly grasped the charm in hand and dug into the dirt to drag him forward. He steadily placed each arm forward, one at a time, and clawed his way closer to girl stuck in the inferno.

Long seated hatred for himself drove him forward. He had hated himself entirely for what he had been doing the entire time, but… Something else drove him forward as well.

And it was the thought of that unattainable dream… being not as unattainable as he once thought. It was always within close reach. He just never had the real courage to reach out and take hold of it.

Dante's broken, armored form stumbled up onto his left leg, healed enough to regain movement for him to limp forward a few feet into the small inferno, until finally he toppled forward again. His left leg was still too weak to carry him, and his right was totally damaged beyond use.

Regardless of that fact, regardless of that raging inferno scalding his body, he dragged himself forward using what strength he had left in his arms. The flames melted away most of his armor, starting to eat away at the grey muscle fibers beneath.

And yet, he moved forward unhindered.

Eventually, he crawled close enough to be just within reach of her hand, but the heat around her was hotter than the flames she emitted, stopping his advance entirely. Despite trying to force his hand forward, the flames began to melt away the grey muscle fibers, and eventually, his flesh and blood.

It was all erased within seconds, leaving nothing left of his arm, save for the black bones underneath that still struggled to reach out and grab hold of her hand. But it wasn't enough. He needed more.

So he gave more.

Muscle and sinew slowly grew back against the raging fire, flesh taking its place soon enough, with his regenerated arm forming twisted, segmented armor. The force of the pure white flames were still persistent in keeping him back, however.

It was like pushing against an immovable wall, one he couldn't break through no matter how hard he pushed.

A pair of hands he didn't recognize, plated in black armor, reached out moments after and wrapped around his own hand, helping him move forward past that immovable wall.

One of those hands then grabbed hold of the Divine Beast's, interlocking her hand and Dante's together as the unknown rested their own hands upon theirs.

Once this happened, the raging fires began to die down in intensity, slowly calming down to a still.

* * *

(Omake: "I know how to flirt, I swear!", by Xera Stark)

«»

"I'm telling you, I'll be fine, okay? This isn't my first rodeo you know," Ciel assured, leaning this way and that on her chair as she watched Skyla move about the room.

"You're going undercover, Ciel. Are you sure you'll be okay?" Sky asked, picking up a soft plushie and holding it up to her intrigued face.

Pink unicorn?

Ciel groaned. "I'll be fiiiiine! It's just a club!"

"What if you lapse in focus?" Skyla wondered. She glanced back at Ciel in her chair before adding the plush unicorn into the pile of stuffed animals on their bed.

"I won't! I have nerves of steel, remember?" Ciel's legs kicked out for a second as she crossed one over the other, crossing her arms too with a huff. "I can be focused when I wanna be."

"Is that so…?" Sky murmured, picking up another plushie to add to the pile.

Ciel's head tipped back with another long groan before she eyed Skyla in her pajamas, which really wasn't anything more than a shirt and shorts. "I mean it! I really do!"

Skyla didn't respond this time. She just silently went about picking up the last few plushies from their plushie war, padding around the dorm room in her bare feet.

She did spend the night, after all.

"Sky, I'm telling you, I'll be fine. You know me! I don't play the prey, I play the pursuer!" Ciel argued again, keeping her arms crossed over her chest in her little huff on her chair. "I make the other girls blush, so it's no problem for me-"

Skyla lightly stepped over Ciel's lap and gently nudged the girl's crossed leg down, uncrossing the sitting girl's legs before straddling her.

"Hmm?" the brunette hummed in question, slowly scooting herself forward in her spot on Ciel's thighs with a gentle press of her fingers against the girl's tense shoulders.

Ciel's body pressed back into her chair from the soft touch, her voice suddenly growing unsteady. "A-As I was saying-"

One of Sky's hands left Ciel's shoulder to trace the girl's thigh she was sitting on up to her hip, gently grazing that touch along the subtle curve of the girl's side before lifting Ciel's chin.

"Mhm?" Skyla hummed again, craning herself down as she settled into Ciel's body and brushed her nose against the side of Ciel's own, tilting her head amidst the close action.

Ciel's cheeks burned as bright as that pink unicorn Skyla found earlier, words scrambling together in her throat before ultimately coming out in an embarrassed, awkward whimper.

"A pursuer, she says," Skyla murmured, smirking to herself as she sat back in Ciel's lap to let the girl recover. "Sounds like I need to go with you."

A tiny little squeak came out of Ciel's throat again before she managed to say something. "W-Why?"

Sky just smiled teasingly at that. "To make it a date, obviously."

An undercover one.

* * *

Weapons Illustrated 19

«»

"Um, it's just me today!" Ruby stated as she walked out on stage, "Hi. So um, I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year. And you know, generally a good year so far. Anyway, let's get started."

Ruby awkwardly took a few steps off towards the side, and clicked a button on her remote, bringing down a huge monitor from the ceiling. On its display, a cartoonish image of Jaune stood at the ready, adorning his new upgrades, which had slight resemblance to Dante's Shadow Skin.

"So as everyone should know, we got upgrades a while back! And our upgrades are unique to use in some way or shape. For me, it was a huge increase to my speed, and an amplification to my kicking! Wathca!" The reaper in red demonstrated with a quick and snappy side kick.

She cleared her throat shortly after, and stood normally.

"Today, we're going to talk about Jaune's upgrade. Obvious thing to point out at first, Jaune has a bit more armor than usual to let him take some more damage than usual. Overall, he's got some more coverage over his arms and his legs." Ruby explained.

Jaune's armor turned pitch black along with his weapon and shield, tainting the white color but keeping the gold trimming as it was, untouched. His armor became a little more twisted, and segmented pieces extended outwards from his already present armor, offering him the protection Ruby had spoken of.

"Secondly, his sword basically stays the same, but his shield's position changes so that the pointed end is facing towards his hand, and the shield becomes smaller to fit around his arm. But that's not all!"

Ruby clicked the button, and the mini Jaune on screen began performing his intended actions.

"If Jaune wants to, he can expand his shield into a huge greatshield that can cover up his entire body, and even other people if they hide behind him! Pretty neat, huh?"

The reaper girl placed her hands on her hips proudly, but cleared her throat once more to get a little bit more serious.

"So, what makes Jaune's upgrade for his sword and shield special? Well, it's all a part of what damage he takes with his shield. First, Jaune takes the blow of an attack by blocking with his shield." Ruby pointed out.

Jaune's little character on screen raised up his shield, and was taking numerous claw swipes from an ursa.

"And then, when Jaune stores up enough energy in his shield from taking damage, he can release all that stored up energy in a quick and powerful draw slash! Or..!"

After Jaune demonstrated his draw slash attack animation, it cycled to the next attack.

"Jaune can combine his sword and shield and transform his weapon into its greatsword form, and wham! Hit 'em with a super charged slash that's perfect for cutting through thick or armored targets!" Ruby explained, as Jaune performed the attack and cut the Ursa clean in two with one strike.

The monitor slid back up into the ceiling, and the little reaper gave the audience a quick bow.

"So that's basically it for today. Next time, Ciel and Leo will cover what this upgrade does with Jaune's Semblance, but we still don't know what his Semblance even is yet, so it'll be a tough segment to run. But I have faith they'll do awesome! Well, that's it for now! Till next time everyone!" Ruby waved.

* * *

 **Firstly, no, I don't play Honkai 3rd Impact, but I have heard of it. About a week ago, I saw that animated short they did, "Final Lesson", and was utterly "wowed" by it, especially by the music score. I even downloaded the song to my phone.**

 **After repeatedly listening to the song, the more and more I found myself inspired, so I built the scene that I did in conjunction to the song as if it were Background Music. Trust me when I say my imagination cooked up some pretty awesome scenery.**

 **If only I could draw or animate…**

 **Anyway, man did things get hot in this chapter. Literally. I promised a show, and show I gave you. Fortunately for all of you, the show will go on when we resume next time.**

 **That's all I have to say. So with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story XSRA's Flame written by Xera Stark. His story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.**

 **Not only that, but check out his other awesome and highly entertaining story Rogue Huntsmen as I mentioned above. It's just pure awesomeness bundled into one story. Trust me, you'll love it pretty much immediately. And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and more than definitely worth spending the time reading and enjoying!**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	45. Chapter 45: Would you still say

Chapter 45: Would you still say, "I love you"?

«»

* * *

Dante's eyes snapped open, and he quickly pushed himself off the ground. He thought for a moment he was staring at the black sands of Scylix's Materialized World, but he wasn't touching sand.

It was… nothing… It felt solid, sure, but every time his hand brushed against it, it let out ripples from the contact, like if leaves fell on the surface of water.

When the teen saw his own hands, he immediately jolted up, staring at them and turning them over.

He wasn't in his armor… And he wasn't in that place either…

So where was he?

All he could remember briefly was reaching out to Inuba, and…

…

He grabbed her hand, right? But… someone else was there too, right? Someone he didn't recognize. Or… maybe he did and just didn't know it…

Dante staggered up onto his feet, spotting no visible wounds on his body. Not even his right leg and arms that were heavily damaged showed any signs of injury.

"That's not possible…" He said softly to himself, looking around.

All around him was just pitch black darkness. Was this… his Inner World?

…

Couldn't have been. It was always null and void in that place, but this place…

This place had life in it. Hopes, dreams, wants, desires… It had everything and more to it once upon time.

As he thought this, shards of white light in the form of petals had scattered past him, and when he reached out his hand and caught a few, he felt a jolt in his head.

All he saw was a brief flash of Inuba, before it faded shortly after

The image didn't just disappear though… It broke apart into pieces and crumbled away into dust.

"No..! She's being erased?!" Dante shouted, his hand squeezing tightly.

Kareina never explained what happened to a Yōkai that had a Deity as ancestors, and vice versa with concerns to a Divine Beast. But he knew exactly what happened, now that he saw it for himself.

It was clear now… that if a yōkai with those qualifications became either a Divine Beast or a Deity, anything and everything that they were as person is erased to make way for their new form of being.

Simply defeating Inuba as a Divine Beast wouldn't have solved anything… The problem was much more internal than he thought it was… which meant that right now, he was in Inuba's Inner World. And since he was here, then he had to go deeper inside until he found her.

It wasn't even a question in his mind.

He took off immediately, running in the pitch black void he found himself in, following the flow of the white petals of light.

It was as he was running that jolts of pain ran throughout his entire body, the pain sharper in his chest around where his heart was. The jolts continued, and grew more painful until he collapsed onto the ground, clutching his chest as the current ran through him.

Voices drew his attention off to the side, and when he looked up, he saw what was like a mural of memories on display of him and Inuba, only… this wasn't recent memories.

These were from two years ago, before they came to Remnant. Their reunion… Their battles from that point on… The down time they spent together just having fun with each other or with their friends.

The movies they saw with each other, the restaurants, the festivals and all sorts of wonderful places and Worlds they went to… All wonderful memories…

All disappearing like ash.

Dante looked down towards the ground, and saw his reflection at last but… he looked different. He looked like he did when he was fifteen, and acting as Primordial's Black Knight. Black coat, black gauntlets and greaves, it was the whole set.

…

Something like that wasn't important right now. He needed to keep moving, and so he picked himself up, his body having grown heavier all of sudden. The teen could still run, but he wasn't running nearly as fast as before, as if weights were tied around his limbs and body.

Moments after, the teen fell to his knees once more, another shocking current of pain running through him stronger than before, this time making him cry out as he crashed into the ground.

Straining to pick himself back up, his eyes opened and saw his reflection in the water, noticing he had gotten younger. This time it was when he was fourteen after he had taken down the CGA, officially joining the Eihei Nine in the Apparition World, working with Inuba under her brother.

They traveled around the whole realm within that one year as they took assignments from Akihito. They met and helped so many people, saw so many wonderful sights, ate delicious food, learned so many new things; their travels together were like the trip of a lifetime until they came back to depose the old Deities who had strayed from their duty.

That too, had begun to fade away into nothing in but mere moments.

The teen's muscles tensed up as he slowly pushed himself back up onto his feet, dragging himself forward with staggered steps, clutching his chest all the while.

"I don't think… I've got all that much longer…"

Why did his body feel so heavy? Was the condition of his body catching up with his soul? He did suffer extensive damage, especially before coming into contact with Inuba.

If he felt so weighed down like he did… then he had to be dying again…

…

All the more reason for him to get to Inuba quicker, and pull her out from this disaster.

And if he were to die afterwards… at the very least, he would have done one good thing for his longtime partner.

Until he accomplished that goal, Dante wasn't going to die. He'd jolt himself back to life with his Aura just to keep going.

As if on cue, another jolt of pain, worse than the last ran through him with great intensity, crippling him entirely as fell forward on his hands and knees, face almost touching the ground.

His face present in the watery surface, he could see he had gotten younger once again. Ten years old, and just starting operations as a field agent of the CGA. This was probably the worst time of his life, mainly for the fact that he was working for the wrong people. But that changed when he met Inuba and partnered with her.

Everything gradually improved, and she changed him for the better. It wouldn't be so far fetched to say she's the reason he decided to bring them down in the end for their evil deeds.

Inuba stuck by him and took the time to fully understand him, and never once looked at as anything less than person.

She was always on his side, no matter what.

But like everything else, that chunk of memory dissolved into nothingness as well.

His body had never felt so weak before in his life. Life was draining out of him quicker than what he would have liked, and everything that made Inuba her was fading away just as quickly.

"Damn it… How much further do I have to go..? Can't I… get a break.. for once..?" The smaller Dante spoke out, crawling forward a few paces until he finally got back up on his feet.

The boy was practically limping forward at this point, pain wracking his entire body. It was so unbearable… It was absolutely dreadful. Part of him wanted to close his eyes and just drift off, but he couldn't do that just yet.

He had his duty to fulfill. And he was going to accomplish it.

Every step he took drew him closer towards the source of the light petals, which grew in concentration the closer he got.

The pain came back in an immensely electrifying force that ran through his body, as if knives were flowing through his veins and tearing him up from the inside.

One last glance at the surface of the ground showed an even smaller form. He was dressed in black shorts and shoes, a grey shirt, and a black zip up hoodie without sleeves.

He was so small now… Around five maybe?

Is this why a memory of a smaller Inuba popped up in his mind earlier? Because he knew her at this age way before everything? But how did he know her? For that matter, how did she know of him?

Dante looked up, trying to make sense of what he was seeing, but it was scattered and in disarray. The memories he was viewing were jumbled up and out of order. The more he watched however, the more he began to understand just how deep his connection with Inuba was.

It was a connection that they had to one another for more than twelve years. And for the first time, the questions that the boy had been asking about concerning his youth were finally being answered in the most unexpected of ways.

He finally had his answer.

Even with an answer in hand, he still had to finish his task, his reason for coming here. But his body was burning up too intensely, and it was far too heavy to move any longer. All he managed was to crawl forward a few inches before collapsing onto the ground.

"Can't… go on…" the boy said, laying his head down on the ground, panting heavily.

His vision started to blur up, and he felt himself drifting off, all while clawing at the floor to drag himself forward. Eventually, he stopped moving entirely, the only thing he could do now being trying to keep his eyes open.

Something reach down and grabbed his arm, pulling him and slinging an arm over its shoulder.

"Lying down on the job? It's not in your nature to be this pathetic."

Dante's head turned, and with what strength he had, his tired eyes widened when he saw who it was holding him. It was him… Or rather, the other him.

His Proxy.

It had reverse of his clothes colors; grey shorts and sleeveless hoodie, and a black shirt. His hair was also a lighter shade than Dante's, platinum colored now instead of black like all the other times.

He still had that smug smile of his too…

"You… How..?"

"Am I here? You should know the answer already Dante. I am a part of you. Wherever you go, I go as well." The Proxy answered, shifting Dante's body to support his weight, "That also means that I will follow you towards the end of the world."

His Proxy walked forward slowly with Dante in tow, it too showing signs of struggle.

"Unfortunately, as I am bound to you, I also die with you. Regardless, I'll carry you as far as I can go."

 _Some help… How fortunate_ …

"Ironic that… you start remembering everything at the end… Almost cruel really…" The Proxy spoke in a more strained voice.

It was ironic. And cruel. But that's how his life had always been. Cruel and ironic. A life he had always tried to change to little avail. Whenever he had anything good, or received some good fortune, it was always short lived before turning completely sour.

What good was it to sever his own fate from control if misfortune was all that followed?

Both he and the Proxy fell over, and when it looked back, it saw its right foot had fallen apart, slowly dissolving into black mist.

"Damn…" he said, lowering his head, "I can't do this myself… Which means you have to."

How could he go on any further when he could barely move?

"Take what I have left and move onwards." The Proxy said, grabbing hold of Dante's hand.

The pain started to fade away, and Dante could feel the immense weight being lifted off his shoulders, allowing him to prop up onto his knees. He meant to get up and run as fast as he could again, but he didn't want to leave the Proxy as it was, the one who sacrificed much of its own power to keep him moving.

"Leave me and go, if you want to save your partner. Take what I've given you… and complete your task. Save Inuba… and save yourself."

The Proxy let go of Dante's hand and pushed him away, the boy seeing his Proxy's body had almost faded.

"I said go!" The Proxy urged, making Dante jump onto his feet and take off running.

As the boy ran further in, The Proxy stayed where it was, smiling as its body began to change shape while it faded.

"Good luck…" it spoke, voice changing as it did, "May your desire… finally take shape…"

* * *

Dante's small legs came to a staggering halt as he flailed his arms to stop himself from moving further. His breathing was unsteady, evidenced by how he bent over and placed his hands on his knees, trying to calm his breathing down. When he looked up, he saw something troublesome standing in his way.

A large double door made of silver, etched with carvings of nine tailed foxes and the like. More importantly… the centerpiece piece of the doors featured two children. One a kitsune, the other not, each on a separate door. The boy was facing away from the kitsune girl, yet she looked towards him, hand reaching out for him.

The representation was ironically accurate, but angered the boy all the more with the rather cruel reminder.

The boy pushed himself and approached the door, placing both hands between the crack in between and shifting them appropriately to get a good grip and pull as hard as he could. But no matter how many times he tried and how hard he pulled, the door wouldn't budge in the slightest.

"Damn… door..! Open… the hell up..!"

More attempts ended in failure, and Dante eventually had to stop himself, taking more breaths before he ran up and punched the door, a loud "thud" echoing throughout the ensuing void and the petals of light.

Giving up wasn't an option. Neither was praying to some God that was more than likely absent from Creation in pursuit of other works. Dante wasn't the kind of person to pray or put his faith in beings of higher power. The only person or people he had faith in was himself and those close to him.

So he wasn't going to pray either. Faith in himself… was what he needed now more than ever…

"You know… We've been through a lot, you and I." Dante said, raising up his arms.

They became coated in pitch black Aura, but no armor formed. It was simple Shadow layering his arms like a second skin of sorts, but even so, his arms began to crackle slightly like static, signifying his time was almost at its end.

"We've been many places, seen a lot of things most people would go a lifetime without seeing…" The boy said, sticking his hands in between the doors once more, "Through it all… one fact remains irrefutable..!"

The boy's small hands continued pulling at the door, trying to pry it open with all the force he could Muster.

"You've been the one person… who's stuck by me since the very beginning!" Dante spoke, cracks forming on the edges of the door, "You've supported me and stuck by me through thick and thin!"

Blood started to seep from the edges of the door, the boy's hands tearing up from the immense strain.

"Truth be told… I wasn't the one saving you all the time..!" Dante said, budging the doors open bit by bit, "It was always the other way around! You were the one saving me!"

The doors were opened, but still not enough for him to slip through.

"That's why..! This time..! I'll pay you back for everything..! And save you..!"

His declaration made, Dante's bloodied hands ripped the doors open fully in one final tug, yelling as he did.

Without a moment's hesitation, he fell down inside the door, letting himself drift. On his way down, chunks of debris remained motionless in the air, his final obstacle of sorts as descended down in the void.

When he looked further down, he could see her. She was now a small child of five like he was, and slowly being consumed by the shadows of her own despair.

"Inuba!" Dante shouted, voice carrying out through the dark as he crashed through some debris, "Don't just sit there and drift off! WAKE UP!"

The kitsune's eyes slowly opened, crimson eyes meeting a familiar pair of sky light blue eyes. All she could do at the moment was tear up when she saw him, almost unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Master..?!"

Dante's body suddenly began to slow down, and slowly drift upward, but the boy forced himself further down against the current threatening to take him away.

"Grab my hand!"

Inuba pulled and pulled, freeing a hand as the dark void around her began shattering apart like glass to reveal light, the other side doing the same the moment she freed her other hand.

The kitsune struggled with all the might her little body could, stretching herself far just so she could try and grab the boy's hand. At first, the feat seemed impossible with how many times their hands failed to meet, but that didn't stop either of them. They both reached for each other as the darkness gave way to light, until finally.

The tips of their fingers met, and with that simple contact alone, they used their fingers to pull each other closer, Dante's hand finally grabbing hold of Inuba's entirely.

Firm grasp on one another, the two pulled each other close, arms wrapping around each other in tight embrace, Inuba unable to stop herself from bawling as they knelt on the solid space beneath them.

"I… I thought… I thought you were gone..! I didn't know what to do, and..! And..! I'm just so happy to see you!"

The boy gave the kitsune a light chuckle as his hold on her loosened slightly.

"It's… going to be alright now… promise…"

Dante's hands fell down to his sides as Inuba's eyes snapped open, holding onto the boy tightly as the light around the grew brighter and brighter.

 _I wonder… if tomorrow I were to turn into some unsightly beast… Would you still say "I love you"... just like you always have?_

"Master..?"

His eyes were already closed, a smile on his face as the light completely consumed them.

"Master?"

* * *

The stilled inferno began to shrink away, decreasing in size until it faded away, leaving brief flickers and small streams of smoke to blanket the area.

Everyone peeked out from behind Jaune's shield to safely survey the area, and once they noticed that all traces of white flame had faded, they slowly stepped out from cover altogether. Ruby, however, bolted ahead using her Semblance, sliding down into the pit and stopping briefly.

It was there she saw the two of them.

Inuba sat in place of where the Divine Beast once did, her hair elongated to her waist and her nine white fox tails remaining large and in bundles around her. Her hands remained in her lap, but only one of her hands held onto to another.

Dante's.

He remained where he was, lying flat on the ground. His armored form had long since receded, leaving him his normal self with torn, shredded, and burnt clothes. Cuts, bruises, and burns littered his body, but no wounds were more serious than his heavily burnt arms, and his mangled right leg.

Ruby rushed up to their still forms, taking caution briefly before slowly overturning Dante. He was just as badly injured frontside… His face had barely been injured though, only having small cuts and burns present.

Once the reaper pressed her ear to his chest, her worst fear became reality once she realized he had no pulse.

"No no no..!" She said faintly, unsure of what to do as her mind was in a panic.

Between her tangle of thoughts, her eyes lit up once she remembered something crucial. When they were still at Beacon, Dante had everyone in RWBY and JNPR learn basic mediocre techniques from bandaging, to stitching and many more simple applications.

But one of the more important lessons was on CPR, something Ruby could clearly remember after the small embarrassment her older sister put her through.

Regardless, she learned how to perform the maneuvers and immediately set to work on trying to resuscitate him, moving from blowing air into him through his mouth to applying pressure to his chest repeatedly.

"Ruby! Move!"

Hearing Jaune's voice, Ruby scooted over to the side to let Jaune near her, watching him throw his Scroll to ren. Reaching into a pouch near his back on his belt, the blonde pulled out a pair of small paddles, ones Dante specially developed so that they took in one's Aura through the contacts and discharged them into shocks strong enough to restart someone's heart if needed.

Quickly unhooking Dante and Inuba's grasp, Ruby let go of Dante as well as Jaune pressed the paddles to his friend's chest, and let them perform their task.

One charge emitted.

"Ren?!"

"No pulse!"

Considering Jaune's Scroll was never able to properly attenuate Dante's Aura Signature to determine his Reserves, he settled for determining his heart if ever he needed to.

Another quick charge up and discharge.

"No pulse!" Ren told Jaune, shaking his head as he kept track of the heart rate monitor.

A third charge.

Jaune looked back to Ren, and all he did was shake his head silently at the blonde. The knight's eyes met Ruby's, who looked at him, pleading quietly.

Fourth charge. Fifth. Sixth.

He kept going, trying to get anything. But eventually, he couldn't keep at it any longer. Jaune fell back onto his rear in disbelief, staring at Dante's body and expecting him to get back up as he usually did. Everyone was hoping for that to be the case.

But he remained and silent.

Ruby was shaking him, sobbing as she did while the others watched in dismay.

"Please don't go… Please don't leave me too..!" She said, clutching the teen tightly, "Please come back..!"

She was only met with silence.

Until she saw a glow.

Her eyes followed the glow, seeing white flames enshroud Inuba's hand where she held Dante's.

Ruby didn't know what she was thinking at the time, but all she knew was that she was willing to try anything at this point. Taking Dante's hand, the reaper in red quickly moved it over to Inuba's, clasping the two pairs of hands together and holding her own hands over them for good measure.

The kitsune's white flames flickered brightly, enshrouding all three pairs of hands in soft, gentle flame. Ruby noticed her many wounds had begun to heal, albeit slowly, and when she looked to Dante, she could see the same result. His cuts began to seal up, and his burns and bruises began to slowly fade away as color returned to the teen's skin, and with it, a pulse as Ruby heard the teen exhale in a quiet, wheezy tone, his chest rising and falling evenly.

There were no words to describe the immense joy she felt in that moment as she squeezed Dante's hand tightly. Whatever magic Inuba's white flames had, they managed to resuscitate the teen and heal some of his wounds at the very least.

"Now this is a surprise."

Ruby's eyes went wide, and she immediately jumped up and unholstered Crescent Rose, aiming it at the source of the voice as Nora, Ren, and Jaune did the same.

RNJR took their stand in front of Dante and Inuba, guarding them against Scylix, who now stood a few dozen meters away from the group.

The Dark Entity chuckled to herself as she raised her hand, and with it, her six black serrated chains with dagger tip points, dangling up above her head like viscous snakes.

Expecting an attack, RNJR readied themselves, but the girl cloaked in white apparated in front of them in a small flash of white light, hood folded towards the ground before it raised upwards menacingly at the woman ahead of her.

"Come now, don't you think the time for hide and seek is over, little mage?" She asked, palm brimming with purple and black Aura.

Immediately, the white cloaked girl brought up her own hand from underneath her cloak, and with it, a weapon of her own.

It was a black wood grain staff that stood at six feet, just three inches taller than the girl herself. There was a thick, half a foot branch that extended outwards, and on the end of that branch was another branch of the same length facing upwards to the sky.

Stuck through the center of the first branch that extended horizontally was a white scabbard for a sort of sword, which resembled a Spada da Lato, or side-sword. Near the center of the staff was a white leather grip, and sticking outwards was a sort of hitching prong that kept the sword sheathed in place.

From the scabbard attached to the staff, the girl cloaked in white grabbed hold of her sword, the hitching prong vanishing a moment after to allow her to draw it and point it at the woman.

A black leather grip sat snug just over a thin, white, outwardly flowering two prong pommel and just under a hilt-guard of protective, crown-like rings. A thin, long hilt sat just between them, jutting out further than the two rings did, and each ring had a decorative point facing forward at their center to give it that elegant crown appearance.

A single white hand-guard curved down over the handle to protect the fronts of the fingers, its end nearly reaching the pommel of the blade. An outwardly rounded, thin set of secondary guards curved up from where that hilt met the blade and connected the guard-rings to a second, smaller set of crown-like rings sat just a few inches above the first.

The second set protected the ricasso resting just between the two duplicate sets of rings, the white crowns acting as a nested guard for a grip at the unsharpened part of the blade. The pure white blade itself was long and tapered, a thin fuller spanning up the first half of the blade before the long, second half gradually tapered off into a narrow tip.

"Oh? A mage that fights with a sword? Well, you've certainly become far more impressive in these last few seconds alone."

The girl stood there silently, keeping her weapon pointed at the woman.

"Think clearly about what you are going to do. The two of them couldn't defeat me." Scylix said, nodding her head in Inuba and Dante's direction, "Those fragile humans could barely lay a finger on me. What hope do you have of standing against me?"

"Enough that I will vanquish you, witch." The girl spoke, bitterness and anger heavy in her tone.

Scylix laughed at the girl, "You? Vanquish me? You certainly know how to make good jokes, little mage. I'll make this as quick as possible."

The burning Aura in the woman's fingertips brightened, and the cloaked girl crossed her staff arm over her sword arm, white and black Aura brimming from her person in both rays and sparks. But something strange happened that Scylix didn't quite understand at first.

Everything stopped.

There wasn't the slightest movement anywhere from anything. No wind, no sound. The only thing she could hear and see was herself moving. The mage girl couldn't have done something, she too was frozen like the others.

Then she heard it. Footsteps crunching in the black sands behind her, causing the woman to drop her hand and turn around. In the distance, a tall figure walked towards her, dropped in a tattered black cloak. The only thing she could see was black, twisted armor legs walking towards her, and from within the hood, a pair of perfectly round, glowing white eyes that stared back at her.

The stranger took his final footsteps forwards and stopped suddenly, his glowing white eyes peering at the woman in a sort of abyssal glare.

"And who exactly might you be?" Scylix questioned, glaring back at the figure.

"My name… is of no importance. But the message I bring to you is."

"Message..?"

The figure's cloak bulged, a hand reaching out from its darkened depths to point a clawed, armored finger at her.

"End this foolish pursuit of yours. You will not be met with what you seek. And come time for the end, you will fail."

"Are you an acquaintance of the boy? If so, then your message carries no weight. I've already bested him."

"Is that so?"

Scylix didn't understand what happened in that moment. She didn't so much as blink, and yet, the stranger was completely out of sight until she heard his footsteps behind her, approaching the group of teens. He stopped a moment in front of the girl cloaked in white, placing a hand atop her head and bowing his own before he moved past her, ignoring the others entirely.

He stopped when he stood over the fallen Dante.

The figure's body descended slowly towards the black sands to get a closer look at the teen, and then placed a hand on his head as well, doing the same he did for the cloaked girl before he stood back up and moved past the group of teens, standing at the front of them.

"You will gain nothing from this venture of yours. Only defeat."

"Defeat? Can you not see with your own eyes? The boy and his pet fox have been defeated. Those human children behind you will amount to nothing in terms of ability to defeat me. And the little mage girl is still leagues away from being any form of danger to me." Scylix stated, "Where in this situation do you see a chance at victory?"

"You make the mistake of believing they are the only ones that will stand in your way."

"Oh? And who else will stand to oppose me then? You? You haven't the slightest traces of Aura within you."

"Is that so?" The figure spoke, his voice carrying towards the woman in a chill and ominous tone.

 _What's going on here? My arm won't stop shaking. Am I… afraid of this unknown?_

Scylix clutched her arm shaking arm to still it, took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"You say there are others, but I see and feel no one else within this realm of mine. So again, I ask you… what hope is there that remains, that I cannot see before me?"

Underneath the pair of perfectly round white eyes, a small crack of white opened near where the mouth would be, and formed into a twisted smile of sorts, an action that chilled the woman down to her core as she took a step back.

"If I do battle with you, I will surely be the end of you, of that there is no question. But that would take away too much from me in order to achieve my own goal. Therefore… I will not be the one to challenge you."

"Then who?"

"Someone I have known for a very long time…" the man said in his hollow, echoing voice, looking up past the broken red skies and towards stars he saw above, "Know this, woman who has seen cruel tragedy… Dante will return to defeat you soon enough."

"Really? For some reason, I don't quite see that happening any time soon. He is broken and beaten. Death can now lay claim to him. Even if he does return, the result will be the same. And at that point… he will die."

The man chuckled once again as his body began breaking apart and fading away like clumps of black ash.

"You will remember my words in the end."

With his final say, he vanished entirely. All had begun to move once more.

The cloaked girl's head jolted up slightly as she looked around hurriedly and in a panic.

Scylix glanced back at the mage girl, humming to herself.

 _Interesting… She sensed the temporal disruption immediately after the fact once the flow of time resumed. Perhaps I've given her too little credit… But… could she be the one that ingrate spoke of?_

"What did you do?!" The girl shouted at the Dark Entity, who only looked back at the girl calmly.

"Why nothing. Perhaps it was a small glitch. This world of mine is only a week or so old, and admittedly rushed to creation to set this grand stage for you all." Scylix said, outstretching her arms, "It wouldn't amaze me if there were a few complications."

 _So she has no idea of who that person is either. She's likely never seen him before, if ever._

"I think it's about time we drop the curtain on this performance. Don't you?"

The girl cloaked in white growled silently to herself, keeping her staff crossed over sword arm as she kept her eyes peeled and her senses open. She was going to fight with whatever she could muster.

But before either of them could move, a chill wind swept throughout the planes, a small gale flowing through the area with it. Everyone looked to the darkening skies up above, and saw a stream of black and amethyst crash into the sands near the group of teens.

The beam lingered but for a few brief moments, and from it, stepped out a man.

He was tall and lean, sporting black dress pants and shoes, a white dress shirt, black tie, and black dress jacket. In his left hand was a white, black-embroidered book with a large, twisted L on the cover. As he walked, he read from the book's pitch black pages, the words on them glowing with soft, white light.

 **(A/N: Imagine this newcomer with the voice of Robert McCollum, who did the English voices of Mifune from Soul Eater, Jellal from Fairy Tail, Stain from Hero Academia, and many more awesome characters.)**

"The hours of folly are measured by the clock..." He spoke in a cool, clam voice, shoulder length, messy black hair fluttering in the wind as he walked past the group of teens, "but of wisdom… no clock can measure."

Stepping past the cloaked girl, he stopped just a few feet ahead of her, snapping his book shut as he looked up at the Dark Entity ahead of him.

Amethyst colored irises, hidden behind a pair of rectangular, black rim glasses that were trimmed with silver, glared at the woman.

"You… You can't be here… You're..!" The cloaked girl lowered her arms in disbelief of the one who stood before her.

Scylix looked up at the man, raising up her hand and shooting her chains forward at the man.

His book was quickly consumed in a blaze of black and amethyst, and was replaced with what looked to be a black cane with a silver Fritz handle design. Oddly enough, the black portion of the cane seemed to look as though it were a thin, double edged blade, its end sharp and pointed.

Holding the cane by its handle, the man lightly tapped its bladed point into black sands, and loosed a brief shockwave of black and amethyst Aura. When the chains made contact with the shockwave, the were instantly reduced to dust.

Scylix's eyes lit up in shock, and when she raised up her hand, the man raised up his left hand, stilling the woman from action.

"I would ask that you cease your ill tempered attacks. But after taking a glance at the situation, I imagine that would be rather difficult for you." The man said, placing both hands atop his cane.

 _This must be who that shade spoke of… but…_

"And who might you be?" Scylix asked, lowering her hand.

"Who am I?" The man hummed as he brought a hand to his chin, "Normally I would say knowing my name isn't important, but I'll do you the honor just this once."

The Dark Entity's fist clenched itself tightly, now getting a feel for the man's Aura Signature. It was vibrant and immense, seemingly boundless and endless in quantity. But its nature… It was Dark like hers, but there was a very different feel to it altogether.

"I am Lucifer. Officially… I am the first Dark Entity to have gained the 'King' classification. As such, I am the one and only ruler of the Dark World."

* * *

Scylix was genuinely shocked by the information she was presented with. She thought she was the only one of her kind, but… this man, this Dark Entity that stood before her… claimed to be the one who ruled them all!

"A King, you say… Well…" Scylix scoffed as she took a step back, "You are no king of mine."

"I suppose that is fair, considering this is the first time we have ever met. You will, however, cease hostilities and allow us to leave." Lucifer commanded, shifting his cane closer to him.

"Tell me something, o' mighty king… Are you acquainted with that failure of a child lying in the dirt?"

Lucifer's gaze narrowed when hearing the comment, "I am. I've kept it a secret for this long… but I suppose the time for secrecy is over."

"Secrecy?"

"Yes…" Lucifer said, closing his eye momentarily before opening them up again, amethyst irises glowing with a slight shine, "I suppose that you can say… that he is my nephew."

That was all Scylix needed to hear.

Black and purple Aura surged from her hands and arms, emitting bright and powerful waves as she raised them from the ground up. Black smoke flooded both sides of her for what seemed like a mile on both sides.

From that smoke quickly rose hundreds of Beowolves, Ursi, Creeps, Lancers and Griffons, along with dozens of Deathstalkers and Nevermores.

It was a whole army of Grimm, all risen from the black sands within a matter of a few seconds.

The cloaked girl and RNJR all stared in awe at the unbelievable sight before them, hope leaving them as they gazed upon the seemingly endless army of Grimm.

"Impressive… Your army is quite numerous, I see…" Lucifer said, raising a hand to his chin once more, "However… Though we lack the quantity, I can more than assure you we make up for it entirely with quality."

Swapping his cane to his left hand quickly, Lucifer raised up his right hand and snapped his fingers, and within that instant, numerous figures began to blur into view behind him, standing in front of the group teens.

A moment after the ten figures apparated in front of the teens, directly behind Lucifer, black blurs began appearing out of thin air in a perfect, horizontal row, numbering from twenty, to fifty five, and then finally, one hundred.

When their forms took shape, large and tall armored black knights that were each eight feet tall stood in place, their twisted black armor, shields and swords as big as them, all accentuated with trims of silver and shining under the glow of the red skies.

The one hundred black knights all gave out loud and proud grunts as they shifted their swords to their sides and swung their enormous shields down into the black sands, creating an impenetrable wall of black metal.

Lucifer stood at the front of his small army, lowering his right hand atop his left as they rested on his cane's handle. With a loud, echoing "thud", Lucifer forced his cane down in the dirt once more, standing tall against Scylix and her army of innumerable Grimm.

Ruby looked around, and recognized one person out of the ten total guarding them. Tenma Kitsukami stood at the front, and one the sides of him, two kitsune younger than him, and another kitsune on his other side, eyes narrowed to slits.

If the reaper was remembering the stories correctly… the two younger kitsune had to be Akihito and Asahi, Inuba's older brother and sister, while the other kitsune had to be Inuba's mother, Kareina.

One girl with raven colored hair that reached down to her shoulders, and black wings as big as her body that were like that of a crow, stood next to Inuba. She had to be the Crow Tengu Ayame, who was a General of the Eihei nine representing the Crow Tengu. She was also the Apparition World's best journalist and reporter, covering events in both her world and the human world.

When Ruby looked to her other side, she saw three people she didn't quite know, but heard of. One was a teen dressed in a black hoodie trimmed and detailed with lime green, and had a pair of black wings like Ayame, Xera if she recalled. Another was the brunette Skyla, with her dual swords and ribbons. Lastly was the small and petite kitsune Kitsuki, who only had three tails instead of nine, like Inuba's relatives.

One of them stood just further ahead of Dante, a person she heard all too much about. Raum stood guard at the front of their group, arms crossed and standing as still as stone, glaring towards Scylix in the distance. In his hood was the small wolf Faunus child Irene, who at the moment was hiding in the hood.

Last of their rear guard was… some woman Ruby had barely heard of or seen before. She looked to be 5'10, had shining orange eyes that glowed bright like embers, and red hair like Pyrrha's, but her hair was shoulder length, and drawn back behind her bangs like one would ordinarily do for a half-ponytail.

She looked to be in her mid twenties, maybe just a little bit older. Her figure was tight and slightly toned, having an athletic body, but with curves in the right places.

Though, instead of tying it, the ends were lifted up and clipped. The woman's side bangs were left free and loose to frame her face, her right side bangs longer than her left and dangling over her shoulder.

Her ample chest had thin, tight black material covering her front, and acted as an under-armor frame that reached around her torso and stomach beneath all of her armored plating. Two thin straps of the material went up from the sides of her chest, and joined together near the base of her neck, reaching further up to cover her whole neck. The woman's sides were layered with thin, twisted crimson metal that reached down to her hips and just underneath her chest, wrapping around her back entirely and narrowly armoring her stomach.

The black under-armor material frame reached down from her waist, and climbed down the sides of her legs in an almost strap-like, wrapping manner, connecting to her grieves while exposing her upper thighs. Bits of the same twisted crimson armor reached up from the sides of the woman's upper thighs, and bent outwards slightly whilst covering her hips, offering her full flexibility in leg movement.

Black fur shimmered on her upper arms and reached around the back of her shoulders, whilst thin and elegant crimson plating covered the rest of her upper arms down until they reached the center of her arms.

The same under-armor fabric material reached out from those plates to cover her arms entirely, but her arms from below her elbows to her hands were plated in thin, red, twisted armor with tints of black that was molded to the shape of her arms. Her fingertips were also plated in thin black metal, but sharpened into a pair of small claws.

She also wore narrow, twisted, crimson grieves that reached up to just the top portion of her shins. From the ends of the grieves, the same black under armor reached out and hugged her legs in the skin-tight under-armor, reaching up to the center of her thighs.

Her back sported a sort of wing, sleek and elegant in the form of three total mechanical appendages on her left side. Two smaller crimson appendages sat over one large, black appendage resembling a single edged blade. Each of the first two appendages bent up and outward with a joint allowing them to fold inward, letting them furl and unfurl.

The crook of her wing, where the black, blade-like appendage rested, extended into a singular, crimson point, resembling a sort of long handle. Presumably, she could draw out the black, blade-like appendage and use it as a smaller greatsword, given its length and thickness.

Ruby noticed that the weapon in the woman's right hand was a black greatsword that had a crimson trim around the whole weapon, from the butt of the handle to covering the thin edges of the blade.

It had a dangerously sharp, pointed hilt with a recessed bevel close to the guard that formed two mirrored inward curves. They were sharp, and pointed out from the edges of the blade just at the curve's start, going from the blade's actual width inward before bending back out to meet the wider hilt above the handle, all built for glancing off strikes or locking a weapon in the groove of the curve. The greatsword itself had to be as tall as her own body, and had a width of at least four inches…

Ruby had never seen the woman before now, but… She looked so strong… And angry, given she was glaring daggers at Scylix, biting her lip to hold herself back from speaking.

"The way I see it, there are only two options at present. One, we do battle, and eventually you will be defeated by myself and my forces." Lucifer stated, "Two, you cease hostilities for the time being, and we all leave."

"You have the power to defeat me, yes? Then why not end the whole ordeal now while you still can?"

"Because doing so would require a great amount of energy from me, or Aura. I release said amount of energy, those above are liable to take notice."

"Those above..?"

"To be blunt, I am not supposed to be here at the moment. Me leaving the Dark World for any reason could enact a fourth war me and my kind do not need any time soon. But…"

Lucifer's right hand reached up to his face, removing his glasses as he held them in his hand. When he looked up at Scylix, the woman then truly felt the coldest chill run down her spine.

The white sclerae of the King's eyes were now pitch black, encompassing his glowing, amethyst irises. His gaze was focused, fierce, and terrifyingly blood thirsty, almost as if by staring at him, one would be liable to die from the immense terror that would flood their very body and soul.

"For my nephew and his friend, whom you've ruthlessly beaten… I would risk war and damnation across the cosmos, simply to erase your very existence with my own hands."

The air quaked and trembled with violent intensity, crackles of amethyst Aura spanning across the black sands as the immense pressure of Lucifer's Aura Signature flooded the planes.

Even the army of Grimm on the far end behind Scylix cowered in fear.

The woman bit her lip in frustration, letting out an exhale a moment after. With a snap of her fingers, the army of Grimm all turned into dust, those very black grains sinking into the sands beneath her feet.

An all out conflict now at this moment would be disadvantageous. The Grimm would have kept the black knights occupied, surely. But it was those ten new arrivals in the rear that would have been the bigger problem for the Grimm. It's likely they would have wiped out all of them within a few minutes, or maybe even a minute.

This "King", this Lucifer was the biggest problem by far. While Scylix was able to comprehend his Aura Signature, unlike the shade from before, his Aura Signature was still significantly higher than hers.

For the moment, at least.

The Gem was active now, but it would take time to acclimate it's power entirely. Time she didn't have at the moment. He did say he wanted to simply leave with everyone else without further conflict. And should conflict have arisen, he would've been forced in a bad position.

As far as she she saw it, both parties were at a standstill. Both sides would lose something if they engaged the other. The only win-win scenario at this point was for both parties to stand down. They would leave as they wish, and Scylix would have the time she needed to acclimate to The Gem's power.

The decision was obvious.

"Very well then. I'll allow you all to retreat for now, and-"

Scylix's eyes snapped to the group of guarded teens, feeling a sudden shift in someone's Aura Signature. Lucifer and the others behind him did the same, their heads turning quickly to stare directly at Ruby, who looked at them all in confusion. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't the one they were all starting at.

It was Dante, who was slowly pushing himself up.

Something was different about him. Different sections of his hair was turning a shiny platinum color, and when he lifted up his head, his bright sky blue irises now a shining platinum. His voice too, it sounded like someone else's voice was overlapping with his as he let out a loud growl.

"You… scum..!" he said, standing on his feet at last, "I'll kill you… I swear to you… that I'll erase every single scrap of you..!"

Raum moved from his place and grabbed the teen by the arm, but he pulled his limb free and pushed him away, limping forward slowly past the others. Pushing past the line of black knights, the teen stood yards away from Scylix, locking a glare onto her.

 _What is this..?! It's a completely different presence altogether! Is this still the same person?!_

Dante's injured right arm raised itself up, a black Aura Sword forming in his hands as it soon blazed furiously with a torrent of black Aura. Just as he was about to swing it down, a blow to the back of his head dispersed the torrent and made the blade vanish.

Raum's hand caught the teen around the waist before he fell, and then lifted him up into his arms, keeping a tight hold of the teen. Irene peeked out from her hood, whimpering worriedly when she saw the unconscious and injured Dante.

Lucifer walked up to his younger brother's side, glancing at the teen for a few moments before he glared back at Scylix.

"Don't look at me like that, o' mighty king of the Dark World." Scylix stated mockingly, "You may still leave if you wish. I won't stop you. The fact of the matter is neither of us would gain from continuing this conflict, so logically speaking, it would be best to end this now before it progresses further."

Lucifer's eyes narrowed at the woman before his sclerae turned back to their normal white color, prompting him to put his glasses back on.

"Then we've nothing further to discuss." Lucifer said, placing both hands atop his cane, "As it stands, it is unlikely we'll be seeing one another again, so this is goodbye. But know this… retribution will find you swiftly. This I promise you."

With his final words spoken, Lucifer slightly raised up his cane and slammed it back down into the sands, unleashing a wave of amethyst and black Aura that consumed everyone within seconds. The flash of Aura soon disappeared into thin air a moment later, Lucifer, his army, and the teens all gone within that instant.

Scylix let out a huff of air, laughing silently to herself as she reached into her left sleeve. From it, she pulled out an eight sided, rhombus shaped gem, it's black exterior shining with a white glow inside its depths.

"With just a little more time… I'll finally be able to have my wish granted. They can try to come back if they wish. But by then, it'll be far too late. No matter how events unfold from this point forward…" the woman clutched the gem tightly in her palm, turning around to return to her throne high above in the skies, "My victory is all but guaranteed."

* * *

(Omake: The Heist)

"What's taking so long?" Raum asked.

"Dude, this isn't just any other electronic lock. This is a heavily encrypted holographic lock." Dante said, waving off the Dark Entity.

"And?"

"Annnnnd… It's tougher to crack."

"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?"

"Hell of a lot smarter than you…" the teen silently fired back.

"What was that?" Raum asked.

"I said I'm glad you designated me the tech guy."

"I hate this."

"You hate mostly everything."

"Well… Yes. But there are a few exceptions." The Dark Entity stated, "I just hate waiting for nonsensical things like this."

"You're like one of those old guys who hates technology. I bet you still haven't figured out how to work your Scroll entirely."

"I-I have!"

"Right… You 'totally' know how to add contacts to your Scroll, and definitely know how to use the GPS." Dante said, rolling his eyes.

"That was a one time incident."

"Three times. You called me the second and third time when you got really angry and asked me to show you to your destination, then you threatened to destroy the bus that crashed into you." Dante said, pressing the last few buttons to unlock the door, "Ironically, while you moved and destroyed the bus, the bus, as big as it was, did not move you."

"Heh. Did you expect such a trivial thing to wound me?"

"One could only hope that it would have killed you."

"Quiet. Let's move inside."

Dante moved in through the doors with Raum, the duo walking side by side as the teen moved out of the way of… someone who apparently didn't see them…

"Why do we have to sneak in like this..?" Raum whispered.

"Because your precious cargo is inside, and if they're tipped off before we get there…"

"I'll kill them…"

"Yeah, I know that. So shut up already and be quiet. I may have made us invisible, but I couldn't make us silent, loudmouth."

"Who exactly is the loudmouth?" Raum asked.

The duo silenced each other and moved past another person, calmly walking past the rest of the staff, and eventually the guards when they entered deeper into the facility.

"We want the information!"

The two froze, then took quick and silenced steps forward, leaping up into the rafters. From their vantage point, Dante and Raum could see a man pacing back and forth angrily, speaking to the one in the chair facing him.

"We know you were seen with the two of them three days ago. What I want to know is where are they?"

A small and cute "Hmph!" was all the man received.

Raum and Dante silently descended from the rafters, and began to stealthy knockout the man's associates one by one, slowly closing in on the man interrogating the small, wolf Faunus child.

"That is the only thing you've said the entire time! Can't you say anything else?!"

The small child Irene crossed her arms, pouting and looking from the man whilst giving him another "Hmph!", something that made the man angrily shout in frustration.

"Alright you little brat! That's it! The gloves are coming off!" The man said, literally taking off his black leather gloves, "I guess we'll just have to motivate you then."

A tap on the man's shoulder stopped him, turning around and screaming "WHAT?!"

He froze when he saw Dante waving at him, and Raum cracking his knuckles before delivering an absolutely devastating uppercut under his chin, shooting the man up into the sky and through the roof like a rocket.

"Ducking assclown…" Raum growled.

"I think you meant fu-"

"Yes, but there's a thing called self-control, something I am working very hard at!"

"Papa!" The tiny child voiced as she hugged his leg, prompting the Dark Entity to jolt his leg upwards and toss the girl up into his arms.

She then wrapped her arms around his head and hugged him tightly as her tiny wolf tail whipped about happily. Irene then made grabbing motions towards Dante, prompting the teen forward as she gave him a few light pats to reward him for his efforts.

"I missed you too, little one."

Raum started leaping up through the rafters, Dante following behind him as they exited through the hole in the ceiling. A few more moments of jumping and they were back on the streets.

"You know, I think I'm a little hungry now. How about you?" The teen said, nudging Raum's shoulder.

One glance at Irene and seeing her nod was all he needed.

"Fine. But I pick the place this time."

* * *

(Semblance Encyclopedia 19)

"Why hello everyone! Fancy meeting you all here." Aizûr said stepping out onto the stage, wearing his Grimm-like dragon mask on his face, "It seems as though the usual two aren't available for the segment this week. Therefore, I'll be doing the honors this time. Now then…"

Clapping his hands twice, the monitor dropped down from the ceiling, and when it flickered to life, it displayed Jaune on screen, donning his upgraded black armor and weapon.

"Oh? A man of the Arc family? Now there's a family I haven't seen or heard of in quite a long time. Interesting…" Aizûr said, keeping a hand under his chin, soon turning to face the audience, "Well then, today we'll be discussing mr. Arc's… upgrades per say."

Clearing his throat, the man brought his fingertips together and pulled them apart, forming a small pointing rod of blue lightning in his left hand as he kept his right behind his back.

"From what I've learned in such a short time, mr. Arc's upgrades allow him to absorb the energy from anything impacting his shield and contain them until a time of his choosing. He then releases all of that energy in the form of draw slash from his shield, or in the form of an immense slash in his weapon's greatsword form."

As the dragon masked man pointed it out with his lighting pointer, Jaune performed both sets of actions in a loop until stopping moments after, the cartoonish figure changing into live footage of two events.

They showed Jaune performing a draw slash in both images.

"Now, the changes here are very subtle to spot. In the first clip, you see mr. Arc performing his actions normally. Nothing is all too different about him or his attack. But when you look to the second clip…"

Aizûr pointed down to the second clip with his pointer, tapping areas of significance.

"The changes become apparent. The more obvious is that his draw slash is stronger, even after absorbing the same amount of energy from the impact he took with his shield."

Jaune's sword loosed much more white Aura in that single slash than he did previously.

"This next change is harder to spot for many reasons, mainly because it's subtle. But to the trained eye… one can definitely see that mr. Arc's muscle mass has increased slightly, which I assume, would improve his body's durability as well as his overall strength."

The dragon masked man swiped away his pointer, the rod fading in a few small crackles as he stared back at the audience.

"It's uncertain if this increase in muscle mass throughout his entire body is a byproduct of his Semblance and… upgrade working together to make him stronger with the more damage he absorbs through his shield. Truthfully, there's no official record of his Semblance." Aizûr spoke, chuckling to himself silently after, "At least, not yet anyway."

Snapping his fingers, the huge monitor began sliding back into the ceiling.

"He does seem to show some promise…" The dragon masked man said, rubbing the bony chin of his mask, "In any case, that's all that we have for today. I'm certain we'll find out more about mr. Arc as time goes on. With that, I wish you all a good day." Aizûr said, waving at the audience, "Bye-bye now!"

* * *

 **My oh my, what a spectacular turn of events this chapter was. Dante managed to save Inuba, but to what cost towards himself? Not to mention, good old Luci finally made his reappearance in the story after only showing up in the Origins arcs of the original Hero of Remnant. Bet you weren't expecting the cane as his tool of destruction huh?**

 **Bet you maybe didn't expect Lucifer being Dante's uncle, and for that matter, Raum too, since he and Lucifer are both brothers. Lots of unexpected things be happening. But… I bet there's just one more question burning (literally) in your minds right now.**

 **Who in the world was that red haired crimson Knightess?**

 **She's essentially new, but I started working on her last year really, and only thoroughly fleshed her out fully with the time I had this month. I will say one thing though. This woman is heavily connected to Dante's past, so she isn't just some random insert I decided to drop out of the blue. I've been planning her introduction for a while now.**

 **What better way to intro her than with members of the Origins cast? Like Inuba's family, and Lucifer, etc.**

 **In any case, that's all I have for everyone today. So with that…**

 **I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story Rogue Huntsman written by Xera Stark. The story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story.  
Plus, I'm working on it with him as a co-author, and my characters are in it too. So if you want to see a sort of alternate story and such with my characters in it, go on over and give Rogue Huntsman a read.**

 **And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and tells Rogue Huntsman's story from his characters' perspective, like how Knights of White and Black (my alternate story) tells the tale from my character's perspectives.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	46. Chapter 46: Pursuant Aftermath

Chapter 46: Pursuant Aftermath

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* * *

He read through the white book's black pages, scanning through each glowing white word quickly as he sat on the bench outside of the room. Raum sat next to him on the same bench, watching over the sleeping Irene curled up in his lap.

Lucifer glanced over at Raum briefly, letting out a silent sigh as he closed up his book.

"It's ironic really." The older brother stated to Raum, "More than a year and half ago, the two of you were trying to kill each other with utmost ferocity. And now… here you sit with me, equally as worried as I am."

Raum only glanced back at Lucifer to meet his brother's eyes, not saying a word.

"You can hide it behind your calm silence all you like. But you forget that I can still see through you, little brother."

"And you forget just how much of a pain in the ass you can be."

Lucifer chuckled quietly at the statement, "Perhaps. But I did give you a second chance if you recall, and created a new body for you so that you may walk again."

"On an entirely different world without my whole power."

"What lessons might you have learned then if you didn't live like most of the people here did?"

…

He wasn't wrong about that statement. Raum's first thoughts was to conquer whatever world he would find himself in once his feet touched the ground, but when he realized just how much weaker had become after getting a new body… that idea had flown out the window quickly.

It did enable him to… see things more clearly and understand his brother's words for once.

And…

Raum's eyes focused on Lucifer's hand scratching Irene behind the ears, her wolf tail whipping about happily in her sleep.

"You learned more than a lesson from what I see now. You've taken the responsibility of nurturing a life."

"Unfortunate circumstances brought us together." Raum stated.

"But nonetheless brought you two together. Not to mention… when I came to get you, it seems as though you've established a rather intimate relationship with someone."

"You here to pick me apart or what?"

"No. I'm simply impressed with how far you've come on your own and want to praise you is all."

"Well save it. I'm not interested in praise."

"Clearly." Lucifer said, resting his hands atop his book, his leg crossed over the other, "You're angry."

"Of course I'm angry."

"Why?"

"Why?!" Raum asked in a hushed shout, taking a deep breath moments after and looking away.

"You're actually upset about his condition. What she did to him. It irks you all the more now that you know he's actually family. And in spite of your… tantrums over the years… you've always held family in the highest regard above everything else."

"Why didn't you do it?" Raum asked, changing the subject.

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you kill her, brother? You could have easily done it."

Lucifer hummed to himself as he stared up at the ceiling, "I could have. But you know as well as I do that if I truly intended on killing that woman, I would have had to use a great deal of my… Aura, was it? Yes, Aura to achieve that. And if I used such a great amount while not in the Dark World like I'm supposed to be…"

"The Celestial Accord…" Raum muttered under his breath.

"Should I specifically leave the Dark World for any reason, and they take notice of my presence elsewhere, it could reignite a war between us and The Plane of Angels. A war which no one would like to fight in, myself included."

The younger brother scoffed at the mere mention of those ridiculous accords that kept Lucifer bound to the Dark World, a prisoner in his own home. It made his blood boil thinking about it.

It was why-

…

…

It was why he started four wars throughout the millennia, his last attempt foiled by Dante and his allies.

Change was needed. Everyone needed to stop living in fear of those… holier-than-thou pigeons up in the heavens.

"So what now?" Raum asked.

"Well… Once Kareina Kitsukami finishes treating Dante, I'll remain a little while longer, and then leave for home before anyone realizes I've left."

"You don't want to stay?"

"I would like to, but we both know that's impossible at the moment. Believe me when I say I'd prefer to be here and watch over you and Dante."

"I don't need you watching over me, idiot." Raum proudly huffed, resting his chin in his hand.

Lucifer chuckled to himself once more, "Of course."

The younger brother slowly got up on his feet, holding onto Irene as he looked back at his brother.

"If we don't see each other before you leave… I… I'm…"

"You needn't say anything if it's too embarrassing for you. Go. Have time to yourself. You've been here all day."

Raum gave his older brother a nod before moving through the cabin-like home, which had been expanded upon to massive proportions in order to accommodate everyone.

Just as Lucifer reached for the cover of his book to turn to the page he was last reading, he heard footsteps approaching from down the hall, and looked up to see a young girl in a red hood standing around the corner, hesitant to approach.

"I understand Lady Kitsukami said 'immediate family only for the time being', but you needn't my permission. Come. Sit with me." Lucifer said, scooching further towards the end of the bench to allow Ruby to sit next to him.

She did so, brushing past the wall and slowly sitting on the other end of the bench.

Ruby was about to speak, but the door to the room they were next to opened, and out from it stepped Kareina Kitsukami, towel in hand to wipe away the sweat from her brow.

"The treatment was a success. He's in stable condition, but… not all of his wounds are healing normally. His arms have been healed to retain function, but there is a lot more that needs to be restored overtime. Not to mention… his right leg…"

The elder kitsune sighed as her fox ears folded against her head.

"It's as though… his body is refusing to heal his wounds, thus limiting his body's natural healing abilities. The only thing helping him now is my magic, but even that is working away at him slowly."

"Thank you, Lady Kitsukami. As always, you do the finest of work, even with the more difficult cases."

"I thank you for your praise. I will continue monitoring him and-"

"That won't be necessary." Lucifer said, earning a confused look from both the elder kitsune and Ruby.

All the King did was look up and smile at the woman.

"Your heart is elsewhere at the moment. Go. Be with your family. See your daughter." He said, nodding towards the hallway.

She looked as though she wanted to speak up, but she quieted herself, giving the Dark Entity a small nod as she quickly walked away.

"Tell me Ms. Rose, as someone who has been close to Dante for quite some time, has he told you his story?"

"He did…"

"Everything?"

She gave him a small nod.

"Then you understand the… complications surrounding his life?"

"Yes." She offered with another nod.

"It's tragic to think so much of one boy's life has changed drastically over the years. All because of the tiresome 'politics' surrounding my kind and those above." Lucifer said, folding his hands together, "In some way, I feel responsible for this whole… sad tale of tragedy and heartbreak. As much as I'd like to, my hands are tied in too many ways to be of any actual help."

"There wasn't much you could have done about it… I mean… if you being here is like starting a war or something…"

"Truthfully, it's not the war that intimidates me. It's what comes after. Surely, I believe that if we were to engage in a war, our side would win. But at what cost really? How many lives would have to be sacrificed so that one side can be right and justified with their cause?"

Far too many for both sides… At least, that's what Ruby imagined.

"Tell me Ms. Rose… If you had the opportunity to go back and defeat that woman, what would be your reason?"

Her reason…

Ruby's head tilted down, staring at her hands as she thought it over.

"Revenge, perhaps?"

"N-No! I mean… I'm angry that she did what she did to him and Inuba but… If I could go back there… I wouldn't want to do it to get revenge. I'd want to do it to stop her from hurting anybody else. And… maybe a little payback for Dante."

Lucifer chuckled at her comment , "You have an excellent soul, Ruby Rose. One that many a Devil would like to obtain for themselves."

The little reaper jolted up at the comment, not sure how to respond.

"A joke. For the most part. You do indeed have an excellent, righteous soul. Ensure that it stays that way, and that you never stray from your path."

"Right." Affirmed Ruby.

The two heard heavy clattering within the room, and looked behind themselves at the room, standing as they did.

The door swung open wildly, and from it, Dante staggered out, gripping at the wall and struggling to pull himself further.

"H-Hey! You should be resting!" Ruby exclaimed, running up to the teen and moving one of his arms around her to help him.

"I'm fine." Dante stated plainly.

He looked to his right eyes lighting up momentarily upon looking at the Dark Entity King.

"Yes. I'm really here." Lucifer said, giving a half smile.

"So it seems…" Dante said as he started walking, prompting Ruby to walk with him.

"Wait." Lucifer said, grabbing hold of Dante's arm, "At least take these, that way Ms. Rose doesn't have to carry you the whole time."

From his hands formed two black crutches, objects that the teen begrudgingly took from Lucifer without saying a word. Ruby let go of the once immortal to let him slide the crutches under his arms, and began moving forward.

"Um… It was nice meeting you!" Ruby said, waving at the King as he warmly waved back.

He let out a sigh, forming his white book out of his black and amethyst Aura, flipping open to the last black page he was reading as his eyes traced the glowing white words.

"How much longer will you suffer on our behalf, I wonder…"

* * *

The duo walked down the large hall, both silent the whole time. Dante's crutches were the only source of noise in the hallway, Ruby keeping a worried glance on the teen as he kept pushing himself forward.

They were getting on his nerves, for moments after, the once immortal stared at the crutch in his right hand and angrily tossed it against one the wooden wall, startling Ruby.

He pushed his back against the wall and slid down it, panting heavily as his hand carefully touched his right leg. The little reaper in red stepped forward, sitting down next to him and grabbing hold of his hand, interlocking her fingers with his.

"I know you aren't okay right now… So I won't ask if you are…" she announced

Dante shook his head in a thankful manner, sucking air through his teeth as he let out a sigh.

"All that… and I got crippled. With nothing to show for it." The teen said, flipping the crutch he threw towards the other wall.

"You saved Inuba, right? So it's not like you came out with nothing to show for it."

"You're not wrong, but…" Dante glanced down to his right leg, bolts of pain running through it as he took small breaths, "This… This whole thing has just been one big mess."

"I know."

"And we only came off it worse for wear. Well… I did at least."

"Are you mad that we lost?"

…

He was never a sore loser, but that didn't mean he wasn't disappointed whenever he rarely lost. And it was never disappointment in those that were with him. It was never their fault, not really. So how could he be upset with them in the slightest.

"I'm not mad at you or anyone else, Ruby. I'm just… angry with myself for multiple reasons. But… if I had to be honest, I'm just angry about this whole situation. This kind of thing has been a long time coming… and even if I lived in fear of it… there was still nothing I could do about it."

Ruby wasn't sure what he meant at that moment. Maybe he meant losing as bad as he did this time. Maybe he was talking about his immortality being gone.

…

Maybe he meant the whole situation with Inuba.

"I'm sure everything will work out later. We just… have to believe it'll be okay. Even if it'll take a while."

Dante sighed, bowing his head briefly before he pushed himself off the wall, and with Ruby's help, walked over to the other side to grab his crutch and walk further down the hall, rounding a corner.

"Are we… going back?"

The teen froze a few moments, turning himself to look back at the reaper in red.

"I don't know. I'd ask you know who if he could take care of it. Frankly… I don't want to go back there. Not unless there's no other choice. You probably know of Luci's status, but it's unlikely he'll be able to go back either. Him being here is nothing short of a miracle really. Especially since he's the last person I expected to see."

Speaking of expectations, Ruby turned Dante around, glancing over his entire person as he gave her a questioning look.

No platinum colored streaks in his hair… and his eyes were their normal bright sky blue.

"Something on my face?"

"I-Its nothing…"

"If you say so… How long was I out?"

Ruby's eyes lit up at the question, "I guess maybe five hours now…"

That long… He expected two hours maximum, but… Five hours had to be the longest he had ever been injured to the point of passing out or being knocked out.

"You're taking this a lot better than I thought…" Ruby stated, the two continuing their walk.

"No other way to act really. The only thing to do is accept that it happened and move on."

"You don't accept what happened. You're not showing it too much… but you're angry about it. The whole thing."

…

"Of course I'm angry. But that doesn't mean I haven't accepted what's happened, Ruby."

"But there's something else… isn't there?"

…

"I don't know what you're talking about." Dante replied, standing still in the hallway.

"Please… Please don't lie to me about this…" Ruby pleaded, "I know there's a lot of things you don't want to talk about to anyone, because a lot of those things hurt too much. I get that… But please… don't lie to me about this."

...

...

Why did her pleas always make him comply so quickly?

"How long?" She asked.

"How long 'what'? At the very least, if you want a truthful answer from me, you'll have to be specific."

Dante turned around to look Ruby straight in the eye, intent on answering whatever question she was going to ask. But she knew now. She figured it out. He had taken great lengths to hide it all this time, but Ruby had finally caught on.

She and Inuba were one of the few who could see right through him.

"How long… have you thought about dying?"

…

…

 _Nailed it right on the head…_

Dante took a deep breath, searching his thoughts quickly to when it had first started. Was it two years ago, after he defeated Aultus and came here to Remnant? No. It went further back. Maybe when he was thirteen, just before he brought down that corrupt agency using him? That wasn't it either.

…

Now he remembered.

"When I was seven, I think. It was around the time I woke up in the hospital, not a clue as to who I was or where I came from. Doctors told me I was in some sort of terrible accident, and was lucky to survive. Nurses assured me that someone would be along to see me, and take me home by the end of the week."

Ruby moved closer to the teen, listening to his story.

"So I waited. Two days went by. Five days. Two weeks. Nobody came by. It wasn't until day five I started thinking to myself… 'What kind of unbelievable bastard must I have been that nobody is here to come get me?'. I was alone. Had nobody. Accidentally figured out my 'immortality'. So I tested, and tested, and tested until I couldn't find anything else that could hurt me in that hospital."

She lowered her head in silence, listening to his tale as he continued.

"You know the rest. Things gradually got worse over time. Very few and brief intervals of happiness that… couldn't quite keep those thoughts down all the time. So I waited, and hoped for the day someone might be able to end this… torment of mine. I was always ready. Death never scared me because I was immortal. I wasn't scared, because early on… I prepared myself for the potential reality I might have been faced with. A reality, where Death, could lay its hands on me. And that day came today."

The reaper's hand slowly reached out for Dante's, gently taking it up to hold it firmly.

"But you know what? I wasn't ready then. And it wasn't because I was scared of dying. I was scared of not doing one good thing for somebody who's been with me since the beginning. Now that I did… I'm just… I'm just tired, Ruby. I just want to sit down and just…"

Dante couldn't even finish his own words before he raised a hand to his face.

"I just want to stop fighting… Twelve years of constant fighting… I just want it to end for once… This life of mine with no..."

Hands wrapped around the teen, hugging him tightly as a small head buried itself in his chest.

"I know it's been rough… But please… Don't think like that..! I'm here! We're all here! If you can't do it alone, let us help make it better! You've been fighting alone all this time for the most part, but..! Let me… let us pick up the slack for you just to make it easier on you!"

…

…

Could she be..?

…

…

"I'd… I'd like to see how my partner is doing… please…" Dante asked.

"Sure." Ruby said, following Dante further down the hall.

* * *

"You think he's alright? Trick question, he's always alright. Right?" Nora asked.

She, Ren and Jaune were on the second level of the massive building the cloaked girl had expanded upon to accommodate everyone, waiting anxiously.

"His resilience is otherworldly. But… this time… I don't know what to think."

"He'll be okay. He's always okay." Jaune stated to Ren, "At least… I'd like to think that… After all that… I just don't know… You all saw how roughed up he was, right? He wasn't healing like he used to. And… he's been isolated for so long already. I really think he's not immortal anymore."

"But does that change anything between the five of us?" Ren asked.

"I don't think so. I mean, he's always been helping us and taking hits for us whenever he can. But I don't think he'll stop anytime soon because he's like us now." Nora said, "He's kinda crazy that way, but not like, weirdo freako crazy."

"Like us now…" Jaune stated silently to himself, "It's just… hard to take it all."

"He has always been an unstoppable force of nature." Ren offered.

"Like a super tornado!" Nora interjected.

"Something like that."

Jaune smiled slightly at their exchange, letting out a huff of air shortly after.

"I just… hope he's actually okay." Jaune said, folding his hands together.

"He'll be fine." A new voice spoke out, approaching the three, "Might be in a small slump for the time being, but he'll pull through."

Their heads turned to look at the red haired woman approaching them, still donning her black and crimson armor, only, her two wing segments and longer wing in the shape of a blade were out of sight, along with her main Greatsword.

She moved around one of the black leather couches in the lounge and promptly sat down in it, leaning into the soft cushioning and letting out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry… Who are you?" Jaune asked.

"Me? I'm just a twenty seven year old waiting to find the perfect man for me." She stated with a wave of her hand.

The trio just looked at her in confusion. Although, Nora did inch closer to Ren in a somewhat concerned manner.

"Blaire. Blaire Embryl. Used to be a high ranking Combat Officer in the CGA. A Captain, to be precise. More importantly… I used to be Dante's Commanding Officer. More or less his Handler, really. Honestly… that boy was such a handful back then… Still is in a lot of ways. You'd know, since you're his friends and all."

"Jaune Arc. And these are my two teammates, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie." Jaune said, introducing them all.

"Well… Good to meet you, I guess. And I only say 'I guess' in terms of meeting in some not so great circumstances, like this whole mess." Blaire stated, bringing up both arms briefly, "So… What's your kids' story? How do you know Dante?"

"We've been friends since the Huntsmen and Huntress academy Beacon."

"Ah… The Hunters of this world. Guess they make academies for this kind of thing afterall. Still… to think he'd actually go to a 'school'..." the red haired woman chucked, "I guess he must've been bored or didn't have much to do at the time. But since we're here now, safe to say he got more out of it than he bargained for."

Jaune would've smiled if the truth of it didn't hurt so much.

"How is it back there? In the world you and Dante come from?" Jaune asked.

"Hmmm… Well, to put it in simple terms, Primordial was in the deep shit. And that's putting it lightly. Aside from the problems humans posed in the past, problems from the otherworldly and supernatural began growing increasingly worrisome. For the most part, Dante and our allies quelled most of those problems before he left." Blaire recanted, crossing one leg over the other as she rested her chin in her hand, "But hey, the World's at peace for the most part. Can't really complain about all too much. Except for the circumstances Dante left under."

"He always mentioned that he was just… exiled. But he never mentioned the cause or reason." Ren noted.

"For good reason too." The red haired woman said, leaning closer to the group of teens, "See, Dante did something he wasn't supposed to, or rather, something he wasn't allowed to. But he did it for a good reason."

"And what might that be?"

The woman let out a sigh, rubbing the back of her head, "Truth be told, I really shouldn't be saying this. But honestly? Screw those holier than thou pigeons. They can burn for all I care." Blaire stated bluntly, a small flicker of flame escaping her lips, "Dante may have mentioned that he was exiled for killing an Angel, even if he was a rogue bent on destruction. But that's only part of it. Truth is… Dante was exiled solely because he restored the lives lost within Aultus' week long attack on Primordial."

"Restored lost life..?!" Jaune asked in shock, "Are you saying he brought people back to life?!"

"Not just a few people either. A whole city population, as well as numerous allies that either died or were crippled." The red haired woman stated, "It wouldn't be such a huge leap to say Dante is one of the very very very rare few to understand the secret of life and death."

Jaune's body tensed up when he heard that, Ren and Nora sharing concerned glances with each other.

"I know that look blondie. You just thought to yourself 'Maybe he can bring so and so back', right?" Blaire asked, focusing a sharp gaze on the blonde knight, "True. He probably could bring back whoever you might have lost. But ask yourself this…" She said, leaning in closer to make sure Jaune was paying attention, "What would the cost be this time?"

"This time..?" Nora silently questioned.

"Bringing back one life is a tremendous toll. Bringing back close to half a million? Imagine the kind of price you'd have to pay."

Jaune's hands clenched tightly on his knees, gritting his teeth as his gaze trailed to the ground.

"You probably haven't noticed it, since we don't have the same sensing capabilities… But how much of Dante is left, do you think?"

"I always assumed Dante was superb at erasing his presence, but… are you suggesting Dante doesn't have much of his soul left?" Ren asked.

"That's right. I never really knew what kind of price he paid until I saw him out there in that desert of black sand… but taking a look almost broke my heart. What he has, or rather, what he's been working with the entire time he was in this world, was just a brief flicker of his remaining soul. So small in fact that you'd think it'd fade out with just the slightest movement."

"That's terrible…" Nora stated, her trail beginning to trail the ground, "And he's been doing a lot for us without asking for anything…"

"So let me ask you, blondie… Knowing what you know now, would you still somewhere down the line ask Dante to bring back your friend, knowing what kind of toll it's take on him?" Blaire asked Jaune.

The knight's fingers slowly unclenched from the deathly grasp he held his Jeans in, sighing as he raised his head up to stare at the woman.

"No."

"Even if that person was someone you cherished dearly?"

Even if it was for Pyrrha…

…

…

"I could never do something like that… and still call myself his friend afterwards."

Blaire smiled at Jaune's response, "Good answer blondie." She said, tilting her head back towards the entrance, "You've been eavesdropping for a while now. Come on out. Sensing your 'little flicker' has been playing hell with my Aura Sensing."

"If it's any consolation, Sky wanted to walk in when you brought up Dante." A boy their age said as he walked in. The only real noteworthy thing he wore was his black hoodie, adorned with lime green detailing and trim.

The rest of him was a pair of simple, equally black sweatpants and a pair of sneakers.

Beside him walked in two girls. The brunette of the two was just a little shorter than him wearing a black jacket covering a similarly colored crop top, the tails of the former draped over a pair of purple-faded shorts and black leggings.

Maybe it was the combat boots that gave her a slight boost in height, but they did help her come closer to the boy's head.

The last of the three was a white fox faunus, the girl's head several inches shorter than the brunette's beside her, and her attire stood as a stark contrast to the darker clothes beside her.

She wore a simple white hoodie, adorned loosely over her top and almost hid away her black short-shorts beneath its hem. Her black boots were much less combat-ready than the girl beside her, paired with white laces and traces of white fur shown just inside their tops.

A certain fluffiness showed from her more docile appearance, something that matched the three white fox tails flicking behind her, and the two ears atop her head.

"He thought it seemed more rude than being mistaken for eavesdropping." The brunette commented, glancing the boy's way for a moment, "We did hear everything, though."

"And?" Blaire asked the new trio, "What about you? You've got what's essentially a golden goose here. You're not going to take advantage of the opportunity either now that you understand he knows the secret?"

"Why would I?" The boy responded, his voice still keeping the calmness he started with, "It's not my place to ask him to ever do something like that. And I wouldn't ask it upon her either, to come back."

"Well then… It's nice to know he's actually made worthwhile friends for once." The crimson haired woman said, uncrossing her leg to cross the other one over, "He's never really been all too great with making friends. Not unless they sought him out really. Even then he can be a pain sometimes."

The boy shrugged and tilted his head a little, his chin-length black hair and bangs shifting a little with the movement. "He kind of followed after me one night. So, it was more of a 'he met me' experience."

"Is that so? Well that's a bit a surprising for sure! He wouldn't really make a friend that quickly unless it was out of necessity. I guess… he might've changed a bit."

"Maybe. But that's the Dante I met, anyway." The boy replied.

Sky's gaze flicked to him, then Blaire for a moment, before the girl leaned forward around the smaller girl in white with a curious gaze, "Why'd you call Xera 'little flicker' by the way?"

Xera's head dipped a little before turning, muttering closer to the brunette's ear, "Probably because we're both fire users."

"Well, yeah. But by comparison I'm an actual raging inferno." Blaire proudly waved off, "Though it's mostly because my fire isn't normal and a hell of a lot stronger."

Xera seemed to shrug at that, accepting it.

Sky just seemed to grin, "I like her."

"Ironic isn't it? I've got a literal hell of power… and back then, it almost killed me going into overdrive. Kind of sucks when the 'container' can't really contain all that power. At least, that's how it used to be."

"I take it Dante played a part in helping you manage your own power?" Xera asked in return.

She gave an affirmative hum, "To this day, I still don't know how he did it. There I was, on the verge of death because I overused my power beyond what my body could handle. I only had three more days to live at the time, so I thought it'd be a waste to not go all out." Blaire shrugged simply, "But when it got to it… I was really scared, and still had a lot of things I wanted to do."

The crimson haired woman raised up her right arm, and dragged her left finger across the underside of it in a sort of cutting motion.

"Few drops of blood, and my body was on its way to fixing itself. And few is putting it lightly." She said, smiling, "Of course at the time, I didn't know it. You could imagine my surprise when I actually woke up a day later, and was in peak condition. In fact, I was much better than I had ever been before. So much so that I've never had to worry about my body breaking itself from my power ever again."

The shortest of the small bunch reached a hand into Xera's sweatshirt pocket beside her, fishing a black scroll out. Xera didn't seem to mind the action, actually.

The girl's fingers flicked the device open before typing something and turning the screen to Blaire, her fox ears sticking up curiously on her head.

" _You make it sound like he has some kind of miracle blood."_

"Who knows with that lovable little devil? Fact is, I think he himself is a miracle given to The World. Well, Creation really. But, he was a miracle that others took advantage of and took for granted far too often." Blaire explained, sighing as she did.

Those curious white fox ears drooped and folded back as she lowered her scroll, the girl thinking about what else to type while Xera glanced down at her.

"You're right. Or at least, the three of us agree with you on all that." Xera said, glancing back up from the fox beside him. His gaze calmly flicked to the others listening in the room as well, and he seemed to recognize the faces he saw.

Something he did well hiding.

"So… how did you three get roped into coming here by that crafty four eyes?" The crimson knightess asked.

Under the woman's question, Xera reached into his black pocket and pulled out a white crystal, holding it up for her to view.

"He referred to this as a bridge between our realities. It kind of went off out of the blue and pulled us to this Remnant." He explained.

"It made a lot more sense after we saw the flaming bombardments from the sky." Sky added, "And then Luci showed up. He bought us snacks since Kit hadn't eaten yet."

Two white fox ears flicked at the mention of her name, but also because Sky's hand was rubbing the girl's white head.

"Well that explains the three of you then… You said you were acquainted with Dante?" Blaire asked, directing her question to Xera.

"Friends at this point. He helped me a bit with a Dark Entity Lord that was a sort of pseudo-King Class back home." The boy said.

A soft laugh escaped her lips, "Yep. Sounds just like him to get into that kind of trouble. Figures." She said rolling her eyes, "What about you two?" She said glancing to Skyla and Kit.

"I like to think I'm closer to his sister, but he's a good friend." Sky replied, lifting her hand from Kit's head as the girl typed up her own response. "We were all there for that Dark Entity fiasco."

" _And he helped me with my recovery."_ The fox typed out, adding to the short list that was forming.

"Charming little helper he is…" The knightess stated, her smile growing just a bit wider, "I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm pretty pissed off with the situation."

"More or less." Xera agreed with a small nod, "Just more worried about him right now…"

"Well, he isn't dead, that much I can tell you." Blaire responded simply.

"But from what I hear, he's not exactly healing like he used to either." Xera said.

Blaire's grip on the couch made a silent crunch before she let out a sigh and stood up, "At the very least… he's still alive."

Xera seemed to get the silent message of that kind of reaction and nodded in agreement, calmly sliding his hands into the confines of his hoodie pocket.

They heard noise on the upper level shortly after, like a loud crash that drew everyone's attention to the stairs as they ascended them.

Reaching the top floor, and rounding a corner, they all came upon the sight of someone slugging another person with great strength, enough that the person who was hit fell back towards the close shuttered window, shattering the glass.

Dante was the one against the wall, and from the looks of it, a small trail of blood was dripping down the back of his neck and across the sides.

Across from him was a girl. Almost chin length black hair that was somewhat messy, a white collared short sleeved dress shirt with two black stripes running down the left side of her chest, a pleated black skirt, and a pair of brown, knee high, laced boots.

More prominent however was the pair of jet black wings as big as her 5'5 body, resting behind her.

The crow Tengu Ayame had been crying. And she was very angry.

"You..! You don't get to see her..! You failure!" She shouted, words harshly echoing throughout the hall, "You were supposed to protect her and be there for _her_! Not the other way around! And you failed both times! You let her die before, and you let her turn into that..! That thing!"

Dante didn't so much as speak a word, and kept his hidden gaze towards the ground as she berated him mercilessly.

"Someone like you doesn't deserve to have someone like Inuba at your side! She's given you everything and more and you could do something as simple as returning the favor! So just..! Just stay away from her from now on."

Still no words from the teen. He only stood where he was silently, his blood still dripping and leaking into the white hospital pajamas he was wearing.

But his silence only irked the crow Tengu further, making her raise up her hand a second time.

Ruby made to move from the opposite end where she stood, but before she could, another hand stopped Ayame entirely from striking Dante again.

The man that stopped her was a fox yōkai that seemed to be in his mid-twenties, had chin length, brushed down white hair that was parted towards the right side of his face, along with white fox ears and crimson red irises. He stood at what seemed to be six feet tall. His attire consisted of black tabi socks, a white split-hakama, a white kosode robe that was held together by a black obi, also wearing a black shitagi underneath his kosode.

He also wore a black, sleeveless haori that had white trimming, accompanied with intricate white patterns of flame on the tail ends, as well as around the collar. The same flame patterns adorned the wide sleeves of the white kosode he wore, only, the patterns were in black. There was also a gap in the haori just above the rear to allow his nine white fox tails to move about freely.

"Let me go Akihito! We've been silent all this time, but I'm not going to give this bastard special treatment anymore just because you say so!"

"You would do well to not disgrace yourself further, General Karasugami." Akihito said, a toneless and calming voice commanding the Tengu to cease her actions at once.

She forcefully pulled her stopped arm out of his grip, and stole a final angry glare before she walked off around the corner, presumably to Inuba's room.

The elder kitsune let out a small sigh, and reached out towards the teen to help him, but his helping hand was brushed away by the teen, who worked to stand on his own two feet.

Without so much as a word, Dante began using his crutches to walk towards the group that arrived amongst the commotion, stopping as soon as he heard Akihito call to him.

"Lord Dante." He spoke calmly, keeping his sharp and focused gaze on the teen, "Why do you turn away? Why will you not look me in the eyes?"

It was difficult to stand there and watch the once immortal keel his eyes glued to the ground like a shamed child, but even so, he still said nothing and slowly moved forward.

Blaire was the only one directly in the way at the moment, and she looked like she was struggling internally, biting her lip to keep herself silent until eventually she just moved out of the way, like everyone else did.

Xera was the only one to reach out to stop him, but like Akihito, his hand was pushed away, albeit more forcefully than with the older kitsune.

"Just go home…" He spoke silently, almost in a whisper.

Without so much as another word, he dragged himself further forward with his crutches, eventually turning the corner everyone kept their eyes on at the moment.

All he wanted now… was silence.

* * *

…

 _This proud World that once stood… is now in shambles._

 _Rather… it was slowly falling apart this whole time. All there ever existed was temporary delays before the destruction resumed. But now…_

…

 _Now it is all in ruins._

 _And I can do nothing but stay here, as I always have._

…

 _I want to leave. I want to get out. I want to escape this place. But how? How can I leave? I've tried and tried, yet I've found no way out._

…

 _Is it too much to want to leave?_

…

 _Is it too much to wish to be with him?_

* * *

RNJR, Blaire, Xera, Skyla, Kitsuki and Lucifer all anxiously waited outside of the room until at last, Kareina Kitsukami had stepped out, closing the door behind them.

She shook her head slightly, "There's… not much else that can be done at the moment. Ever since yesterday he's gone into some sort of… stasis, and hasn't woken up."

"He isn't comatose like I presumed?" Lucifer asked.

"Whatever… this may be… It isn't a coma. Rather, it mimics one slightly. Emotional stress, shock, anything can be a cause at this point. Quite frankly… he shouldn't have survived in the first place."

"What do you mean by that?" Blaire asked, pushing herself off of the wall to stand in front of the elder kitsune.

"Looking over the record of his battle, his heart rate was quite literally all over the place." She said, turning to Jaune, "Mr. Arc, was it? You mentioned you specifically installed a heart rate monitor function into your device to keep track of young Dante's vitals, since your tool couldn't properly ascertain his… Aura Levels… My… such a strange word to get used to…"

Jaune simply nodded to her question.

"What exactly did you observe after he had risen from death?"

"Well…" the blonde's hand raised itself to his chin, trying to calmly remember what his eyes saw during the whole ordeal, "It's like you said, his heart rate was all over the place. At one point it was one twenty, the next it'd jump down to fourty. The end is where it got weird."

"Weird how? Please explain."

"It was stuck between ten and forty. But as quickly as it got down to ten, it jumped back up to forty."

"He was forcing himself to stay alive then, is what you're suggesting?" Lucifer asked the kitsune.

"Young Dante is… most certainly an oddity, of that there is no question. Regardless, his biology entirely matches that of a human's biology, only, a large majority of it is vastly improved in terms of durability, strength, etc. For instance, whenever he would take a lethal injury, his body would automatically compensate for the injury to prevent him from ceasing function, or dying. Like with his heart. If his pulse was disturbed or tampered with through outside sources, it would immediately adjust itself to rectify the issue, as if it never happened."

Kareina took a glance back towards the door, letting out a small sigh before her gaze wandered back on the others.

"I've studied young Dante's abnormal body and form of immortality for many years now. I've come to understand how it works quite well, but… This? This is something completely foreign to me. I have no means to explain why he isn't waking."

The Dark Entity King nodded briefly, "Thank you always for your hard work."

"I apologize for not being much use here."

"There's no need for that. You did all you could."

The elder kitsune gave the King a polite bow before she wandered off to where she came from.

Lucifer let out a deep sigh as he removed his glasses from his face, playing with the pair of spectacles between his fingers as he kept his amethyst eyes closed.

When he opened them again, he didn't say a word to anyone, and simply walked away opposite of where Kareina went. Just as he was about to round the corner however, Ruby, who had been standing next to the taller Blaire, caught his eyes focusing on her briefly before he looked away and disappeared behind the vast entrance of the hall.

"Well, that wasn't a cryptic glance or anything." Sky commented quietly, her own amethyst eyes flicking to Ruby for a moment.

Xera's own gaze lingered on the door to Dante's room, his mind still focused on why Dante's state shifted so suddenly. But if he was being honest with himself, he knew his theories weren't really going to cut it with him.

The rules here were so different than the ones back at home.

"Regardless, there's nothing we can do." Xera said with a sigh, glancing to Sky and Kit for a moment before drifting his attention over the rest of the group. If his self-repair really was damaged… the situation wasn't going to get any better. Especially if the damage to that ability was permanent.

"No…" Ruby's voice suddenly spoke out, focusing everyone's attention onto her, "There is something we can do."

Xera's eyes flicked to Ruby this time, a curious gaze forming.

"We're going back." She affirmed.

"Ruby-"

"No! We can't just leave things as they are! And we can't let that… that person get away with it so she can hurt other people!" She said, interrupting Jaune, "We're going back, and this time, we'll stop her!"

"But how?" Jaune asked, "We don't even know if that portal we took is still even active."

"But that Reality Space she set up is still in the sky just orbiting Remnant. Frankly speaking, the only way we'd get up there now is if we had a pair of wings that didn't need to breathe oxygen." Blaire noted before looking to Xera, "And I highly doubt you can survive space. Much less go back and forth to take a few of us."

"Yeah, I'm not exactly a spacecraft." Xera replied, poking lightly at the wings he had wrapped beneath his hoodie, "And from what I heard and saw, we aren't going to be enough. Not without that army of Black Knights Lucifer got to tag along."

"We'd be more enough. I've got excellent crowd clearing with my abilities. And I bet you might be able to hold a _candle_ to me." The crimson haired woman jokingly said.

Xera shook his head. "I wasn't talking about that army of Grimm. I was talking about what we're going to do after we get through it."

"Well, you still have me regardless. I'm pretty certain all you youngsters aren't slouches in tough fights. Otherwise Dante wouldn't have placed such faith in you all to fight with him when he was able to."

"Whether or not we can all fight still doesn't mean we'll be enough to take down a Dark Entity of her class. And if she can whip up an army like it's nothing, who's to say she doesn't have the energy to keep those forces coming to exhaust us? We'd lose that kind of battle of attrition." Xera said.

"Obviously… you would lose without us…" spoke a new voice.

Heads turned to end of the hallway, seeing a very familiar pair staggering closer to them, ripping off their bandages as they moved closer to the group.

"Yeah… Besides, we have a bone to pick with that skank anyway…" Ciel stated, moving forward with the help of the rather tall and tanned dragon Faunus Musashi.

"And we don't intend to stop until she's dead…" Leo said, also having some guided assistance from the two twins Bailey and Alice Lianna.

Sky seemed to perk up at the sight of Ciel, but Xera still lightly crossed his arms with a sigh, "We're still going to need that army."

"Pfff… Army he says. You hearing this amateur?" Ciel said, elbowing Leo's side.

"We are the army, Stark." The twin replied, rubbing his side, "With all of our forces combined, we'll be more than enough for that witch."

"You say that now… but what were those bandages for? You weren't wearing them just for the fun of it." Xera countered again, but he wasn't looking to argue.

If they believed they could fight, then he didn't have any reason to disbelieve it.

"Okay… So we were on the mend. Big deal." Ciel noted, ripping off the last of her bandages, "But we've got our second wind after a nice nap. Now we're ready to kick ass. As soon as we get there though."

"We may need a few more minutes to adjust…" Leo mentioned.

Xera quietly sighed to himself at that. He'd ran with worse odds before… if he was being honest.

" _We still don't exactly have a way up there."_ Kit typed, holding up her scroll again to catch Xera's eyes.

"We do… We just need to make a short trip. SOL?" Leo asked.

"Acknowledged."

The little machine unit floated from behind Bailey Lianna, hovering in the center of the group as its white v-line visor displayed a projection on the wall.

Leo moved upwards to point out on the map, "In my early days, when I was still wandering about, I discovered a secret Atlas outpost underground in this area that was abandoned due to Grimm activity. It was here I made my weapons as well before I met up with my sister, Ciel."

"Remnant isn't exactly known for its spacecraft… But is there anything there we can use to fabricate something that can actually reach the realm?" Xera asked.

"We don't need to fabricate anything, Stark. A space-worthy ship is already sitting in a launch bay, built and prepped. At the very least, the researchers finished a prototype of the ship, but never managed to test it fully."

"Talk about convenience." Sky commented with a light smile. "If there wasn't something like that, I would've offered to have these two act as thrusters."

She gestured to Blaire and Xera as she said that.

"His flames would flicker out as soon as we get far enough, and my Hellfire won't exactly be as potent. Plus, there's still the fact none of you can survive in a vacuum." The crimson haired woman noted.

Sky lightly poked Xera in the ribs at that. "She sounds like she _can_ though…"

"Luckily we don't need to." Ciel cut in, "See, Leo fixed up the ship before he left and made sure it'd pressurized in a vacuum environment."

"I also ran simulations for three days and fixed whatever I could find. If we get to that ship, we can use it to break orbit and fly ourselves into that Reality Space orbiting the planet." The twin stated.

"Well, that'll be the easiest part of our fight, at least." Xera said.

"Hey, don't jinx us you flaming turkey." Ciel told the Phoenix.

"He's more of a flaming pigeon." Sky cut in.

"In any case, we seem to have a way in now." Blaire stated, looking to Ruby, "Well Little Red, you're the head honcho here since you're the one who's pushing for us to go back there and kick that Scylix's ass or whatever. You sure want to do this?"

Everyone's gaze fixed on Ruby in that moment, and it'd be a lie to say she didn't feel a huge wave of nervousness wash over her.

…

But she already made up her mind a good while ago.

"We're going. If any of you want to stay behind, then I won't fault you for that. I'd understand." The little reaper in red stated, "But if we're going… We're going there to win, not to come back empty handed. So… are you guys with me?"

Xera turned his gaze to the only two he managed to bring with him, but all he got was a half-shrug from Sky and a flick of an ear from Kit.

"Kit, if we're all going, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Dante." The boy said, gesturing to the once-immortal's room, "I'd rather we have at least one person stay behind for him."

The fox's gaze flicked up to silently meet Xera's for a few long moments before the girl nodded, quietly closing away her scroll.

"Alrighty then! Let's get our asses in gear and move out!" Ciel said, raising up her arm with a slight "Ow".

"Best we go outside first before we travel." Leo noted to his sister.

"Yeah yeah, details details. Got it. Now let's boogie!"

With Ciel's declaration made, she moved around the corner she came from towards the stairs, everyone else following behind her as Ruby remained still, letting out a deep breath she took.

Glancing to her side towards the small kitsune, she said, "Please take care of him."

Kit nodded to the girl, giving her two thumbs up and three lifted tails behind her.

Ruby gave the girl a nod and smile, and ran after her friends who were already on their way down the stairs.

She was determined now more than ever to win. And she didn't intend to give up in the slightest, even after the terrible might of Scylix was laid bare for them all to see.

Ruby would defeat her. For Remnant… and for Dante.

* * *

 **Heya everyone. Quick announcement, I'm going to stop the omakes, Weapons Illustrated, and Semblance Encyclopedia for now. We're getting close to ending this arc at last, and I kinda want to do it since it's been like a year.**

 **So for the sake of efficiency and speed, the omakes will be ceased for the time being. It's take a good long while to think of them at times, and frankly, it's a lot of time I could be using to get chapters out quicker. So yeah, I'll be hitting pause on them for the time being.**

 **I've nothing much else to say at the moment, except that I hope things are getting interesting enough for you, the readers. Trust me when I say the year will have been worth it, and a lot of cool new things will be featured. So with** **that...**

 **I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story Rogue Huntsman written by Xera Stark. The story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story. Plus, I'm working on it with him as a co-author, and my characters are in it too. So if you want to see a sort of alternate story and such with my characters in it, go on over and give Rogue Huntsman a read.**

 **And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and tells Rogue Huntsman's story from his characters' perspective, like how Knights of White and Black (my alternate story) tells the tale from my character's perspectives.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


	47. Chapter 47: Prelude to Departure

Chapter 47: Prelude to Departure

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* * *

"Well… Seems like they're off on their own, Aki." Spoke a kitsune, who stood in the hallway with Akihito Kitsukami.

She wore a white kosode with black flame patterns adorning her white sleeves, and like Akihito, she too wore a black sleeveless haori, with white trim and flame patterns running down her chest and around her back. She looked as though she were wearing a white hakama, but the sleeves were tighter, and only barely went down over her knees.

That, and she wore a pair of black zori sandals without tabi socks. A black obi kept her white kosode closed together, and in it, were sheathed two katanas, both with white handles and guards, adorning small flame prints. Her nine white fox tails stood proudly from the special gap made in the back of her hakama to let them loose comfortably. Her foxes were constantly flicking about on their own slowly in a semi-playful manner.

"So it seems, Asahi."

"Hey hey, we're off duty you know? Call me your sister once in a while, not 'Asahi' or 'General Kitsukami' like you always do." She said, mimicking Akihito's voice briefly, "Coming to a place like this for these kinds of reasons… It's definitely a gloomy day. But… at we least we know she's actually okay. And alive."

Akihito remained where he was, keeping his eyes closed as he maintained his usual calm composure that never seemed to break at any time.

"You could look happier, you know."

"Presenting myself as ecstatic isn't necessary to broadcast my relief."

"Oh Aki, all work, no relaxation. You need to lighten up more." Asahi said, nudging her older brother slightly.

"I don't believe I should try to understand 'how to relax' from you. Otherwise my work will fall behind like a certain individual standing near me."

The sister kitsune let out a sigh as her back touched the wall, her head peeking around the corner briefly to look at the doorway, and see a small fluffy kitsune walk inside.

"Who's the tiny one?" Asahi asked.

"Her identity is much of a mystery, but from what I gathered of their talks, I believe people call her Kitsuki."

"Kitsuki, is it..? Who would've thought there'd be more like us way out here…"

"A surprise indeed."

"You know… There's not a lot for us to do right now. Mom and Dad are sitting in with Inuba. All we're doing is just standing around."

"So it seems." Akihito answered briefly.

"Ugh… Come on man, don't you want to go too? Don't you want to kick ass for our sister and Dante?"

"It isn't a matter of what I wish, but a matter of what I should be doing."

"And don't you think we should be going after that witch? She attacked two of ours, Aki. Doesn't that make you even the slightest bit angry?"

He didn't respond to her, and simply kept his eyes closed.

"Right… Forgot you're impossible to crack now…" Asahi said with a sigh.

Akihito's eyes opened, his crimson eyes giving off a small shine briefly before he began walking around the corner.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"On a brief venture. Would you accompany me?"

"You want to take a simple stroll now of all times? Seriously Aki, you need to-"

Asahi froze mid sentence, looking towards her brother to see him looking back right at her. The kitsune's lips curled into a smile as she laughed softly to herself and joined her brother's side.

"I think a _walk_ right now would be _very_ therapeutic."

* * *

"Hey dumbass! Did you forget to mention in your grand scheme the killer Atlas robots standing guard?!" Ciel asked in a shout, tearing her skeletal scythe free from one of the AK 200 units she pierced with it.

"They must have sent a retrieval team at last to gather all the materials and blueprints. With everything that's happening these days, it isn't a surprise that the Atlesian Military is starting to clean house and tie up loose ends." Leonard answered, kicking away one of the machines he shot.

"Yeah yeah, and I'm the great Ghandi." Ciel retorted with a roll of her eyes, "Roll call everyone!"

"RNJR's all present and ready to kick butt!" Nora shouted from the other end of the room, declaring herself, Ren, Jaune and Ruby.

"Still kicking over here!" Blaire called over from the other end of the room, her three jointed sword wing resting behind her as she clutched her actual weapon, looking over the slagged remains of Units, "Man these guys were weak…"

"I avoid the bullets anyway!" Xera called out in his form of response, kicking out the legs of a set of Atlesian Knights, melting through their limbs before leaving the rest to be shredded in a maelstrom of passing metallic shards from his partner.

"I'm in agreement with Blaire!" Sky called out herself, "These robots are all cowards!"

Ciel nodded with a proud huff, looking over to Musashi and bumping her with her hip, "You all good there Ms. Cool and Bronze?"

"Y-Yes… I'm quite well…" the dragon Faunus stated, crossing her arms as her face reddened.

"Bailey? Alice? Are you two okay?" Leo asked the twins.

"Pfft, as if you need to ask." Alice responded, crushing the head of one of the machines with her heel.

"All is well, Leonard." Bailey replied.

There had to have been one hundred of these AK 200 units inside the large and expansive shuttle bay. And all of them were either reduced to molten slag, cut apart, or shot to pieces.

Leonard moved over to one of the holographic control panels, typing in an array of codes until finally, the ground in front of him a few feet began to slide open.

From the depths rose a white ship, the front not overly long to form the cockpit, and the wings thickened and elongated, each wing having a rotational pair of two large thrusters each. The rest of the ship was raised up, forming a large seating bay in the rear. The tail end also had elongated flaps, and from them was another pair of rotational thrusters. If one looked closely, they would also have been able to see more thrusters near the bottom of the cargo door.

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the Atlesian Specter, the first airship prototype made specifically to be space worthy."

"Yeah yeah, no one cares. It's a plane that flies in space. Woohoo." Ciel remarked, waving her hands sarcastically, "Get inside and start the damn thing up please."

"I'm actually curious how he solved the Dust problem." Xera commented, running up to the edge of the opened doors to get a look at the thrusters.

His partner, on the other hand, was already dragging him by the hood toward the ramp.

"Later Stark, we've more pressing matters at hand." Leo motioned for the Phoenix to hurry, "But if you must know, I synthesized a propellant to work in tandem with Red Dust to create a hybridized thruster system. Small ignition from the Dust mixed with small releases of the propellant make for immense quick launching capabilities and fuel efficiency."

"Science later! Asses on the ship, now!" Ciel commanded, making Leo roll his eyes as he entered on board first.

Sky was quick to drag Xera up after him before he could ask more questions.

"Everybody on board now for the Space Shuttle to Hell! Let's go, let's go!" Ciel urged, shepherding everyone inside as the bay doors above opened, exposing them to the coming Dawn.

With the last of everyone on board, Ciel made to enter inside the ship, but stopped shortly when she heard a roar up above.

When she stuck her head out to take a look, she saw dozens upon dozens of Griffons and a few Nevermore heading their way.

"Shit! Leo! Fly the damn ship already!"

From the cockpit, Leo was at work, hurriedly typing away at the panel in front of him.

"Start the ship Leo! Fly the ship Leo! Does anyone bother to ask if Leo fucking knows how to?!" He shouted in a small burst of anger.

"You're doing well Leonard." Bailey encouraged, leaning over towards him, "Please, remained focus on your task."

He took a deep breath after hearing her calm voice, and went straight back to work at typing. Everyone had sat down in their seats, metallic segments covering their waists and forming over their shoulders to buckle them in tightly. Blaire was the only one who didn't sit down, and moved to the bay where Ciel was, sword readied in hand.

"Well well… Seems like we have some uninvited guests." The older woman mentioned.

The launch pad rose up, and out from it extended a long railway that extended towards the sky in a slight angle.

The aerial Grimm were still hot on approach, Ciel gritting her teeth at the predicament.

"Damn it..!"

As some of the Griffons and Nevermores sped through their lines, shrieking loudly as they did, they were close to almost shuffling into the bay.

That was until an infernal wall of white flame rose up from the ground immediately, burning the first flock of Grimm to ash in but a mere second as the wall continue to blaze.

In the distance, Ciel focused her vision on a figure standing on the edges of the bay, seeing him moved one hand in fluid motions.

Akihito Kitsukami stood high above, manipulating his inferno to reduce the Grimm to ashes upon contact with the flames. With the moment they had, Ciel exchanged a glance with the kitsune, giving him a brief nod before she turned back to Leo.

"Hit it already Leo!" She shouted, both she and Blaire sitting in the seats closest to the bay door as it closed up.

Leonard's hand finished typing in the last command prompts, and found itself on a throttle handle, pushing forward quickly as the ship rumbled to life. Within a few seconds, the Specter shot forward like a mortar shell, traveling across the railings until it left them to take to the skies.

Some of the Grimm manger to either go around, or use their allies as shields, for they gave chase to ship to bring it down.

But the inferno chased them as they went, swallowing them whole as it formed a circular defense around the space ship, allowing it free passage as the Griffons and Nevermores turned to ash upon touch.

Before they broke through the stratosphere, the white flames had died down, and within the seating bay, two flickers of white flame surged briefly, revealing Akihito and Asahi Kitsukami standing normally, as if they weren't in a high speed ship at all.

"Heya everyone! Nice to meet you at last!" The more playful of the kitsune spoke out happily.

"We have come to offer our aid in your venture." The calm and collected kitsune stated before he took a seat next to Skyla, and Asahi across the way next to Ren.

"Sooo… did you just teleport onto a ship going at this speed?" Sky asked, poking the kitsune's arm beside her.

"No." He simply responded, keeping his eyes closed.

"Yeah, we kinda slapped some apport talismans onto the ship's side just before you guys took off and had them permeate through the ships layer into the bay. Thus, we have arrived." Asahi spoke out.

"Useful..." Xera said, though he quickly offered a thankful smile anyway, "Thanks for tagging along. I take it you heard us talking?"

It'd explain how they knew exactly where they were and what they were doing.

"But of course. Our ears aren't simply for show." Akihito explained, his fox ears flicking briefly.

The ship shook violently a little as they just exited Remnant's atmosphere, Leo able to see the cracks in the Reality Space from a zoomed in projection shot. But also…

"Oh no… Ciel! We have trouble!"

"Oh what now?!" She said, unbuckling her straps and running up to the cockpit to see what her brother did, "What in the hell..?!"

From their enlarged view, the twins could hundreds of masses floating towards them, and one massive spire of black and white with numerous sharpened tendrils flailing about. The smaller masses almost looked like manta-rays with loads of white spikes covering their blackened bodies. They looked like…

"Grimm…"

"In space?!" Sky called from her seat.

Ciel bit her lip to stop herself from cursing, bowing her head as she impatiently tapped the walls of her ship.

That was until a thought appeared in her mind.

"Come on Leo, we're up!" She said tapping her twin's shoulder, earning a confused glance from him.

It took Leonard a moment, but he understood what Ciel meant, causing him to undo his buckles.

"SOL," the teen asked as he stood up from his seat, "Commandeer the ship. Head straight for the crack in the Marble and do not deviate from the course."

"Acknowledged." The machine spoke, hovering over into his seat, a cable extending itself from his underside and into one of the console's ports.

The twins moved towards the back of the ship, Leo being stopped briefly by Bailey, who had grabbed his hand. When he spun around, he was welcomed with a quick peck on his check from the girl, causing Alice to sputter from shock as she quickly undid her buckles and did the same.

"Good luck." They said in unison, making Leonard himself sputter nonsense from the pleasant shock.

Ciel was quick to grab her brother by the collar and drag him towards the bay door. There was still some extra space in the back that would have been used specifically to keep cargo in the hold. But…

There was also another door that separated the seating from the cargo hold. Throwing Leo inside first, Ciel made to step in after him, but was too stopped. A tanned hand held her in place, bright sky blue eyes meeting a worried pair of shining violet.

"P-Please return safely…" The dragon Faunus barely managed to word out.

Ciel gave the girl a warm smile before leaning down a giving her a quick kiss. When she pulled away, she gave Musashi a quick wink.

"I'll be back before you know it."

With a quick wave goodbye, a door slid down from above, sealing it tight as the siblings stood further back towards the bay door, preparing themselves as best they could.

"You ready for this?" Ciel asked, nudging her brother's sides.

Leo looked up to the ceiling briefly, letting out a small hum before saying "Not in the slightest."

His twin gave him a light chuckle, some form of worry in her own tone as she shakily patted her brother's back.

Letting out a deep breath, Ciel slammed the bottom of her fist onto the airlock button. As the doors quickly retracted, both teens had been jettisoned out of the cargo bay, flying off into the deep reaches of space.

Then, two brief flickers of white light shone brightly in the distance behithe ship, streaks of white soon trailing the darkness of the cosmos.

A Shadow Skinned Leo uses the slits across his blackened armor to propel him forward, leaving behind a streaking trail of white Aura.

An Angel Shrouded Ciel zoomed through the dark in her Angelic form, leaving similar streaks behind her from the ends of her large, white wings of light, Sctyhe in hand and ready to reap the Grimm of their lives.

The twins quickly zoomed past the ship, with Leo taking the lead as he extended his palms, barrels jutting out from the undersides as they shot out dozens of beams of white and black Aura continuously. The beams traveled through the darkness like bolts of light, burning through the manta-ray Grimm and thinning out a great deal of them within seconds.

It was then Ciel flew past them, her Scythe coated in white and black Aura as it grew to colossal proportions. With one mighty swing of her now immense scythe, she reaped hundreds of the Grimm within seconds, tearing them apart like paper.

With a majority of the small fry dealt with, Leo and Ciel flew close to one another, giving each other a nod as they zoomed forward quickly towards the large, fleshing spire.

Ciel's scythe had shrunken down, and as she flew over the surface of the creature, she swung her scythe through its body, the weapon acting like a surgical laser that instantly cut through the beast's spiked and boney hide. Leo followed behind the reaping Ciel, firing off dozens upon dozens of his Aura Beams into the the exposed sections of its body to further destroy what remained of it.

As soon as the twins passed through the colossal Grimm, the beast had fallen apart into pieces, larger chunks of its body exploding form the trail of destruction the siblings left in their wake.

Looking behind them, they slowed their movements to allow the Specter ship to fly through the graveyard of Grimm, and propelled themselves into the cargo bay. The door shut behind them, and the cargo hold de-pressurized, allowing oxygen to flow in once more as the twins' forms blew off of them like scraps of ash, reverting them to their normal forms.

Both looked at each other in bewilderment before smiles formed on their faces, and the two high fived each other with great force, a thundering crack, like that of lighting, sounding through the bay as they cheered victoriously.

"Hell yeah! We're awesome at kicking ass!" Ciel shouted as both she and Leonard entered into the seating bay again.

Ciel plopped herself down in the seat next to Musashi, cuddling the poor dragon girl as the buckles automatically formed around the smaller girl. Leo moved quickly back to his seat, SOL moving out of the way and unplugging himself to allow the teen to sit down, strap in, and continue steering.

The two seemingly stared at each other, and Leo smiled, bringing up his fist as the small machine brought up his own tiny robotic arm, the three flexible prongs forming his "fingers" closing in together into a sort of fist as the two lightly bumped their fists together.

With their final obstacle cleared, the Specter made its way through the small debris field, heading straight for the glowing red crack in space, revealing red skies within.

* * *

Everything in the white room was silent, save for the small hissing noise of the oxygen machine that helped in keeping Dante breathing, or at the very least, assisting his breathing.

Kit sat in her chair next to Dante's bed, watching his heart rate monitor lines zigzagging across the screen at a steady 60 beats per minute.

Other than that, there wasn't much else that had happened within the last thirty minutes or so.

Personally, she didn't know what was going on with Dante. She thought she could figure it out with some time with him directly, but even with everything Inuba and Xera taught her, she couldn't narrow in on anything noteworthy.

So, she was more just here to keep an eye on him now, and keep an eye out for anything wrong that might come up in his sleep.

He'd already been cared for by Lady Kitsukami, to the extent of exhausting all possible treatments, magic included, so… Kit just figured she was more or less just waiting for a change now.

A change in his state, at least. Whether it was consciousness or an internal difference.

Still…

It was hard to imagine someone like him in a state like this. Especially this… fragile.

"Difficult isn't it? Seeing someone who was essentially the pillar of strength for many… brought down low to the ground." A voice spoke out.

Kit looked up with a pensive frown to see Lucifer standing by the door, her hands resting tensely in her lap as she brought her gaze back to Dante.

It really was difficult. She'd always thought something like this was impossible for him.

"I only just recently figured it out. Well, if one calls a year recent in a way. I had my suspicions for a time that he had some relation to me, but I never quite knew until he left. Still, I did my best for him whenever I could manage it. Only this time… I wasn't quite able to do much."

Kit didn't really quite know what it meant to be family in that way, but she knew this must've been affecting Lucifer just as much as it was affecting anyone else who cared about Dante.

Still…

" _If he's related to you, did he inherit any of your genetics?"_ Kit signed, knowing the man was someone who could read it, " _If that's the case, then this abnormality in his health is even worse… isn't it?"_

"It's as Lady Kitsukami herself said… This problem could be anything, even and emotional one. With burdens weighing so heavily on him, it wouldn't be all too surprising to learn that the aftermath of all of it crashing down was… disastrous."

Kitsuki frowned again at that, " _Do you think he's keeping himself from waking up?"_

"It's a possibility." The King shrugged, "But until then… There isn't much for me to do."

He paused for a moment, a thought occurring to him.

"While there isn't anything I can do for the moment… I do believe there may be something you can do for him."

Kit's fox ears and head rose to attention at that, but the appendages immediately drooped a bit in confusion, " _I don't really have much I can offer him outside of physical medical practices."_

"Regardless of that fact… you are still a Sympathetic Soul. That alone should be enough."

What rise Kit's head did have soon tilted a bit as her confusion grew, staring at Lucifer with an earnest lost look in her eyes.

"I will send you inside of his soul. All you must do is to find him. If it is as we think, and he's locked himself inside. Then all you must do is convince him to come back out."

The fox's lips drew into a thin line, her gaze moving back to Dante again with an uncertain look on her face now, " _How… should I convince him? If he's holding himself down, what am I supposed to do to snap him out of it?"_

"Simply speak to him as a friend would. Nothing more, nothing less." He said, looming over Dante's bed and extending his hand to Kitsuki, "Only you can now pull him out from this pit of tragedy he finds himself in."

She… she can do that. Just sit down with him, for however long it took.

The mute lifted her hand from her lap and reached forward, resting it in Lucifer's grasp as she dipped her chin in a resolved nod.

She'll wake him up.

"Prepare yourself. The entry might be… strange for those foreign to the experience."

Kit spent a long while drifting through a dark, numb space. She figured this couldn't have been that startling for her.

But she drew in a quiet breath and settled more into her seat, curling her three tails around herself to get comfortable.

After a few moments, she felt her eyes grow heavy enough to close and she drifted off, going slack in her chair. That… feeling, she felt her stomach grow light as her body suddenly started to fall.

A black void formed around her as she felt her consciousness slip away. What vision her closed eyes blocked disappeared with it, the mute feeling her hair flutter up past her shoulders as she looked down to her hands, then to her feet.

The speed didn't change. Just a gradual fall, slow and almost disconcertedly steady, and she didn't quite know how long she fell for.

Before she knew it, or could see it, her feet lightly hit some sort of ground and her white hair fell softly against her back, tails curling in behind her in the unknown space she found herself in.

When the girl felt her weight settle fully down onto the balls of her feet, she watched a ripple of gentle light emit out from her touch.

And just like that, her ears flicked down at a flash of lightning and immediately folded away under the distant crack of thunder in the distant sky.

Clouds rolled in, gray and deeply swirling to darken the black reaches of the air above her. The flash illuminated a cityscape of buildings around her.

Ruins of a tall, once flourishing city reached into the sky along the streets she stood at the epicenter of. Her boots grew cold in the middle of the intersection she stood in, the ground puddling under a quiet rain of a dreary storm.

What light she could see was the dim light of the sky and the webs of cracks sitting just behind the haze of clouds, glowing, jagged lines of seemingly unreachable light far inside the storm's reaches.

But what little light that did give let her see the silhouettes of the glassy buildings around her, of the few standing but dark light posts still dotted around the streets and sidewalk corners. And with another chilling flash of lightning breaking down from the sky, she saw the shadow of a citadel down the path in front of her.

A wide expanse of empty, chipped and cracked steps opened up at the end of the street, building up toward a large, closed door at the base of the citadel tower.

Taking a breath, Kit's lips puffed in a cold chill of air as she hugged her arms in the rain and moved forward. Her boots treaded through flowing puddles of water, carrying her toward what felt like the center of the dark city, eyes catching sight of a dark mass she couldn't see the details of.

Closer and closer she walked through the downtrodden streets, small droplets of rain coming down around her as she continued down the darkened road.

When she was closer, Kitsuki realized she was heading further in towards what appeared to be the city center. When she rounded the corner, she finally saw what that huge, mountainous mass was at the center.

Bones.

Hundreds of thousands of bones and skeletons stacked onto each other, creating a mountain of "bodies" that extended high above past the ruined buildings that surrounded it.

It was there at the top Kitsuki could see someone sitting down, unmoving against the rain that came down and the lighting that streaked the skies.

If Dante was up there… then she would need to climb her way up.

It was mountainous and loose, but Kit's lighter weight carried her up the steep slope of bones with light steps and gentle handholds. Every movement she made was naturally focused on being quiet, but that was just simply in her nature as the person she was.

That figure drew nearer as she climbed, cold, wet tails flicking softly behind her in the rain as she tried not to shiver whenever she reached an arm up to climb further.

It was strange… she felt the cold numbing her more the higher she got, and the rain seemed to pick up as she started to get a better view of the figure sitting at the top.

Finally climbing up the top of the mountain of bones, Kit pulled herself up onto her feet, brushing herself off quickly as she looked across the plateau of broken bones and skeletons that made up her path.

Further ahead was a boy. Black hair that was chin length with a few loose bangs hanging in between the bridge of his nose, black shorts and shoes, a grey t-shirt, and a black hoodie that was unzipped and sleeveless.

He sat at the center, one of his legs extended and the other brought in closer, his left arm resting atop the knee. And to his side… was a sword plunged into the ground.

The blade of was colored a pure white, spanning four feet in length. A shallow bevel outlined the blade, making it the Longsword's sharp edge, the bevel itself at least half an inche wide. Along the center base of the blade were intricate runes etched into both flat sides of the blade, which spanned all the way from the cross guard almost all the way to the tip of the weapon, just five inches short of the tip.

The cross guard was of the same color of the blade, pure white, with thin, cross guard branches at least half a foot long, taking on a diamond-like shape with beveled sides and smoothed corners. Two half inch prongs were found on the ends of the cross guard branches that pointed upwards towards blade, retaining the same, diamond shaped bevels the cross guard branches did.

The center of the guard, on both sides of the weapon, had one final corner, reaching forward and encasing the center of the blade itself in a short, rounded, central protrusion resembling a diamond-like shape, merging with the blade's surface itself.

Below the cross guard was the handle that was a foot long, the beginning of the handle bound in leather-like material that had an imprinted grip for better handling. Below the leathery grip was the rest of the handle, the metal colored pure white like the rest of the blade, and taking on a round shape. The pommel was simply a round, black metal cap that widened out slightly at the end.

Dignity. Elegance. Strength. The sword embodied all those and more.

It wasn't even close to the sword she remembered him using. She'd… never seen this blade before.

Kit shook her head to bring her gaze away from the weapon. It was beautiful, but the fact it was embedded in a mountain of bones harbored a different kind of symbolism.

He did this…

All of this.

It was almost like he'd gone and stockpiled all his guilt into a single mound. Then sat on it like it was a throne.

A very sad throne… all of it constructed from the countless people and creatures he had killed within his life.

The kitsune felt tiny as she carefully made her way over the peak of bones soaked to their core, keeping her footing as she slowly made her way toward him before finding her way into his view.

She didn't want to startle him, but she wanted him to see her.

"Who are you?" The child asked.

The mute drew in a small breath as his gaze slowly fell onto her, and she silently signed something in front of her hoodie, " _Can you read this?"_

His head looked up at the kitsune making her hand gestures, but he couldn't really make any sense of it.

"You can't speak?"

This was… before he met the person he learned how to read sign for.

Kit shook her head no, moving her hands from her front to start looking for her scroll, but her pockets were empty.

The child raised up his right hand and snapped his fingers, Kit feeling some force gently running through her the moment after.

"Speak."

Speak?

Kit blinked silently for a few long moments in the quiet rain before taking another breath, jumping in a small, tiny moment of shock when she heard a faint glimmer of a voice subtly vibrate through her throat.

She'd spent so long without that feeling… she'd forgotten what it actually felt like.

"I'm a friend." Kit's voice was steady and light, carrying a soft-spoken gentleness she remembered from her childhood. But, she couldn't help but smile a little at it not quite sounding right…

It was a voice he felt was fitting for her, she supposed.

"Friend, is it? I've never met you before, and you're already calling me your friend? You're a strange one alright…" the boy said, looking back out at the distance, watching the lightning streak through the sky, "Friend or not, you're a fellow prisoner now in this gloomy place. You're welcome to this pile I've made."

Kit's subtle smile turned sad as her gaze drifted down to where her boots stood atop a mountain of bones, silently tilting her head as she watched the water seep through the loose cracks, "I suppose so. Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

He just shrugged, "Only if you want to."

The kitsune moved forward and lifted her tails up, quietly sitting herself down next to him before curling her tails around her side, settling their white fur over her lap.

Her ears rose for just a second before drooping again under the ambiance of the storm, her gaze following his to stare into the same distance he stared at.

"This prison... who's keeping you here?" The kitsune quietly voiced, watching a stray crack of light climb down from the clouds in the distance.

"Nobody is keeping me here. There's just… simply no escape." The boy said, his blood red eyes and black slit pupils falling on the kitsune briefly, "This mountain we're sitting on… This has to have been the culmination of everyone and everything that ever resided in this Hell. Not a single scrap of life to be found anywhere. No roads, no paths that lead outside of this ruined city. Only shadow that leads me back to this… throne of blood and pain built with everything I could run that sword across." He said, point his thumb over to the blade resting in the ground.

Kit followed the gesture. She'd already stared at the weapon, but she supposed she'd humor him, for what it was worth.

"Why do you sit upon it?" She quietly asked, bringing her eyes back to him after glancing to the gleaming sword driven into the mountain of bones, "It's only a reminder. Are you afraid you'll forget about all the things your sword has touched?"

"Afraid she says…" the boy scoffed, "No, I'm not afraid. Frankly speaking, this spot is the only thing that stands taller than everything else now. You can see everything here. Even the emptiness that surrounds these city ruins."

Kit let her gaze fall away again as she focused on the distance again, staring into the ocean of emptiness he referred to, "What are you hoping to see, from a place like this? The city's so dreary down there, and the emptiness is just that. Empty."

"Maybe a way out. At the very least, that what I thought long ago. If I sat here long enough, maybe a way out would show itself." The boy explained, "Maybe this is like my own Tower of Babel. Reaching for the heavens, but not quite there. I guess instead of getting smote by 'whatever' might be up in the heavens, the bodies to stack up finally ran out. I don't know anymore."

The boy shifted his arms behind him to lean back and look up at the Dark and clouded skies.

"All I know is… that I can't be bothered with moving from this spot anymore."

Kit's hands drifted down to the bones between her folded legs before she quietly shifted her own feet, unfolding them and uncurling her tails to lie down next to him.

"I'll stay with you then." Kit said, resting her head back and folding her fox ears. From up here, the rain wasn't so bad anymore. "All this time, you've been sitting up here waiting for a way out to show itself. I find it kind of ironic…"

"Used to wait. I know better now than to expect anything good or better to happen. Good will and thoughts like that are useless, and belong in this heap. The truth is, you can't really get anywhere with that kind of thinking. It's pure optimism at best."

Kit slowly shook her head at that as she reached down, pulling her tails over into her hands to start running her fingers through her fur.

"I think it's because of that logic that you're still here, and you can't find the way out. I think it's ironic because you're the only thing holding yourself here. The way out is through you." The girl turned her eyes from her tails to the sky again, watching the dark swirls drift and rumble with distant flashes of light, "Do you know how I got here?"

"Not a clue. I reckon you must've done something terrible to be thrown into a Hell like this with me at its center."

The kitsune lightly smiled at that and shook her head again, "I came here looking for you, actually. Someone who cares about you helped send me here."

"Then you've wasted your time, and have been thrown into a prison." The boy said, hunching over as he now kept his eyes fixed onto the ruined buildings, "I'm not who you're looking for. All I am… is a remnant of person that used to be, or rather, was supposed to be. Nothing else."

"I think you're calling it a prison because you can't see it as anything else. And you're exactly who I was looking for, you just don't know what you've done to help me, or why I wished to be here." Kit quietly breathed out as she let her mind wander a little, "You had a lot taken from you, and you've only been losing more of yourself the longer you hold on. But I like to think there's a 'you' still in there who can accept everything you've done and everything you've lost. I don't think this mountain of bones is here to define you. It just acts as a foundation. A place to start."

"To start what?" The boy said, quickly pushing himself up, "Look around you, fox. There are no beginnings here. No means of escape. No light. Only… Darkness."

Kitsuki stayed lying on her back, letting her eyes roam the sky hovering above them as she shook her head, "Isn't that Darkness a part of you?"

"Part of me or not, there still is no escaping this place. And there isn't much of a point to it anymore in any case. I just want to stay here from now on, going without having to hurt myself or others anymore. It's better that way."

A small hum escaped Kit's throat, "It might be better for you. To just stay here and dwell in all the lives you've taken and affected. But…"

Kit turned her gaze to the boy for a moment before looking back to the sky.

"There's a lot of people hoping and wishing you'll be okay out there. They're all striving and doing their best just to see you live, and… there's even someone out there, lost right now, but they're probably hoping for your well-being more than anyone else."

The boy gave her an unsure look, not really buying what she was saying. But she saw a part of him start to think about it.

"Her name's Inuba. The two of you know each other better than anyone." Kit continued, taking a little breath before letting her voice carry out some more, "And if you ask me, or any of us, I like to think the feelings you two share are more special than just a long bond since childhood."

The kitsune's marigold gaze closed for a moment as she thought about what his mind was running through right now.

"I wonder… if she knows you never want to see her again." She spoke softly.

"I don't know if such a person exists out there. I've been in here all this time. Alone. By myself."

"Maybe. But I've come in here because I met you in my own World, and you helped me learn to live again with Xera and the rest of my te-... my family." Her gaze filtered through the clouds again to watch a soft streak of light scatter beneath their reaches, "Those memories are real. You helped me make them. Inuba's precious memories go for far longer, and she holds them tighter to her heart than I think you ever wanted to admit to yourself. The both of you did. And recently, you helped her save and hold onto those memories… but you got hurt doing it."

"Why leave then? All there is out there is hurt. Here, there's peace and quiet. No pain, no misery, no sacrifice. So why would I want to leave here then?"

"Because hurt isn't the only thing out there…" Kit replied softly, lifting her head this time to slowly sit herself up, "This might be the first chance in your life you can reach out and accept genuine happiness for yourself."

"Happiness, huh?" The boy said, looking up to the clouds to see them slowly clearing out, "Is there really such a thing out there for a thing like me?"

The kitsune tilted her head, then shook it lightly again, "I think… a thing like you has more reason than anyone to be happy for the first time in his life. You're already deserving of it."

"Is that so…" he said, light peeking through the clouds as he stood up, "Then… do you know the way out?"

Kit shook her head, watching as that light started to spread into the city, "I don't. But I think you do."

Bones on the edge of the pile began to shift and form together, creating a protrusion that kept building on itself, leading to a door on the end of the path. Black stone, and marked with all kinds of glowing white etchings.

"I guess… it's time to leave this place then." The boy said.

Kit quietly pushed herself up onto her feet behind him, "I guess it is."

The boy meant to take a step forward, but he paused briefly, turning around and looking past Kitsuki to the sword stuck in the pile. He took slowly steps forward, and reached out, pausing for a few brief moments before his hand wrapped around his handle.

As he drew the sword, his blackened hair bristled before bursting upward in an invisible wind, the black giving way to white as they scattered like particles, vanishing into the air moments after.

When he turned and faced the kitsune, his eyes were a bright sky blue color, and his pupils were normal instead of slitted.

But now, most importantly… he had a smile on his face.

"Now I'm ready. I guess…" he said, bowing his head slightly, "If it's not too much to ask… can you walk out with me? I'm still a little scared to go out on my own." He asked, extending his hand out to the girl.

The fox smiled at the action, letting her tails fan out behind her as she reached forward and gently slipped her hand into his, "We'll walk out together."

* * *

Kit's little brow furrowed before she felt the warmth of her tails, her mind drifting from the cool sensation of a ruined city to the comfortable cushions of the chair she rested in.

Marigold eyes silently opened, her vision clearing to see Lucifer standing on the other side of the bed… before immediately flicking towards Dante's resting face.

…

He wasn't moving at all…

"I assume you found him, correct?"

The small mute opened her mouth before she stopped herself, closing it soon after with a nod and some sign language, " _I managed to convince him."_

"Why isn't he waking then?" Lucifer asked, glancing everywhere he could over Dante's body to see if there was something Kareina missed initially.

But there was nothing present, physical or otherwise to prevent him from waking up. So why wasn't he opening his eyes?

The King let out a sigh, bowing his head down as he gripped the side handles tightly, the metal groaning silently under his powerful grip.

Kit looked up at him briefly, but jolted upwards when she felt a hand grab her arm, and when she looked down, she saw it was Dante's hand, eyes still closed. Kit and Lucifer exchanged glances briefly, and looked down at the teen, seeing his eyes snap open moments later.

But his eyes were different… Instead of the bright sky blue they usually were, they were now a platinum color. He let go of Kitsuki's arm, and slowly rose up from the bed, hunching over briefly to stretch himself out, a few of his bones popping with the small and brief movements he made.

"How are you feeling?" The Dark Entity asked.

"Better… for the most part…" He responded silently.

Dante's eyes wandered around the room, his expression dazed as he blinked his eyes a few times.

"Where is everyone?"

"The Kitsukami's are still with each other in Inuba's room."

The teen's head snapped to the king, almost in a question stare.

"She still hasn't awoken, yet."

"I see…" he said with a sigh.

His gaze soon turned to Kitsuki, who glanced back at him quizzically from where she sat.

" _Platinum."_ The mute signed, tilting her head a little as she focused on the color of his eyes.

"Platinum?" He asked, eyes scanning the room briefly until he found the bathroom mirror and glanced in it.

She was right. They were a platinum color now. But… why was that? Regardless of how or why, there was something he needed to do quickly.

So his hand reached out to the small kitsune, gently patting her head and rubbing it.

"Thank you… for your help."

" _You remember?"_ The kitsune asked curiously, smiling a little at the rub. She didn't really know if he knew what she did or not, especially since the Dante she talked to was only a piece of him.

"Remember..?" He asked, almost questioning himself, bringing a hand to his face.

It took him a few moments, but he could feel it all flooding back into him. Everything. Every memory in the last twelve years was now finally where it was supposed to be, complete and whole.

"I remember. I remember everything now." The teen answered, "But… where's everyone else? I can't… feel them…"

"They left." Lucifer said, "Ms. Rose gathered whatever forces she could and convinced them to go with her to defeat Scylix. I'd reckon they should just about be there by now."

"I see…" Dante replied.

The teen let out a deep exhale and shifted his legs outwards so he could stand up, wincing slightly as he did.

Kit was quick to stand up as he did and tuck under his side after the wince, eyes glancing down to see if there was any shaking in his stance.

He was still injured, he shouldn't be planning to walk around, especially without the crutches she saw him with before.

Though, for some reason, he felt taller… now that he was standing. A lot taller.

"If you're keen on leaving…" The King started as he reached around his waist to pull something out, "Then I suppose you'll be needing this."

Anvil rested in Lucifer's hands. Or at the very least, what remained of the Longsword. It was chipped and broken, a third of the blade missing from the top section, but still enough of it remaining.

There wasn't nearly going to be enough time to fix and get it functioning again, especially since he didn't have the tools to do so here.

He just had to make due.

Grabbing his broken sword from the King's hands, Dante brought it up to glance over it briefly before flipping it in an upside down position.

"Thank you." He said with a nod.

"You needn't thank me for anything. However… I would like for us to sit down and speak for some time. After your business is concluded, of course."

Dante gave Lucifer a small nod before he took steps forward, Kitsuki helping him until he found the pair of crutches leaning on the wall, and propped himself on them.

"Can't be left out of the action, now can we?" Dante asked the small kitsune with a smile on his face.

Kit helped him transition from her side to his crutches before stepping back, giving him a concerned look, " _Says the one who can't stand on his own."_

"Give me a few more minutes and I think I'll be right in track again. Besides… I have to be the one to go back and end this." The teen stated as he opened the door for the kitsune to walk through first.

The mute paused for a moment before stepping through, turning to look at him again from the hall, " _Is your healing coming back?"_

"No. At least, not like it used to. But I can feel myself getting pieced back together slowly as we're going. I'm a normie like the rest of you guys now." The teen jokingly stated, padding down the halls with his crutches.

" _If you actually get into the shape you need to fight on the ride over… your healing is still better than mine."_ Kit signed back, frowning at him before she sighed silently and fixed her scarf, " _I'll be ready when you're ready."_

"I'm plenty ready." Dante noted, "But… I don't quite know how we'll get there."

Kit glanced to him again before giving him a half shrug, " _Maybe Lucifer can?"_

"Maybe. But I don't want to trouble him anymore than I have. So… we'll find that cloaked moron and have her take us." He said, rounding the hall and moving towards the stairs.

He stopped briefly however, almost froze when he was in place of a certain door. The teen's head turned to look at it, resting a hand on the door for a few moments. Before he gently pushed himself him off it.

"I'll be back. And I'll make it right… partner."

Having spoken his words, he quickly moved himself down the hall and descended the stairs all the way to the ground level, Kitsuki following him all the while as they finally made their way out of the large building.

Dante brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the coming dawn, but slowly brought it down to let his eyes focus on his surroundings.

When he looked further ahead down the road, he saw her standing there.

"Saved me the trouble of looking for you." The teen shouted to her across the way, "Can you give us a lift?"

The cloaked girl gave him no response, and only began walking towards them. Kit made to move forward more, but Dante's arm stopped her, and slowly forced her behind him, a serious expression on his face.

It was then she saw the cloaked girl's weapon free itself from the confines of her white shroud, hovering her her side as she continued to take steps forward.

Then she stopped a short few yards away, turning her sword upside down and plunging in into the ground. Within seconds, a while expanses of white and black Aura canvased the ground for yards on end, and then began rising up to box the three inside before closing up into a ceiling.

The white light of the box receded, showing a darkened and cloudy sky, and beneath those skies, the three stood amidst once flourishing ruins of white marble, a light carpet of water that seemingly spanned infinitely into the distance.

Kit peeked her head out around Dante's side as the setting changed… wondering what was happening.

"What's the meaning of this?" The teen asked the girl that blocked their way.

"You aren't leaving anywhere."

"Says who?"

"Says me!" The girl shouted back angrily, making Dante tense up slightly, "The dream was long, Dante. But the time for dreams has ended." She said, drawing her sword from the watery ground, "I will put you out of your misery, and end the dream, once and for all."

"Is that right?" The once immortal asked in a challenging tone, tossing his crutches as he did.

Blackened Aura slowly crept up his right leg in a struggling manner, and slowly formed the twisted, segmented black armor of his Shadow Skin on said leg.

Letting out a sigh of relief now that the pain left him, Dante brought his leg back and tapped his clawed, armored toes in the ground a few times, stretching it out as best he could.

"Look at you… Even your own power struggles to hold itself together. Do you think you have the slightest chance of beating me?"

"I'll find a way. I always do. And then… I'll make you take us over there."

"Your body is still in pieces. Your weapon is still broken. There isn't much you'll be able to do to reach me." The girl stated.

"If that's what you think, then sure, keep believing that." Dante told the girl, titling his head towards Kitsuki, "You should hang back for a bit."

The mute took a slow step back, but signed as she did, " _What exactly is she trying to end?"_

"Me, obviously." The teen shrugged, "But… I have a feeling it's a lot more personal than what she's showing on the outside. That's why I have to do this alone."

Kit took a slow breath before flicking her gaze between them, then distanced herself with a nod.

She hoped he was right about that.

* * *

 **Eyyyyy, Dante's up and running again. But now, he's facing a whole new problem entirely.**

 **The cloaked girl intends to end Dante's suffering with her own hands to prevent him further pain. As you can imagine, Dante isn't going to simply sit down and die just because someone asked him to. But... that's not all.**

 **Something stirs deep within Dante, wanting to break free and get out at last. Just what might it possibly be? Find out the next time. For now, that's all I have to say, so with that...**

 **I highly recommend you all go check out the freaking amazing story Rogue Huntsman written by Xera Stark. The story overall is absolutely fantastic and is a must read, so I suggest you seriously read it. You won't want to miss out on this story. Plus, I'm working on it with him as a co-author, and my characters are in it too. So if you want to see a sort of alternate story and such with my characters in it, go on over and give Rogue Huntsman a read.**

 **And hey! Go check out HydraFLow's story Lost in Binary! It's equally as awesome and entertaining, and tells Rogue Huntsman's story from his characters' perspective, like how Knights of White and Black (my alternate story) tells the tale from my character's perspectives.**

 **Questions? Ask them anytime. I will try to answer without spoiling.**

 **Please remember to review, follow and favorite this story if you really enjoyed it and want to continue seeing more of it. And hey, even tell others about this story! Remember that your support is what helps make this story grow even larger and what helps improve it. With that, I bid you all an excellent week/weekend!**

 **Bye-bye now!**


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